Psychological and Meditative Aspects
The oral histories of many knitters have been collected, and suggest that hand-knitting is often associated with compassion. "I knit love into every stitch" is a common refrain.
Knitting especially large or fine garments such as sweaters can require months of work and, as gifts, may have a strong emotional aspect. The so-called sweater curse expresses the experience that a significant other will break up with the knitter immediately after receiving a costly hand-knit gift such as a sweater. A significant minority of knitters claim to have experienced the sweater curse; a recent poll indicated that 15% of active knitters say they have experienced the sweater curse firsthand, and 41% consider it a possibility that should be taken seriously. Although sometimes labeled a "superstition", the sweater curse is not treated in knitting literature as anything paranormal.
Hand-knitting is generally relaxing and repetitive, Some practitioners have noted that these factors, combined with its compassionate nature, make hand-knitting well-suited for meditational or spiritual practice.
Read more about this topic: Hand Knitting
Famous quotes containing the words meditative and/or aspects:
“And thus they give the time, that Nature meant
For peaceful sleep and meditative snores,
To ceaseless din and mindless merriment
And waste of shoes and floors.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“I suppose an entire cabinet of shells would be an expression of the whole human mind; a Flora of the whole globe would be so likewise, or a history of beasts; or a painting of all the aspects of the clouds. Everything is significant.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)