Katrina Rib Sweater

I don't often write about my knitting on this blog, but I haven't been knitting much lately, and there's a bit of a personal story to tell about this. In 2005, I bought the Katrina Rib pattern to help support folks affected by Hurricane Katrina and of course to feed my need to hoard all things knitting! I bought yarn a few years later to make the sweater. And in 2009, I went though a horrible divorce (as if there's any other kind). A few weeks after the announcement that my then husband, now rat bastard, was divorcing me, I started this sweater. I kept thinking knitting will help. Each stitch will help ensure I keep it together. I worked on it diligently for a few months, and then I lost my knitting mojo. It was no longer a joy to knit, and it got pushed aside. I'd pick it up here and there, but not work on it consistently. Finally I started to enjoy knitting again and decided that I should really finish this sweater.

I think there's a nice symmetry that I started this during the divorce, and that now 5 years later I do feel like I've come out the other side. I think this sweater just wasn't meant to be finished until I felt like I had stitched the last piece of myself back together. So this sweater and I have been through a lot together. There's some rough parts in it, and maybe a couple of small holes, but my life is in these stitches. And in the end, I have something beautiful to show for it. Who could ask for more?

Thanks to the support of my dear friends in monthly craft night for encouraging me to finish, and for being there to make me laugh and acknowledge a big moment. Thanks for everyone who has had to listen to me talk ad nausem about the horrible divorce. It's helped me process it.