Unquiet
Things

It’s the time of year where I ignore all of my obligations, ignore even the activities I enjoy, really, and devote my entire being to knitting all the things. I don’t know why I don’t get this frantic urge in the winter months, when it’s cold and the chill calls for cozy time activities; I mean that would make the most sense. But no, I feel the irresistible call of the clicking wooden needles and the silken and squishy yarns and all of the lovely patterns I’ve had my eye on…in the spring months. When the tiny green buds are unfurling and the birds are twittering, and somewhere someone’s sidewalk is overrun with weekend morning rabbits (I know this happens elsewhere, though I’ve never seen them in Florida) and the breeze is still cool but it’s warmed by the promise of fiery July sunsets and the sweet, narcotic dream of tiny white jasmine blossoms. All of these things are very nice indeed, but no, they’re not the thing waking my itchy fingers, my craving for creating and corralling little loops and links, knits and knots, bound with needles, and if I’m being honest, a hair or two from my own head (sometimes it’s even an accident!)

I think it must the the light. The days have gotten longer and the afternoon sunlight through the dusty windows at the back of my house is yellow and soft and peaceful, and–lord knows I am generally no fan of sunlight– but in March I can’t simply can’t resist a 6pm beam of light across a crumpled sofa cushion, and I find myself compelled to bask in its golden glow. And there can be no basking without knitting.

I guess my point is, that’s why my interest (and instagram feeds) turns into 24/7 knitting nonsense this time every year. My books gather dust for a few months, and the oven grows cold and new recipes go untried; my other hobbies and passions, which I usually try to portion out in equal amounts, just get ignored for a bit, while I amass a pile of finished knits, woolen socks and warming shawls–just in time for summer’s heat.

(Featured knit is Evelyn Clark’s Swallowtail Shawl, which was all the rage with knitting bloggers a year or so after I started knitting–2006ish?–and which at that time I thought was too complicated to even attempt! More than a decade later, I am pleased to report that it’s a lovely pattern and is quite simple.)