Hugs For Your Head & Soul

If you've seen my Instagram page, it may come as no surprise that I just finished another hat for Habibi a couple days ago.

I've been teased by the number of hats I've made for him this past year (five, which to me doesn't seem like that many).

"How many hats does he need?" my Mom often likes to joke.

I have knit up a couple hats for neighbors, so they've not all been for Habibi!

I lean towards knitting hats because they're quick, easily portable, and when finished are like a hug for your head. It just happens to be an added bonus that Habibi is a huge fan of them. (Honestly, I'm glad he likes hats more than socks, I've tried making socks, I have One Sock Syndrome like no other knitter I know).

But I think the biggest reason why I knit hats more than anything else is that I find the process of making hats calming in a way I've yet to find in other projects. Knitting hats is like cuddling up with a security blanket, especially when my anxiety rears its ugly head.

When I'm knitting I don't think about anything else other than the stitch I'm on. I have to focus on where I am and what comes next. The repetitive nature of counting which stitch I'm on is very meditative in nature.

It's one of the reasons I tend to stick with the same patterns when my anxiety flares up. The familiarity is comfortable, calming. After knitting a pattern more than once, I often don't have to look at the pattern, allowing me to focus only on what's in my hands. Everything else falls away, during these moments of knitting my mind is calm, not racing as it normally does. I'm not thinking and worrying about all the things that could go/are wrong.

Anxiety sucks, there have been days since Mew's illness where it's been tough to get out of bed or leave the house because my anxiety over her well-being and future were off the charts. Knitting gave me much needed breaks from it all when it all felt like too much to bear. 

So if my love of knitting hats means Habibi could open his own hat store in the next year or two because his hat collection has gotten so big, the so be it. He'll have the best hat collection of anyone in Brooklyn. 

Hats made with love, fueled by anxiety, and mini hugs for his head.