I went onto some embroidery afterwards but at the time this just felt simple, I know the pattern in my mind yes we could argue that means I’m not being as attentive or mindful to the task but for this particular task I didn’t want silence, I wanted the TV on in the background, which consequently spread my concentration and gave me no opportunity for my thoughts to wonder.
Once I’d got to the completion of the socks it felt good to give them away in fact, because they did hold some negative connotations. I had consciously made the decision to knit so I was aware that these socks were the outcome of something distressing. Giving them to my friend however she loved them, they held nothing negative only positive.
I could even say that through this process it felt like I had adopted those interpretations I discussed in my dissertation monograph about June Hill’s ideas around gifting in her paper Sense and Sensibility (2008). The making process was being kind to myself, gifting myself with an outlet that I knew would work, keep my mind off things and produce something I could be proud of. Then the literal act of gifting the socks as a present leaves the recipient happy and myself. It’s great that I could make that immediate decision to knit because I knew it would improve my mood.
Later I took my mindfulness back to embroidery. I enjoy embroidery and I love investigating this area of mindful practice however I cannot forget knit and crochet, they are also very effective, to other’s as research shows for example Stitchlinks, and for my own mood, anxieties and bouts of depression.
Knitting socks on a round
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