The aspect of knitting in which knitting is more than the sum of its parts is intuitive knitting. It happens when you let go of the mind part and let the body come into play. It happens when you knit without a pattern – or knit with a pattern as a guideline but not an absolute: the process becomes prevalent and guides the result. It is quite magical and builds on itself. It is very satisfying.
After writing the above it occurred to me to Google for Knitting Intuitively to see if anyone else were doing so, at least under that name. Came up with a piece on it written here nearly three years ago – had forgotten doing so – interesting to come across ‘updates’ in life. Reproduced here:
Intuitive knitting has gripped my soul and I play with the practice. It seems to take much practice to improve or progress with such. Feeling is to the fore, not thought. Feeling about what material to use, what size needles, how many stitches. The time and patience and trust to wait on each and all of these before proceeding. The courage to let go of expectations. The – hardest part! – acceptance of what results when the mind lets go and the hands, truly, ‘speak’. But, oh, the satisfaction, when I can and they do.
Posted on September 27, 2004 at 07:56 AM
We are all, to some extent, knitting intuitively. Ever onward!