The Health Benefits of Knitting

So in the last few days, I've (re)discovered something: I'm an anxious person. I get depressed easily.

I knew this before. I was under treatment (counseling) for a while, and when the issue came up we decided that since it's primarily situational depression, and really only gets bad a few times a year and then for short bursts, that it was something which could be managed through diet, excercise, journaling, and other non-chemical treatments.

A big part of that for me is knitting. My friends from high school can attest to the fact that if I don't have something to do in my hands, then I kind of go stir crazy. I don't have to actually be doing it, it just has to be there. The act of holding a pen and having a notebook or sketchbook in front of me is much more calming than just sitting there with nothing in front of me.

For the last few years, knitting (and sometimes crochet or embroidery) have been my constant companions. I never leave home without them, and if I have to, I've usually got a little notebook so that I've got something.

I don't know where this twitch came from. But the last few days I've been on detox, as it were, while my yarn is decontaminating.

At the end of last week, we discovered that we had bedbugs. So on top of the hives and the heat rash, I also had parasites living in my bed. Which meant cleaning everything, including all of my yarn and craft supplies.

Now obviously, a ball of yarn or a half-knit scarf can't go in the dryer like everything else we've been washing. A friend suggested bundling everything up in garbage bags and sticking them in the back of my car on a hot day. If it it's 112F, then the bugs die.

Brilliant! I thought. I loaded up three garbage bags of craft supplies and costumes too fragile to be washed, stuck them in the car with a thermometer and went to work.

Three days later, and I'm still waiting. So far, 110F has been the maximum.

Three days with no crafting at all, and it's supposed to be cool here for the next week.

I am not handling this well, let me tell you.

I have been doing more writing in the last few days to try to compensate. I've been playing video games and finally gave in to Missouri's urging and joined Tumblr (you can find me there as PerilousProse--I've been posting kittens, history, and writing related stuff. And typewriters), but I won't be myself and this blog won't be back to normal until I can knit again (I've been cheating a little and knitting in my car before work. I figure that if it's there, I might as well).

In the mean time, cross your fingers that I don't go off the deep end before this is over.