more random notes about random knitting

More about free form knitting...

Like stream-of-consciousness writing, I work with two sticks and a ball of string to make a piece of cloth. If I lose my way, so what? If I drop a stitch or start working backwards or try a new way to knit right in the middle of it all, so what?

Oh that life could be more like this. I'd like to change horses mid-stream as often as necessary. I'd like to eat half of dessert first, and then decide if I even want a meal. I'd like to try ideas on for size and see if I can let them go a little later.

But what a mess that would all make. I think it's supposed to be neat, this living thing. The dying gets messy, albeit unavoidable. But to make a mess in my life, when I could control it to tidiness... well, that's an odd idea.

Probably the closest comparison activity to free form knitting that I know of is prayer. Not rote prayer, but the "okay, now I'm stymied" kind of prayer. You just let it all hang out, gather it all together, and try to make something of the pieces. You talk about it along the way, work with it, find new bits of information, search for the missing parts, and tell yourself this is actually fun (because it is.)

Random knitting, as opposed to using a pattern, is akin to taking a 4-wheel drive vehicle off road. There are no maps. Some boulders are too big to tackle. Some washes turn you back. It tests your nerves, your determination, your curiosity, your skills... Sometimes you're sure it's going to be a wreck. But it's all new terrain and there's a silence here because so few are around. And there's wildlife just near if you pause and listen.