Oh knitting, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…

1. it’s calming.
2. it’s creative.
3. it’s enjoyable.
4. it’s easy.
5. it’s difficult.
6. it can be undone.
7. it encourages me to practice maths.
8. i don’t need maths to do it.
9. it encourages me to be lazy.
10. it allows me to do something with my hands, even when i have to concentrate on something else.
11. i like the feeling of yarn.
12. i like the feeling of needles.
13. i like the gentle click the needles make as i knit.
14. i like to make the things i wear.
15. i like to know how the things i wear are made.
16. i like to keep warm & help others keep warm.
17. i like having the ability to create something i want to wear.
18. it helps me think.
19. it improves my concentration.
20. it connects me with many other people.
21. it creates physical representations of time, effort, and love.
22. it encourages me to improve my photography.
23. it encourages me to improve my drawing.
24. it encourages me to think laterally.
25. it’s taught me a lot about fiber that i would otherwise not have known.
26. it helps me make decisions about what i wear.
27. it encourages me to be patient.
28. it encourages me to try new things.
29. it can be practiced almost anywhere.
30. it’s ancient.
31. it’s brand-new.
32. it never gets old.
33. there is no limit to the variety of stitches and patterns that can be knitted.
34. there are many many different ways of knitting.
35. it’s elegant.
36. it’s a way of filling my life with colour.
37. it’s a language not everyone knows.
38. it’s a language everyone knows.
39. it’s multi-lingual.
40. it’s tiny.
41. it’s huge.
42. it’s extremely precise.
43. it can be fudged.
44. it can be used to make the most necessary, and the most unnecessary things in life.
45. it’s practical.
46. it’s limited.
47. there are always things to learn.
48. it’s meditative.
49. it can help you look cool & detached in a heated discussion.
50. it’s endlessly frustrating. (it winds me up!)
51. it’s basic. all you really need is a length of something string-like.
52. it’s thrifty.
53. it’s luxurious.
54. it takes hours to learn.
55. it takes years to perfect.
56. it’s addictive.
57. it’s tempting.
58. it’s ripe for allegory.
59. it makes me want to jump out of bed.
60. it makes me not want to go to sleep.
61. it’s taught me to notice which styles flatter me & which don’t.
62. it encourages me to challenge myself.
63. there’s no wrong way of doing it.
64. it can be a social activity.
65. it can keep you company when you’re alone.
66. there’s no need to make long preparations.
67. it keeps me from biting my cuticles.
68. it looks impossible to non-knitters.
69. a knitted piece is never final or finished, but is always in flux.
70. knitting is a fun way to donate to charity.
71. knitting teaches you to deal with anxiety and worry.
72. a knitted piece can always be recycled.
73. knitting can be work or play.
74. it can help you procrastinate.
75. it can help you stop procrastinating.
76. it improves your visualisation skills.
77. it’s a conversation-starter.
78. it’s resourceful.
79. you can rip it when it makes you angry, and it’s still OK.
80. it’s not fashionable.
81. it can help you show someone just how much you care.
82. it’s literary & makes me want to write.
83. it can drape.
84. it can be sculptural.
85. it’s concrete.
86. it’s better than just sitting there.
87. it’s one of the simplest ways of creating fabric.
88. it encourages you to branch out into other fiber-crafts.
89. you can literally put blood, sweat, tears (and hair) into it.
90. you can use your needles to stratch your back.
91. it often defies both logic and probability.
92. every stitch is unique.
93. every stitch is a brief metamorphosis, every stitch has a previous existence.
94. it’s made of loopholes.
95. it’s high-tech.
96. it makes a good day better.
97. it’s feminine.
98. it’s masculine.
99. you are what you knit.
100. it’s active, dangerous, risky & terrifying.
101. it’s classic.

Writing this list really filled me with joy for my art. I’m sure I could find another 101, but I’d quite like to read some of your reasons too!