ER Knitting

I seem to do some of my best knitting in the hospital emergency room. Of course that means that someone I love is ill, which is not so great. In the past it’s been my elderly mom. I actually started knitting again last spring after taking several years off because my mom was hospitalized for two weeks. My sister and niece came to Vermont during her hospitalization and they got me knitting again. All three of us sat in my mom’s room knitting together. Now I never travel without some knitting in my bag, since my mom has gone to the ER twice more.

This week it DH was in the hospital. Luckily he was only there overnight, but I overcame my SSS in the emergency room before he was admitted and I wore the socks the next day when I went to visit him. (A few months ago I finished my first pair of socks while he was in the ER for a kidney stone.) I started a new sweater the next day while we waiting for him to be discharged. It’s amazing how many knitters are on the hospital’s staff. Knitting seems to be a great conversation starter. An ER doc asked me where I bought my sock yarn because his wife enjoyed making socks. Several of the floor nurses and nursing assistants stopped by to discuss knitting and felting and I encouraged several people to check out Ravelry.

Knitting, like the piano, is a way to calm myself in times of stress. Unlike the piano, however, it also gives me an opportunity to connect with people in times of worry when I really need the distraction. I hope I don’t have any more ER knitting sessions, but I’ll continue to carry my knitting wherever I go.