Can't do that thing, that keepin' still

I have discovered that my default response to someone's tragedy or distress is to knit them something.

Having grown up with the conviction that if I put my mind to a task I can do it, it's frustrating that for all the opposable thumbs and large brain case of my species I am so impotent to fix people's problems. I can't make the library find the second disc of Terminator. I can't make cats or family or the economy or stomach rats behave. I can't induce sleep. I can't provide the perfect careers for my graduating friends. I can't keep the servers from crashing. I can't add more hours to the day to help with the homework load. I can't make differential equations or physics homework make sense. I don't have a green thumb for growing money trees. I definitely can't cure terminal diseases. Hell, I can't even make the sniffles less sniffly.

It is totally, completely, and utterly mind-boggingly frustrating that I am not omnipotent. I must have been asleep in line when they handed that power out.

So what can I do with my opposable thumbs and brain? Procure sticks and yarn for slow magic. Call me voo-doo, but I do believe there is power in handknits. I believe there's some good mojo going on.

Exhibit A:

I fully realized my mojo theory several months ago when Mountain Man nearly bled to death from a stomach ulcer. I immediately acquired yarn and made an owl hat.

I even made a doofy post about it.

I only knit on it when I was feeling peaceful. I frogged the first try, afraid of the bad mojo from miscounting and refused to pull my usual compromise of sneaking in k2togs or m1s. I knit with yarn that was not only a manly color that matched Mountain Man's wardrobe, but was also environmentally friendly, like Mountain Man himself.

I thought if I could knit my protection, affection, and (admittedly limited) healing powers into the stitches. There is a Head Guard Owl equipped with amber eyes, staring down fate or karma or God or the swine flu or whatever is out there.

Right now he is staring down the camera as it tries to steal his soul.

The Head Guard Owl has a circle of minions at his beck and call. Between them, the Head Guard Owl and his minions fill 360 degress full of watchfullness.

Then I had enough yarn left over to make a cowl of 3x2 ribby goodness, because I firmly believe one can't have enough ribbing in life.

Exhibit A with Exhibit B: Mmm, ribby.

So far it's a system that works okay (except I haven't fully figured out to do when fellow knitters are in distress, since changes are most of them can knit things for themselves that are prettier and better fitting than mine). Mostly I find that I just need to knit faster.