Even though it's dull and drizzly today, I'm enjoying my garden. The wetness makes the foliage and flowers stand out against the dark earth. My garden is pretty new--only a little over a year old, but already, it's a special, private place, surrounded by a tall green hedge and bordering a leafy park. Everyone has been asking me how I can stand to leave such a unique and lovely place. When I thought about the answer, I realized that for me, gardening is as much about the process as it is about the result. The pleasure comes from the designing and making of the garden as much as from sitting in our window seat and looking out.
Knitting is the same for me. The pleasure is as much (maybe even more) in the making as in the final product. My husband, the economist doesn't get it. He'll say, "But you can buy a pair of socks made in Bangladesh for a fraction of the price." When he says something like this, I inwardly vow never to knit for him again, but then, because I'm weak and like to see him in a hand knitted vest, I make him another. I tell him about the satisfaction involved in making something with my own hands and the comfort that comes from a custom-fit garment and hope that someday he'll clue in to what gardening and knitting (and cooking, too) are all about.
