Thinking with Symmetry and with Asymmetry

A knitter's normal assumption about a pattern is that it is symmetrical, such as in the working of fronts and backs of sweaters, sleeves, and so on. Since this is more often the case than not in existing patterns, almost every knitter thinks symmetrically, and is bogged down whenever a pattern demands asymmetry in thinking. A knitter must therefore be capable of thinking asymmetrically as well. This flexibility in thinking prevents the knitter from developing obsession-compulsion, crankiness, and a bipolar personality.

Before commencing a pattern therefore, determine which passages will demand symmetrical or asymmetrical thinking on your part before working, and adjust your mindset accordingly.

Easier said than done, I know, because reading a knitting pattern is like reading sheet music--you need to hear the entire symphony, see that the different stitches are different musical instruments, and know where something could go wrong based on the pattern alone. It's why patterns are accompanied by photographs.

Perhaps, if we accompanied Shakespeare's plays with photographs, our children will understand his works better.

Personalizing Your Mental Script

While knitting, substitute your own meaningful or playful word, phrase, or association with knitting terms.

For example:

Instead of mentally thinking "K1, P1," switch to "Kick 1, Push 1," " Red 1, Blue 1," "Monday 1, Friday 1," "Kurt 1, Peggy 1," and so on.

This exercise:

--Infuses new, creative energy in your knitting
--Improves your memory
--Expands your imagination
--Dispels boredom
--Merges your knitting with your life, past and present

Revising Your Mental Script on Single Rows

When working a single row, for example:

K1, sl 1, P1, sl 1, K2, P2

Break the pattern into separate mental groups, such as:

[K1, sl 1] [P1, sl 1] [K2, P2]

This will provide subconscious rhythm to your mental script and improve your memory--pretty much in the same way an actor memorizes dialogue in a script.

Revising Your Mental Script on Alternating Rows

The reason many knitters make wrong stitches (e.g. purling instead of knitting and vice-versa) is that they become so fixated on a row that they are unable to change their mental script on the next row.

For example, on:

Knit Row: K1, sl 1, K1, sl 1
Purl Row: P1, sl 1, P1 sl 1

On the Knit Row, the knitter thinks to himself as he knits, "Knit one, slip one, knit one, slip one" repeatedly, so that when it is time to switch to the Purl Row, his mental script remains the same and is still reading, "Knit one, slip one, knit one, slip one" instead of "Purl one, slip one, purl one, slip one".

Instead of using the usual and traditional script such as that mentioned above, revise it to read, "Make one, slip one, make one, slip one..." and so on, on every row, being aware, before commencing each row, that you are on a Knit Row or on a Purl Row.

Do try it.

It works.

When I am knitting, my Conscious is so sharply focused that my Unconscious rises and expands like a sail, allowing psychic messages to come in.

Insight is the sudden ability to understand the logic behind a stitch and how it falls within a pattern.

Every stitch is a brush stroke.

Every lot is a tone.

Ground Plan for a Dollhouse: A Tool for a Workshop in Creativity

March 7, 2015

I finished making this knitted ground plan for a dollhouse, to be used in a creativity workshop that I am conducting for "disadvantaged" children in Singapore.

In the mid-70s I was enrolled for an M.A. in Clinical Psychology, and most of my practicum was in leading play therapy sessions for the emotionally disturbed. I had a four-foot dollhouse with an elevator and, of course, a lot of the smaller ones. All of them were culture-bound; some Filipino children had difficulty relating to them. Moreover, the dollhouse roofs always were visual obstructions, and it was rather awkward to rearrange dolls and dollhouse furniture inside the rooms while tending to knock down everything else.

In my knitted dollhouse, portions can be folded under as the workshop facilitator or therapist deems right. Rooms can also be elevated by placing books beneath the knitted work.

From bottom, there is a street (the social image) and a strip of grass leading to the entrance to the lot, which is bordered by a pink rose hedge (the defense mechanisms). The living room on the right is in old rose (the persona), a visual transition from the rose hedge. The dining room (willingness to share) on the left is in orange; above it is the kitchen in pale pink (management of resources) on the left and a study in yellow (solitude, mental activity, experimentation) on the right. A portion of the study room is lined in pale pink; the subject may be informed that it is either a wall of bookshelves or a secret vault. There is a midpoint of the cross-shaped blue passage (the center of consciousness). The grass and the passage turn darker in shade above, signaling the approach to the unconscious--the realm of the Shadow.

Above left, in magenta, is the parents' bedroom; to the right, in pale blue, is the children's bedroom. Between them is a T/B, which, like the kitchen and the bookshelves/secret vault, is in pale pink.

The rose hedge turns darker and the grass fades into earth above. The swimming pool (or pond, if the subject prefers) is a 1950s kidney-shape which I deliberately made to somewhat look like a fetus (regression).

Beyond the rose hedge (the defense mechanisms) is an empty lot on the left, in dark blue (the collective unconscious) and a public playground on the right in brown (a stage for the Shadow or for fantasy personages). Again, the boundaries here are in pale pink.

This work is washable, foldable, highly portable, easy to store, and measured to accommodate standard dollhouse furniture, which I did not bother to include in this photo. It can, by the way, double up as a small blanket, a sofa throw, or a shawl.