It turns out that knitting is less meditative than I’d been led to believe. One has to hold the needles just so and move the yarn a certain way. How meditative is that? Having long, elegant nails does not help unless one is merely trying to show them off. Then it hardly matters what one is really doing. But when one is trying to experience Zen, all this casting on and knitting and purling can be a big distraction. I myself, like any newcomer to Eastern practice, got quite caught up in the motion of the yarn—sliding back and forth, rolling off the ball so enticingly. I wanted to run and leap and twirl around with it, snatch it with my teeth and give it a great death shake, disembowel it even. Why, I was quite beside myself! My Human Female, seeing my utter inability to concentrate in the face of these distractions, finally gave up, declaring that I’m all toes and she’d do it herself. (Well, finally!)

Now that I’ve been there and done that knitting thing, I have a few pointers:

1. Never let anyone call you a Dummy.
2. Always pick the most expensive yarn your Humans can afford.
3. Only pick colors that complement your complexion.
4. Do not let your tail fur get caught in the cast on.
5. Knitting is a learning experience.

What I’ve learned: Knitting itself might be pretty yawn-worthy, but who knew that the yarn could be so much fun?