I was talking to DHH the other day and mentioned to him that I really miss playing music.  He reminded me that I could play our piano or electric organ, or even one of the guitars anytime I want to.  But honestly, there’s no satisfaction in it for me if I can’t hear what I’m playing.  Playing music and listening to music I remember are two different things entirely for me. While I can duplicate music I know in my head (I’ve talked about this in earlier blogs), I can’t hear or keep up with the music I’m playing.

DHH also reminded me that I can feel my drums, and there is a certain satisfaction in that. Unfortunately my sweet pups hate the sound of my drums, so I rarely play them.  It’s really hard to watch your dogs run from the room screaming because you think you’re making music and they think you’re trying to shatter their ear drums, not to mention emotional well being.  (I wonder if they think it’s thunder, though neither of them are afraid of thunder storms.)

DHH was pondering the situation when I had a thought.  In a way, my knitting is my music and that’s probably one of the reasons I love to knit so much.  Here’s how I explained it to him:

Music is a process. Putting notes together creates a song.  We can  build on a single note at the beginning up to the most complex compositions.  There can be so many parts and all put together, a beautiful song emerges.   Knitting is also a process. For me, a stitch is a note.  We can build on a single stitch at the beginning up to the most complex fabric at the end.  When we put stitches together in a logical format, they become a complete, beautiful stand alone garment or other knitted item.  Both are works of art.

Though the results are different, the process is so similar.  Very simply put –  I follow a pattern, a musician follows sheet music.  Music has several notes put together to form special sounds.  Knitting has repeats – several stitches put together to form designs in the overall fabric.

While of course it’s not the same  – one is aural and the other visual, the similar processes are satisfying. I may not be able to make traditional music, but when I’m pleased with a finished item I’ve knitted, it really does sing to me.