Item description
A close-up photograph of a piece of knitting on a white backdrop. The stitches run in two directions at 45 degree angles. From the upper left corner to the bottom right corner, the stitches alternate between color and white, with pink yarn at the bottom and orange further up. From the bottom left corner to the upper right corner, the stitches are white, spaced out between each other, and raised from the stripes in the other direction. In the top right corner there is a ball of pink, purple, and green yarn.
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Pantone Botanic Shawl 2
Dhanashree Thorat
I worked on this knitting project for several months in Fall 2020. For me, #pandemicknitting has been a way of finding calm and centering myself. The muscle memory of knitting, when your fingers slip yarn and needles almost autonomously, can be immersive and meditative. During the pandemic I’ve found myself knitting bigger projects (wide shawls and blankets rather than scarves). All the time spent at home afforded planning for projects that require longer blocks of knitting. When writing blocks have been a challenge, seeing another inch or two of a knitted project has been gratifying. In a time of stillness, the forward momentum of something growing was much needed.
