I read in some knitting blog or other the other day how the writer always took her knitting with her to work, but she never knit on it at all, it was just her security blanket, so to speak. I wondered at the time whether the "I never knit on it at all at work" thing was the kind of thing we write to cover ourselves when we do non-work things at work (not that I ever do, of course!), but she was probably being honest.
I take my knitting to work, too, and almost never knit while I'm there, so the "security blanket" thing really hit home. That's exactly what it is for me. It's also my talisman against boredom. That's why I used to carry a book with me at all times--I've kind of gotten away from that, although I never go anywhere to eat by myself without one, or anywhere that I might have to wait. But back to the knitting--I will occasionally knit a couple of rows on my lunch time, but usually what I end up doing is reading blogs or answering email or something while I eat my lunch at my desk. So it's obviously kind of dumb to carry it back and forth, and I've been trying not to do it. So I didn't bring it yesterday, and I felt very light and free just carrying my purse into work yesterday morning.
But then Bob called around noon and said that we were expecting the mother of all thunderstorms in the afternoon, with possibly baseball-sized hail and tornadoes, and my first thought was, damn, what if we get stuck here and have to hole up for awhile or go to the basement--I didn't bring my knitting!
Nothing happened, though. By mid-afternoon, the weather forecasters were saying that the storm would hit in the evening, so Bob asked me to come right home and then follow him over to the mall, where he wanted to park his van in the covered parking area in anticipation of the hail (only one car fits in our garage, and while I suppose we could put his in it, and leave mine outside since I have full coverage insurance, I still don't want to risk getting it damaged), then I could bring him home. I got home quickly, and when I came into the house, he was ready to go. I grabbed my knitting, though. When he looked at me oddly, I said it was just in case the storm hit while we were out and I ended up having to sit it out in the parking lot. At least I would have something to do.
But that storm failed to materialize, too. Around 9:00 they took the storm out of the forecast, so we drove over and retrieved his car. I didn't take my knitting this time.
And honestly, the thing about not carrying a book with me anymore? I may not have an actual book with me at all times, but I always have my Palm Pilot, loaded up with a couple of ebooks and several short stories. So I'm set.
