[stylist] knitting
Lynda Lambert
llambert at zoominternet.net
Thu Aug 23 14:58:58 UTC 2012
thanks so much Carrie. When I was asked to do it by an author who is writing
a book on the Healing aspects of knitting I really had to think about it for
a few days because I did not want to "go there" in my mind. Finally, I sat
here at the computer and begin to remember those days. Seems like another
life time to me because now I do everything I ever did and more.
Lynda
Lynda Lambert
104 River Road
Ellwood City, PA 16117
724 758 4979
My Blog: http://www.walkingbyinnervision.blogspot.com
My Website: http://lyndalambert.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carrie Delecourt" <carriedelecourt at gmail.com>
To: <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2012 10:19 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] knitting
> Lynda,
>
> That was a moving and inspiring piece.
>
> Carrie
>
> P.S. Robert, I want a green and red scarf for Christmas!
>
>
>> Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:27:21 -0400
>> From: "Lynda Lambert" <llambert at zoominternet.net>
>> To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] Knitting and Healing
>> Message-ID: <F88AB7D50EF04104A023C44B944BF65B at Lambert>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>
>> I was asked to write an article on how knitting is a healing art. It will
>> be published in a book that is being written. Here is what I wrote to
>> him: I will paste it here since I have DOCX and so many of you cannot
>> use it. Here goes:
>>
>> "
>> I always knew the joy of knitting. I had learned as a young child. On my
>> own, I had taught myself how to knit by looking at a knitting book, and
>> by visiting a local merchant who helped me select needles and yarn and
>> gave me some lessons along the way. No one in my family knitted, and I
>> have no idea to this day how I ever became so absorbed in knitting but it
>> has been a life-long passion.
>>
>>
>>
>> My adult career has been in the arts and humanities and my first love has
>> always been the visual arts. That eventually led me to become a professor
>> of Fine Arts and Humanities where I taught studio arts, art history, and
>> English literature.
>>
>>
>>
>> In October 2007, I was in the middle of a sabbatical research project
>> on Medieval Art and Literature. At that time, something completely
>> unexpected happened to me that has changed the course of my life very
>> suddenly. Overnight, I lost most of my eyesight to Ischemic Optic
>> Neuropathy. It is a stroke-like event that kills the optic nerve - there
>> is no way to know this will ever happen, and no treatment once it does.
>> But, the real story here is not what happened to me, but what we do
>> after such a life altering event.
>>
>>
>>
>> Loss of sight is not like any other event that can happen to someone.
>> For many people, it marks the end of life as they knew it. Trying to
>> figure out what to do or how to even begin to recover is a daunting new
>> adventure into the unknown.
>>
>>
>>
>> Very quickly I learned that no one knew what to do with me. I did not
>> know anyone who had suffered sight loss. And, no one in my family or
>> circle of friends knew anything about blindness. My doctors understood
>> how to diagnose me, but never knew what to do from there. Blindness
>> rehabilitation is something that most doctors know nothing about. They
>> diagnose the patient, and then the patient has to try to figure out what
>> to do from there - it was a maddening time for me and I thought my life
>> was over since I could do nothing I had done before my sight loss.
>>
>>
>>
>> I did not know if it was day or night at first. The most simple tasks
>> were impossible for me to do: How to cut my nails? How to get tooth
>> paste on my toothbrush? How to apply make-up? How to make a cup of tea?
>> How to make a phone call? How to even find a phone number? How to know
>> what day it is and how to make an appointment on a calendar? How to
>> memorize everything I would need to remember? How to use a computer?
>>
>> For the first five months I was not able to do anything but listen to
>> some books on CDs my husband brought me from the library. But, these
>> books were nothing like the academic and challenging works I was
>> accustomed to reading. They were so boring to me, and just listening to
>> them deepened my depression and feelings of loss.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> One dismal winter afternoon I sat in the soft, velvety , pink reclining
>> chair. I was in our "pink room" as the children always called it. This
>> room was a solitary place where we visited with friends and sat to read
>> on long winter days. It was a soft and warm place, filled with afternoon
>> light. My feet were extended on the foot rest, and my eyes were closed.
