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Theresa "Sam" Houghton's avatar

I know, right? I'd love to have this attention span back. I'm trying to re-cultivate it by embracing a form of digital minimalism and scouring my schedule for free moments to read, knit, and play the piano.

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Sue Cauhape's avatar

It's amazing how all three of those activities redirect your brain. Add word puzzles or pottering about in the garden or housework and you've got a rich and fulfilling mental life (teehee). Getting onto to Substack as a writing platform has broadened the brain cells in another direction too. Just anything physical, mental, or social away from the scrolling is beneficial.

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Theresa "Sam" Houghton's avatar

So true! Knitting is great for me because I'm very pattern-oriented. I tend to think in patterns or sets. I've done it for so long that my hands know the rhythm of the stitches, and I can work on certain projects while doing other things. Sock knitting + reading = doubly productive!

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Sue Cauhape's avatar

I'm impressed. Knitting socks and reading??? Holy merde! I've gotten to the point where I can knit garter stitch without too many blunders while staring into space or watching a movie. Kudos!

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Theresa "Sam" Houghton's avatar

It's a process! But a basic sock is pretty much just knitting around and around for rows on end, so it's largely automatic after a while.

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Sue Cauhape's avatar

Until you get to the heel.

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Theresa "Sam" Houghton's avatar

Oddly, I can pretty much do that without looking, too, lol. But I've knit a lot of socks.

Cabled things, now that's a different story...

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