Pens and Needles

Yes. I do needlework and I write. They are much more similar than they might seem. Gramps used to call storytelling “spinning a yarn” or “weaving a tale”. Different plot lines in a story are called “threads”. My cats love to bat at the computer keys as much as they love attacking balls of yarn. Okay, that one is a stretch.

But imagine a sweater. Once you have decided on knitting a sweater, you have to determine the size, gauge, color, texture and pattern, keeping in mind who you are knitting it for. Writing a story is the same. You have to determine the size. Will you write a novel or short story? In knitting, gauge is the number of stitches per inch. So do you want large stitches or small? Are you writing for adults, and therefore can use large words? Or for children with simpler language?

Changing the color or texture of the yarn in a sweater can drastically change it’s appearance from a bulky natural-colored wool fishermans knit to a lightweight dark-colored smooth cardigan. Changing the color and texture of writing can mean the difference between a sorta creepy ghost story or a disturbingly graphic murder mystery.

The same consideration is put into designing the pattern for a sweater as for determining the outline of a story. How wide do you want the sweater? What is the scope of the story? How long? How are you going to close it? Buttons? Zipper? The hero wins the girl? Tangled plot lines and twisted cables? Multiple plots and intarsia? You can’t knit a stitch or write a word until you know.

Stitch by stitch, word by word, you plod along. And just when you think you are done, the hard part begins. Tying up all the loose ends. That applies to both knitting and writing.

And you have to do all that while keeping in mind who is going to wear the sweater. Who is you intended reader?

This is one major difference worth noting. When you are editing a book and decide a section doesn’t fit the whole, you can cut it. It’s nearly impossible to cut out a section of a sweater and replace it.

Still, there are so many similarities that I think about knitting when I am writing and I think about writing when I am knitting. And often I think about writing about knitting.

Hmmm…. I wonder if I can knit about writing?



And for those who asked, Wiggle-Butt has pulled through his ordeal from eating a box of raisins, although he now needs several medications daily. That Dog and I thank you all for your concern.