Hence the Name of the Blog

No, I have not been knitting, so there is not much to post here on the knitting blog. But I did make some great chili this past weekend, and I wrote about it on my food blog, Hold the Raisins.

I wonder if it is totally superfluous to have two blogs, one for food and one for knitting. Maybe it is a bit silly; both are crafts, both are labors of love. You can buy a perfectly lovely sweater for far less money (and time) than it takes to knit one, you can (at least where I live) order fantastic takeout for only a little more $$ (and far less time) as cooking dinner. Why bother with either of these activities? Why do we spend the time, the effort, the mental anguish – why not just go out and buy it?

This is a question that has been hanging around in my head quite a bit lately, and I know others have written on this issue. Its easy to say you are a “process” knitter, but is that label really enough to explain the hours and hours spent creating garments, thinking about patterns, reading knitting blogs, sniffing yarn. The same goes for cooking. People say the accomplishment of creating a meal themselves justifies the labor; they enjoy the smells of a warm kitchen, the feel of making meatballs, the knowledge that they are repeating a process performed by so many other generations. But I’m starting to think these explanations are not enough. Why am I perfectly happy taking my pants to be hemmed by the tailor, having my couch professionally reupholstered, drinking beer brewed by people far away? Why don’t I have any urge to grow my own hops? Why do I single out knitting and cooking this way?

And why do I, and so many others, feel compelled to write about it – to share what is typically, at least in the case of knitting, a very solitary activity? Do we want to talk about it because it is so very solitary, or is there an aspect of the creativity that is enhanced by the community environment? Do I want to write about food because I want to share my thoughts and recipes with others, or just because I want an excuse to take photos of my chili?

Enough crazy talk. Go play some Web Sudoku!