Not How Much Knitting But Why?

During our spinning day recently I was asked how much knitting I do each week. Then in the last Unwound podcast the listener poll asked the same question, and it got me thinking.

To my fellow spinner I admitted that sometimes I knit during the day, when the distractions of the house extension make me too stressed to focus on writing. But on reflection I’ve realised that doesn’t happen all that often. I might knit during my ‘lunch hour’, but at other times I’m more likely to blog, read blogs or listen to a podcast than actually knit.

Most of my knitting happens in the evening, while watching tv or dvds. I get between ten and thirty hours knitting done per week just from tv knitting.

Now you may be wondering if I ever go out at night. Well, the answer is not much. A few years back I kept having bouts of unexplained fatigue, and normal activities that would make me a little tired (like a trip to the city, or going out at night) instead made me so exhausted that I’d spend the next few days feeling like a zombie and having three hour naps.

The reason for this was a complete mystery. My doc had lots of tests done on me, then sent me to a physician who had lots of tests done, and according to them both I ought to be an athlete I’m so healthy.

I’d had no major virus like glandular fever, or muscular aches and pains, so the two more common chronic fatigue indicators weren’t there. I didn’t have fatigue continuously either, so both docs weren’t keen on labelling it as CFS. Neither was I, for that matter. But eventually it was the only explanation left, and this entry in the Medical Journal of Australia reassured me that the fatigue doesn’t have to be continuous, and gave an explanation why my concentration and memory were also shot, while giving the bad news that the syndrome effectively has no diagnosis or cure. You just have to wait it out.

Which I did, and knitting was a large part of me not going completely nuts during that time. On bad days when I couldn’t concentrate on writing, or even reading, I’d just sit and knit something simple and unchallenging. And the internet gave me a community to feel part of while unable to get out and have a social life.

Ironically, while most people take up knitting as a calming activity, it was kind of the opposite for me. I needed an activity to keep me awake and stop me from going crazy with boredom.

Though the worst of this ‘chronic fatigue’ is behind me, I’ve never completely regained the energy I once had (or the memory). I can manage one or two nights out in a week, separated by a few days, or one busy weekend day.

The up side to all this is I get lots of knitting done. I also take knitting with me to doctor’s waiting rooms, on public transport, on car trips (not when I’m driving, obviously), and any social meeting or get-together where nobody seems to mind me knitting. And occasionally I’ll spend a few hours on the weekend knitting or indulging in other crafts.

Well, this post definitely went off in a direction I wasn’t expecting! I must admit, looking back I was worried I had just typed up a big whinge. But all this came out more from a need to explain than anything else. And to anyone who wishes they got as much knitting done as me… I may just be wishing I had the energy to do all the non-knitting things that are preventing you from knitting!

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