Just to prove I still knit - this is #1 of 2 baby hats I'm knitting for my mother's friend, who is having twin boys. My mother is expecting me to knit plain little caps. HA! This is the "Accordian hat" from Baby Beanies in LionBrand Cotton-Ease. The second hat will be reversed - stockinette in blue, garter bits in green.The rest of my knitting projects - a stole, socks, etc. - are scattered about, waiting for me to sit with them and play.
Last Sunday, Stanley Newman visited our Ravelry knitting group. I'd just read Crossworld by Marc Romano, a funny book about the author's experiences with Serious Puzzlers at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, so I had lots of questions - but I didn't ask many because Newman himself was so fascinating, and so fascinated by what he was seeing. How does this fluff turn into yarn? How does it change colour? I rarely meet anyone whose curiosity sparkles so. What a delight!The book inspired me to wonder how many knitters are also fans of crossword puzzles. One important skill for good puzzle-solvers, says Romano, is "pattern recognition," the ability to know what comes next in the grid. Isn't that similar to reading one's knitting? - recognizing the pattern? Romano also writes about "thinking associatively" : "to recognize and sort together within your memory things that belong to the same category or order of things." Memorizing a pattern, or knowing just by looking where the next cable twist belongs is a form of sorting stitches and the sense of the textile, don't you think?
(And,as OfTroy pointed out, "text" and "textile" are etymologically related. If you follow the link and visit her, ignore her little jab. I was not annoyed, only impressed. As always. So there.)
One more thought: Romano discusses the affinity that scientists and musicians have for crossword puzzles. It occurs to me that poets are the ultimate in associative thinkers. Associative thought is a pretty good description of metaphor...
