hAMImono

A hAMImono Welcome!

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Hello and thank you for visiting hAMImono, your knitting blog promoting AMIty. I’m Hamilton Hamilton. Since I first began knitting and listening to knitting podcasts, I have been astounded by the power of knitters to promote learning, healthy mental processes, positive interactions in this stricken world, and friendship. With so many things that we allow to divide and hurt us, it is important to support those technologies and arts that unite and heal. Knitting and the knitting blogosphere has done that for me.

I want to be a part of this virtual knitting community. Join me by visiting this blog and commenting on what is interesting or useful for you.

About the name: “amimono” (編み物 or 編物 or あみもの, literally “knit (amu) or yarn  thing” . . . got that, Marly?) is the Japanese word for knitting, knitted material, and crochet. Actually, crochet does have it’s own word “hikinukiamime”  (引き抜き編み目 or きぬきあみめ, literally “slip stitch yarnwork”) but amimono is commonly used for both. But, of course, “ami” also means friend in French. I like that cultural gumbo. My name has an “ami” in it so, ta da, hAMImono. Convoluted, ain’t it? Well, that’s me.

The question: what got you knitting? Originally, I learned to knit from my great-aunt, my mother’s brother’s wife’s mother, an old Cajun lady. She went everywhere with her knitting needles or crochet hook and she always had yarn for the cousins to play with. I learned how to knit (no purling) from her. I should say that she, my grandmother, and another great-aunt were prodigious, tireless crochet-ers. Family babies all had FABULOUS crocheted christening gowns with long trains. No toilet paper roll was un-poodled. No wine bottle was un-Spanish Dancer-ed. No Barbie was naked.  My mother caught the craft gene bigtime but not for crochet or knitting.

I forgot about knitting. But, fiberlove surged with my hormones when, in the 70s, I was seriously into macrame. A wedding present to my father was an enormous wall-hanging made of driftwood, seaglass, and hundreds of yards of rope. Then I discovered girls and forgot about macrame. (Although I seem to remember making a belt for one girlfriend 😀 . . .)

Fast forward many years. I have sometimes experienced a craving to feel or purchase yarn. I didn’t know why. It seemed harmless enough so I would pet the yarns at the notions store and buy a pretty colored one. Very occasionally. I bet you think I’m going to say that I amassed a huge stash over the years and finally started knitting out of desperation. Not so much.  I’ve never had much of a stash. I buy for projects and then knit them. Have been that way for years now.

What happened was that about six years ago, we had a serious health crisis in our family. It was stressful. It would have served no one any good for me to drink or do drugs or some other destructive behavior. My solution: I knit. The meditative stitching and mental focus gave me just what my family and I needed, a channeler for untapped inner strength. I knit and knit and relaxed into it.  We are all well and happy now. I’m still knitting and learning and I’ve never looked back. Knitting is not the only avenue for such discovery, but it is one of them. At least it was for me. And it continues to engage me more and more.

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