Knitting and Music (Finished Secret Square, Maison Tavel, and Knitting Madonnas)

ross-posting to the neglected knitting blog today!

With all the excitement on the writing front, and busy real life, knitting has slid onto the back burner. I see intriguing patterns, and have family and friends with new babies, but can't seem to get a project started that's larger than one square to donate to a group project:

Starting out...

Oh no, I made a mistake and have to tink (unknit)...

Whew! Managed to finish a square!

Now for the inspection...

I'm also still compiling knitting-in-public images and references, as I see them. One of the more recent was a portrait of a knitter in Maison Tavel, the oldest house in Geneva:

Also came across a website listing 46 Interesting Facts About Knitting, including about its origins and history:

"In the 1350s, 'knitting Madonnas' began to appear in Europe, depicting the Virgin Mary knitting. These include Our Lady Knitting (c. 1325–1375) and Visit of the Angel (1400–1410). These paintings are important markers that indicate when knitting entered Europe and how knitting was done. ... There were shepherds in the Landes swamps in France known as tchangues ('big legs') who would knit on stilts while they watched their flocks. The need for stilt walking and shepherds were obliterated by the early 20th century when the government planted a forest of maritime pines over the swamps."

Apparently, knitting for 30 minutes burns 55 calories!

Knitting or otherwise keeping my hands busy is sometimes a good way to work through a plot problem or character conversations. Other times, music can be a source of inspiration:

I've written a couple of thousand words this past week, but am not much closer to finalising the short story. Two weeks to go till the deadline!

What other hobbies inspire your writing (or vice versa)?