>> I often sat with my eyes closed since it helped me to center myself and
>> to relax. The strain of trying to see would be overwhelming and I would
>> suffer from painful headaches. I would later learn that these are "bad
>> eye days" and the entire body is affected by this straining of the brain
>> to see. I was so aware of the connection between the brain and the body
>> at this time. My brain would try so hard to see things, and my body
>> could not do the work of "seeing" any longer. When a "bad eye day" would
>> begin, it would often be another three days or so of intense pain
>> throughout my body. I would end up spending many days in bed, trying to
>> cope with the pain and the loss. I became aware of the tension between my
>> body and my mind on those bad eye days.
>>
>>
>>
>> On that particular day, I recall how I was thinking about the sweaters I
>> had been making for charity. I had been knitting sweaters for needy
>> children.
>>
>> I was thinking of the sweater I had been knitting for charity and I was
>> wondering how I would ever do that again. I thought of the one I was
>> doing at the time of my sight loss. I longed to be able to finish it. I
>> began to think that maybe, just maybe, I might be able to knit again.
>> Desire to finish this little child's sweater just filled me and I decided
>> to go get the unfinished project and to give it a try.
>>
>>
>>
>> The yarn I was using was a soft acrylic worsted weight yarn. I sat there
>> with the fibers in my hand, holding my needles. I could not even see the
>> color of the yarn, and certainly could not see the stitches or the
>> needles. My eyes stared downwards, straining to see it all, but I could
>> not.
>>
>>
>>
>> I began by holding the soft yarn in place in my two hands. Just the
>> feel of the yarn brought a surge of pleasure through me. The long
>> aluminum knitting needles felt cold against my warm hands. I was nervous,
>> and my hands were moist against the thin, cool needles. I remembered how
>> much I had always loved to knit. If nothing else in my life was going
>> right, I always had my knitting. It was a place I went, and I would
>> become one with the yarn and the movement as I would knit the hours away.
>> Can I ever do this again, I wondered?
>>
>>
>>
>> I started to move the needles, balance them between my two hands and put
>> them into position for knitting. I struggled. I tried and tried again,
>> but could not do it. In my solitude, I felt the sting of failure. I felt
>> worthless and useless at that moment. I shed hot tears. They slid down
>> my face, to my faltering hands.
>>
>>
>>
>> In my sorrow, I suddenly had an inkling of a thought that came to me. It
>> was a revelation and something I had not thought about before. In this
>> moment, I realized I could not do it because I was trying to SEE it.
>> The idea was that it seemed logical that since I could not see, I should
>> just close my eyes, and try to begin to feel it. Yes, I realized it was
>> my desire to see what I was doing, that was keeping me from seeing it. I
>> had to learn to see things non-visually, to use my hands and fingers and
>> my other senses to see. My fingers would now become my eyes!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Soon, I was feeling my way through and I finished that sweater and
>> donated it. Knitting created a breakthrough in my healing process.
>> Knitting gave me a beginning place on the pathway to my recovery.
>> Knitting gave me hope.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Shortly after this healing breakthrough, I was able to go away to attend
>> a rehab center for blind people. Of course, I took my knitting along
>> with me.
>>
>>
>>
>> I knitted my way through the hard days of struggles and the depression of
>> trying to re-learn how to do little things that people take for granted.
>> When I was feeling overwhelmed and tired for all the learning that I had
>> to do each day, I would retreat to my room and pick up my knitting. It
>> was my knitting that brought me through those hard times.
>>
>>
>>
>> I learned how to put my knitting patterns onto a digital sound device
>> called a Milestone. Oh, how I love this little device! With my
>> Milestone, I could carry the verbal directions with me and knit
>> anywhere. I learned how to put my patterns on a computer so I could
>> "read" them again. I learned how to organize my patters in ways that I
>> could access them when I needed them.
>>
>>
>>
>> By successfully knitting again, I gained confidence in myself and took
>> pride in what I could do. For me, knitting was a game changer. I was back
>> in the game of knitting and being a creative soul. I continue to
>> experience the healing power of knitting as I stretch myself to do
>> projects that are beautiful and satisfying. My knitting successes give
>> me the confidence I need to once again be the creative person I have
>> always been."
>>
>>
>>
>> Copyright, 2012. Lynda Lambert. All rights reserved.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Lynda Lambert
>>
>> Lynda Lambert
>> 104 River Road
>> Ellwood City, PA 16117
>>
>> 724 758 4979
>>
>> My Blog: http://www.walkingbyinnervision.blogspot.com
>> My Website: http://lyndalambert.com
>>
>>
>>
> p
>
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