From
Zen and the Art of Knitting, by Bernadette Murphy:
Knitting a sweater is a tremendous act of faith. We undertake an ancient practice that requires hundreds of thousands of stitches and hours of concentration to create something completely new.
At any point, a firm tug on an unsecured piece of yarn could unravel the entire work. Because knitting uses no knots, every stitch is little more than a twisted and twined bit of yarn, each section a group of simple but tenuous webs. When the work is finished, though, those webs coalesce into a garment rugged enough to withstand a lifetime of wear...
Knitting is slow. So slow that we see the beauty inherent in every tiny act that makes up a sweater. So slow that we know the project's not going to get finished today - it may not get finished for many months or longer - and thus, we make our peace with the unresolved nature of life. We slow down as we knit. Our breathing and heart rate drop and knitters who've been at it a while experience a trancelike state that provides the same benefits as other forms of meditation.
Unlike other forms of meditation, though, when all is said and done, knitting produces a beautiful, handcrafted, wearable work of art. Each garment reflects its unique moment in time and is as singular in its construction as the person who knit it - an image of its creator's spirit.
