I knit to make me less crazy (Day 264 KEDfaY)

This article has been running around the internet for the past day or so. You might've seen it if you are interested in knitting or your family knows that you are. It seems when anything knitting related happens in the media, I'm sent links to it from everyone I know who knows I knit. Like the penguin sweater thing. Man, if I had a dollar for every time I was sent that, I'd have so many dollars. Okay, not a whole lot, but maybe like $5 which is still awesome.

The article linked above talks about how knitting is good for you, essentially. It relaxes you, it acts like meditation and it could have lasting effects that could prevent degenerative brain issues.

I was often known as "the girl who knits" in my classes in college. I knit in a lot of my classes. None of my professors ever cared and I always asked before I did. I found that professors would rather have me knit instead of dicking around on Facebook or sleeping like so many of my peers did. I paid attention better and I retained lecture information better. I don't know why, it just seemed that days I knit in class, I would remember better when it came to exam time.

I was asked by someone to teach them to knit and I said yes. I'm willing to teach anyone who is willing to learn because I think it's such a useful hobby. She asked me why I knit and I explained that knitting occupies my hands, it occupies that part of my brain that, when left to its own devices, will go down an anxiety spiral and causes all sorts of problems. If I'm knitting while doing something else, like sitting in a lecture or watching TV, I'm also knitting because that way I won't have the asshole part of my brain trying to send me into an inexplicable crying fit about that random episode of Cougar Town. You might laugh but it's happened before. I couldn't watch Futurama for years because of a situation like this happening.

I still can't watch Rocko's Modern Life.

Some people laugh when I say I knit to make me less crazy but it's true.

I knit because I need to. Knitting calms me and helps me focus on the important things instead of the tiny nigglings that can very quickly turn into a full blown panic attack. As someone who has had panic attacks since I was seven and watching a normal episode of Rocko's Modern Life, I try to have as few as possible.

I knit because I have to.

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So in knitting today, I worked more on my sock. I'm really close to finishing the big part of it. I'm doing another afterthought heel so I'll still have to do that but it isn't that big of a deal. I enjoy them and they go quickly and I've found that they just fit the best. For me at least.