Virginia Woolf Knitting
Posted 12/31/2008 5:17pm by Eugene Wyatt.
Could she knit as well as she wrote? Read the 178 word opening sentence of her essay On Being Ill which appeared in T. S. Eliot's New Criterion in 1926. He frowned upon her humor when he read the submission—literature was to be a serious subject—but as the deadline approached, Tom (as she called him) overcame his dour reluctance to publish it.
Considering how common illness is, how tremendous the spiritual change that it brings, how astonishing, when the lights of health go down, the undiscovered countries that are then disclosed, what wastes and deserts of the soul a slight attack of influenza brings to view, what precipices and lawns sprinkled with bright flowers a little rise of temperature reveals, what ancient and obdurate oaks are uprooted in us by the act of sickness, how we go down to the pit of death and feel the waters of annihilation close above our heads and wake thinking to find ourselves in the presence of angels and harpers when we have a tooth out and come to the surface in the dentist's arm-chair and confuse his "rinse the mouth-rinse the mouth" with the greeting of the Deity stooping from the floor of heaven to welcome us-when we think of this, as we are so frequently forced to think of it, it becomes strange indeed that illness has not taken its place with love, battle, and jealousy among the prime themes of literature.
WorldKnit.com
Celebrity Knitters...Look Who's Knitting!
by WorldKnit.com's editor, Trinity
MPLS - Knitting is HOT! And who would know better than the Hollywood crowd...our cultural icons and trendsetters! The list of celebrity knitters is staggering. From Julia Roberts to our Secretary of State Madeline Albright. And, NO, this hobby is not just for women! Just ask Bob Mackie or football great Rosie Grier. [For a list of celebrity knitters click here]
Celebrities, politicians and the 24 million active knitters and crocheters in the United States (not to mention the millions worldwide) are all partaking in fiber art! Why? Stress relief, creative outlet, tactile pleasure, sense of accomplishment, meditation...the list is endless!
[This sounds like something you would pen, Eugene.]
...I have also discovered and learned so much more about the world through fiber arts. I have recognized how limited my "formal" education has been. Chemistry, mathematics, botany, animal husbandry...all of these subjects and more are part of the fiber artist's tools. I have started a dye and fiber garden filled with plants that impart color to a dye bath or provide fiber for projects. I have learned about fiber and fiber producing animals...micron counts and crimp! I have a new found respect for colors and textures both natural and man-made. I am continually amazed and delighted in the creativity of both people and nature! I have reveled in the magic of sudden inspiration and accidental beauty when I thought I had really "botched it up". In short, knitting and all fiber arts have expanded my world and my enjoyment of this beautiful, unbelievable experience of life. I think all 24 million of us would agree!
List of celebrity knitters (this list is by no means all inclusive): Julia Roberts, Madonna, Iman, Hilary Swank, Cameron Diaz, Daryl Hannah, Goldie Hawn, Eartha Kitt, Winona Ryder, Julianne Moore, Rose McGowan, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Kate Moss, Madeline Albright, Vanna White, Megan Mullaly, Sarah Jessica Parker, Joanne Woodward, Bob Mackie, Stu Bloomberg, Rosie Grier... Some celebrities are even trying their hand at designing knitwear.
So, after all this -- write Johnny Depp! Happy New Year! JE
Knitting is timeless, many people turn to it for different reasons; I would know nothing of knitting if it weren't for merino sheep...they've taken me to the darndest places. I jump through hoops just to hang out with those guys.
Happy New Year to you and to Bekah too, and yes I'd be afraid of anyone who could write like VW.
George, a former shearer who worked days at Eastern (a max joint in Napanoch) as a CO, told me that the good thing about having Alzheimer's is that you get to hide your own Easter eggs.