The labyrinth shawl is coming along, but as I've been knitting it and reading Scholl's book, it's made me think how all knitting is a labyrinth. Scholl describes in his book how some labyrinths are unicursal (one path from the start to the center) and how others are multicursal (more than one path to the center). He makes a good case for labyrinths of both kinds being a metaphor for life, and that got me thinking about how all knitting is like a labyrinth.
When we knit in the round, we follow one path around and around to the center or from the center out. We might add sleeves, but they all come to the same path around and around to the center. Same with shawls, mittens, socks. Even when working the flat, we go on one path back and forth until our path is finished. Crochet does, too, to be fair, and many kinds of weaving do as well.
Perhaps that is why we find it so meditative. Perhaps the crafts help us meditate because they are labyrinths that help us walk our prayers to a center.
When we knit in the round, we follow one path around and around to the center or from the center out. We might add sleeves, but they all come to the same path around and around to the center. Same with shawls, mittens, socks. Even when working the flat, we go on one path back and forth until our path is finished. Crochet does, too, to be fair, and many kinds of weaving do as well.
Perhaps that is why we find it so meditative. Perhaps the crafts help us meditate because they are labyrinths that help us walk our prayers to a center.