I've been trying to learn to crochet. I keep getting about 4 inches into a scarf and getting bored, or confused, or annoyed with it, unravelling it, and starting again. I'm on the third or fourth pass on the blasted thing.

Crocheting this way does save on yarn, though.

Doing something I have no inclination to do always helps me to relax. Or possibly it's the killing that follows.

No, way. My moment of Zen is to be found when mopping up all the blood. Oh well, different strokes...

If you were to pick up a craft to relax (ha! I just transfer my anal perfectionism), pick one that's easy to undo. The thing I HATE about knitting is that if you made a mistake seven rows ago, all that work has to be thrown away.

I like it because it's the kind of thing Kyan (I know, I know) was talking about- mindful meditation. Being exactly involved in just what I'm doing.

To me that's skating, and I suspect swordplay would have the same effect. I guess I need my mindful meditation a little more whole-body.

I'm just a seriously non-crafty person. I made a B on a sewing project in 7th grade HomeEc. Which doesn't sound so bad, until you know that every other girl in the class got an A, and that it was the only time I got anything other than an A at any point in middle school.

I love knitting. I wish I were better at it, though -- it's one of those things I learned as a kid but never kept up at a level that allowed me to improve over time. Like ice skating. I can do it, but I've been at a fairly beginner level my whole life.

A lot of times you'll get full instruction on extracting the little bugger, too.

Connie, did that, got the instructions. They didn't help, but I'm going to make Greg do it (right) when he gets home tonight.

Heh. I'm all proud of myself for making Mr. H a scarf involving several kinds of stitches- I look at Susan's link, and I swear it's like someone said, "Ok, now that you can make cereal with milk, let's do crepes Florentine and eggs Benedict with fresh bread toast and gooseberry jam."

I prefer crocheting to knitting, knitting eventually hurts my shoulders.

My sister started knitting to have something to do with her hands when she was kid-minding (she's been a professional kid minder since having her own) that took thought but not too much attention and that she could stop whenever she needed to.

My husband will sometimes say "You could do that" when he sees a craft, but only because he thinks of me as, um, crafty.

I'm just a seriously non-crafty person.

Maybe if you took up a craft related to other interests, like forging swords.

I look at Susan's link, and I swear it's like someone said, "Ok, now that you can make cereal with milk, let's do crepes Florentine and eggs Benedict with fresh bread toast and gooseberry jam."

Totally. I figure if I started knitting today and kept up with it, I might be able to make that jumper by the time Annabel's hypothetical younger brother or sister is ready for it. And we're currently planning to wait three or four years before creating such a sibling, given my decidedly non-Prairie Muffin attitude toward my fertility.