Knitting for Mental Health
Currently reading:
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala
Books finished this week: 1
★★★☆☆
Where this book came from: Purchased at McNally Jackson Seaport back in November (read more here).
Why this book: Honestly? The cover. I first saw it at Shakespeare & Co. on the Upper West Side and I just thought it was so clever.
Thoughts: Largely, I think there was a miscommunication between my brain and this book. First, I have what is clearly a false memory of finding this in the YA section. Second, I thought it was about two teenage girls taking revenge on horrible men. Third, I somehow missed that this was set in a literal dystopian landscape. Overall, the book was just way more intense than I thought it was going to be, especially with the descriptions of body horror. To be honest, I was uncomfortable most of the time I was reading this book. And yet I didn’t feel like we really got enough information about the characters? I didn’t really . . . care. About any of them. So even though I went in with completely incorrect expectations, even after I adjusted accordingly, I still found it difficult to connect with this one.
Library updates:
This first week of 2023 has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. Nothing dramatic, just a lot of flaring anxieties and stress on some days, followed by very nice moments to bring me back down to earth and make me believe in myself again. I don’t know what that means for the rest of the year. My therapist told me it isn’t a sign of anything and I’m trying to believe her.
The most exciting news this week is probably that I finished another book! I had hoped maybe to also finish The Honeys, since it’s been a fast-moving read so far, but I’m not going to push myself too hard so early in the new year. I’m just working on carving out more time to read in general. And to write——it’s been too long since I sat and got some work done, and I miss it.
What I have been doing a lot of is knitting. Last Christmas, I ordered a mystery bag of nine balls of yarn from Lion Brand (#notsponsoredbutwouldliketobe) and got three balls of this really nice, soothing brown. The yarn is incredibly small and would probably be well-suited to some kind of sweater, or just a fancy way to show off a complicated pattern. So far, I’ve really only mastered knits and purls, so I’m just doing one side of knits and the other purls. I had put the project down early in 2022, but picked it back up in the last few months of the year, when the weather started to get cold again.
I find knitting incredibly grounding. Something about this project, especially, makes me feel in control. It’s probably because it’s so simple. I can easily zone out and watch a show while I do it, just let my brain shut off and my hands do all the work. I had a pretty bad work stress day on Wednesday evening that left me feeling overwhelmed and just so, so worn down. But knitting and YouTube really helped bring me back.
The two best things in life: knitting and Moneypenny.
I love reading and writing, but it can be hard to feel totally accomplished with those hobbies. It’s nice to finish a book and put it back on the shelf. But typing up a few pages just feels like staring at a screen until the manuscript is done. With knitting, I can see my progress. I can celebrate how far I’ve come. And when it’s done, I’ll wrap myself in my shawl and know that I did it.
I bought some slightly larger yarn at Michaels early last week (thanks for the gift card, Mom!) and I want to start another scarf, maybe a hat, too. But I’m enjoying my strange, boring little shawl for now.
I also started rewatching Doom Patrol from the beginning, in order to finally watch the latest season. I don’t think Doom Patrol has come up on the blog before, but it’s probably my favorite modern show. Kind of shitty people with kind of shitty powers, found family, Timothy Dalton——it’s basically Penny Dreadful, but with DC superheroes. And as I tweeted (I still use Twitter——sorry) the other day, I’m using Doom Patrol’s Rita Farr as my guiding star in 2023. She knits, she drinks stiff cocktails, she has an impeccable vintage vibe. I plan to emulate all of it.
Closing thoughts:
Make something with your hands, something you can admire. Because then, hey, look at you! You did that! That’s amazing!
