Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The Existential Crisis

Something I haven't really talked about on this blog is the existential crisis I've been having lately. I started the year with these great plans, and I've pretty much done a 180 and not wanted to deal with yarncrafting at all.

One of the blog posts I never made was about the term "knitter". Obviously I do more than knit, but the whole idea was that I didn't label myself as a knitter, I was someone who knits. I'm pretty sure if you asked anybody who knows me outside the knitting world, they'd call me a knitter. But I don't self-label as one.

It's kind of funny to keep a knitting blog and not call yourself a knitter, by the way.

This year has been pretty crappy on the medical front, which has sucked a lot energy out of me. My latest issue is this hand deal, and I am Not Supposed To Do Yarncraft for 4 weeks or else my hand will fall off or something.

You'd think, with this existential yarncraft crisis, that I would be totally fine with that. After all, I've finished like 3 projects in six months. This would be no problem if a doctor told me not to, because Doctors Know More Than I Do. Besides, it's not like I've been enjoying knitting lately anyway.

But I've felt like I'm floundering without the yarny identity. Like, I can't knit, so what else do I do? Nothing. Nada. Zip. This would be a great time to pick up a new hobby, so I went to the store and bought a set of knitting looms.

Oops. I cheated on my own hiatus with yarncraft.

I thought I could loom without using my left hand, but it turns out that doesn't work so well either. So while I'm depressed about the no-yarncrafting, I guess I'm starting to think of myself as a "knitter". Well, and a "crocheter", and a "loomer". I didn't know how much I identified with it all until I couldn't do it anymore.

But seriously, I have gotta stop touching yarn. I'm considering wearing a big red mitten on my left hand and shouting "no!" at myself when I reach for the loom. Because that's totally normal. Yep.

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