Penelope's Web: anything perpetually doing but never done.

"Wife, one thing is certain—not all our soldiers will return from Troy unhurt … So I cannot say whether the gods will let me come back or whether I shall fall on Trojan soil. But I leave everything here in your charge. Look after my father and mother in the house as you do now … And when you see a beard on our boy's chin, marry whomsoever you fancy and leave your home." (Odysseus to Penelope, Homer, Odyssey 18.260).


Penelope waited two decades for her husband Odysseus to return to Ithaca from the Trojan War, not knowing whether he was dead or alive. In her long and painful wait her sole relief was to weep and sigh all day long, and to lie in her 'bed of sorrows' that she watered with tears until she fell asleep. In the meantime, she was forced to promise the scoundrels that called themselves her SUITORS, the pick of the Ithacan nobility, that she would wed one of them when the shroud of Laertes was finished. She endeavored for three years, weaving it by day and undoing it by night... (Carlos Parada, author of Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology).


I was provided the obligatory course of Greek myths in 7th grade. I haven't thought about all of it for a very long time but I suppose the reason we were required to study Greek mythology was so we'd be able to connect its long-standing influence from ancient culture to the present day. Which makes me wonder if its long-standing influence is exactly the result of the long-standing practice of acknowledging its long-standing influence.... as evidenced in everything from the likes of Shakespeare to contemporary drama.


The 'wizardy and dragon' genre is certainly based in the very mythology. And I've never watched the TV show Lost, but I've recently learned that one of the characters by the name of Desmond Hume, is portrayed as having a faithful love interest who waits at home for him while he remains trapped on the island. Her name is Penny Widmore, in reference to the Penelope myth. I grew up in Southern California, so there stands at least an outside chance that I could have gone to 7th grade with one or more of the creators of that show... But I digress.

After a quick re-reading on Wikipedia, I realize that the Greek mythological tradition makes a pretty good expository on a whole range of human emotion and motivation. Well duh, I guess the word psyche is rooted in the Greek, isn't it? Yes, and so the proverbial Penelope's Web can apply to a lot of the things that make up daily life. And right now, I have no better description of the motivation behind my yarn endeavors than: perpetually doing but never done.

Firstly, knitting helped me maintain my sanity during Nathan's early years in the countless hours we spent waiting during doctor's evaluations and later, behavior and speech therapy. Like most knitters, my desire to knit is born out of the desire to contemplate and create an item. But the desire is not so much in the finished product as it is for the actual doing. For instance, I love contemplating items for baby gifts... but by the time I settle on just the right pattern, start the project several times with several different yarns and actually finish knitting, the occasion that I'd set out to knit for, will be long passed... during which time I probably went out and bought an item for Baby. (First sweater above was intended for R's baby girl, who received an Alexander doll in its stead.)
My long time knitting friends always tease me for being a perfectionist when it comes to knitting. True, they have seen me quite often ripping out finished work to start anew. True, I might have done so in order to fix a mistake I'd discovered. But I don't believe I do it out of a need for a perfect product, most especially because a good portion of my projects will never see completion. It's more the idea that I can rip out my mistake, go back, and repair--- all the while savoring the doing. I also like to think about how I've learned from my knitting mistakes and gained experience for future projects. People certainly learn from their mistakes in life, too. But in life, we aren't able to go back and fix, as we can in knitting.

Here, this head band (designed by Kalurah) is completed--- it was such a fun project, I'm sure I'll want to knit another:


My knitting library currently consists of about 85 books and magazines collected and gifted to me over a period of several years. Each publication contains anywhere from 20 to 30 patterns. Many of the patterns are beyond my knitting/crochet expertise and will probably remain that way. Not enough time or enough yarn to allow more than a fraction of them to ever come to fruition. But I collect the books all the same because it's utterly satisfying sometimes just to look, admire, and regard their impossiblility given the constraints of reality...




So Penelope, here's another 21st Century 'shout out' to you. I feel your pain, with your web thing and all. But it's all good here... because I really don't want to be done with my knitting or for that matter, DONE with knitting either. So really, it's all good.