I will celebrate a mild stone shortly. 45 years of knitting.

It doesn’t seem that long, but I guess it is.

I treated myself to subscriptions to every American published knitting magazine this year with the tax money. At the time it was a lot fun to research and subscribe. Now; a few months later and I am just not so impressed.

I got Knit & Style yesterday. The lead article was about woman who knits yarn from Peru. If I got the idea right, the lady was supporting a third world economy with her work. She had photos of a few pedestrian little sweaters.

I began to reflect.

I don’t purchase my yarn with such noble goals. I buy cheap. A pound or more with no shipping and as close to the five dollar or less mark. I get all sorts of things. A lot of it is really fine. I put it aside and see what comes up. Some time in the last 40 plus years I picked up the knack of assembling my own yarn. I get unique things from the most mundane patterns.

I flip through the rest of the pages. There is a sweater of mitered blocks. I have “knitted around the corner.” It was ok. I stopped short when the little technique I came up with ceased to work so well. I got a cool block or about 24 inches by 18 inches. It made the center of a blanket I made Tori. I don’t like sewing or assembling things too much. A stack of little swatches will not get put together. I will keep it in a bag until the sun burns out.

I flip on. There are several patterns that I look at briefly. They offer some interest. But I end my “read” by putting the magazine in the stack that will go into a bound folder for later reference.

I reflect a bit more. I have been doing this for over 40 years. I should be able to knock out all sorts of exotic little things. I don’t. I knit for comfort, for relief. I knit without a real pattern other than then one I carry in my head most of the time. It has me knitting with tiny tight little stitches.

I knit on the bias. I picked this up a few years ago. It makes a pretty perfect square or triangle and looks cool. I can knit king size blankets and doll blankets alike. Blocking is easy. I don't enjoy blocking.

I knit the Diatema. It is a sweater based on a 3000 year old grave find from Greece. I like this as it allows me to simply stop when I get to the end. I change the length and the neck and it is always the same. It fits. I add sleeves. I knit a k1p1 in the round. I can do it in 0000 or 50#. I shape the body by changing the needles size. Am I lazy?

I knit a hoody pattern that was printed by Red Heart or Lion Brand 30 years ago. It comes in size 3 months to XXXLT. I make the same sweater for every person I know who wants one.

I have a list of ten or more who are still waiting for theirs.

I knit entralac. I picked up this pattern when the kids were missing and I needed to keep my mind busy enough to keep from dieing. I knit king size spreads and doll blankets alike. This is the pattern that looks like I know what I am doing. I don’t. To others it says smart wise wow... to me it says keep up a smile and fake it until you get to the point where you can inhale. It seems to make people happy. I like to make people happy.

I knit the same few patterns over and over again. I am comforted by them. I make rugs and blankets and dresses and sweaters and pillows and even curtains. Every single thing is the same. I give most of it all away. I can knit these by feel in the dark. I do them with speed. I like accomplishing things.

Some times I look longingly at lace. One day I say. I keep knitting the same things. I am comforted by them.

I wonder if I will learn to knit other things in the next 45 years. More importantly will I knit them?