Saturday Rambling

My wife tells me there's something of a knitting boom going on. Has been for a while (so it's no passing fad). There are lots of new books coming out, some of them best-sellers. There are knitting stores, fiber arts festivals, famous knitters, knitting blogs. Of these, my wife's favorite is Yarn Harlot. The Yarn Harlot is from Toronto, which seems to be some sort of Mecca of knitting (although Scotland's Fair Isle is the true holy land).

The trend toward knitting might be like the musical trend toward folk or Americana. It's a significant subculture, and seems to be gaining young devotees all the time. In a society where everything seems technically over-processed, hurried, and stridently cool, some folks are engaging traditions in new ways. This is nothing new, of course, and yet it also belies the dominant media-depictions of current trends among young people.

Not that I'm a young people any more. It's increasingly clear to me each day that I ain't. But I basically like my life. My wife and I are homebodies. Evenings you can find us in the parlor. She knits or reads. I read (no knitting for me). We interrupt one another from time to time to chat. The fat rabbit-eared TV in the corner is mostly dormant.

We walk together fairly often. I realized yesterday that I don't see much of that in my neighborhood. Couples walking together. I don't know why people seem to think walking is such a labor, and should only be done in a gym on a treadmill!

Later today we'll walk to the library. Laurie will bring her knitting (she never leaves it behind). We'll drop off the last batch of books, pick up a few new ones. It's the Saturday ritual. Sit for a while. Chat with the librarians. It's a very rewarding part of our week, this Saturday morning library trip. It's peaceful. Unhurried. And we come home with books!

So this has been a post about almost nothing. About knitting. About slowing down. About creating a de-hurried life. "The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance."

I suppose I should end this with some music. Here's The Belleville Outfit: