Knotted, plaited yet also unravelled, revealed

Last night i spent some time meditating on the image of wool in response to an idea about handling fear and supporting one another as a dear friend goes through serious illness. Someone had shared about tying string/wool around the wrist and that tiny "thread" of the message got lodged in my soul. Several months ago i had done some work at a dream workshop on a childhood nightmare which seemed to involve an ever-increasing ball of wool chasing me. It was all in black and white and it would recur particularly at times of stress, whether physical illness or emotional struggle. The facilitator invited me to play with drawing/painting the wool gradually unravelling and then perhaps even knitting some wool into a pleasing shape. I picked up a ball of wool at a charity shop, i found a postcard with a pair of knitting needles and some red wol being knitted into LOVE, and then i received a card from a dear friend which showed two characters knitting. These memories came back to me yesterday and i walked with them round the labyrinth in George Square Gardens. As i walked in i repeated my friend's name. As i stood in the centre i asked what i might do. As i walked back out i played with the images of knitting, unravelling and revealing. I decided i would place some form of wool around my wrist and keep it there throughout my friend's treatment. When i searched at home i found 3 materials - wool, April Cornell ribbon, and hemp string. These 3 unlikely companions i then plaited together and tied around my wrist.

Wool knitted creates a beautiful object, a useful thing but it is relatively compact, its length is hidden. Wool unravelled can become messy and it can also stretch a fair distance connecting and binding. There's a lamp-post in Bristo Square that has knitted squares sewn around it. It also has lengths of wool travelling from the post to a nearby tree. Perhaps i can work on this balance between protection and reaching out, between wanting to make something pretty and needing to spread out messily...