We usually finish that with “wins the race,” but is that really the point?

It seems counterintuitive that stitching by hand could actually be faster than using a machine for the same project. And yet.

The machine requires the machine. You have to be in the same room as it, set up, sit down, commit a block of time. My hand-stitching goes with me everywhere—to the cafe, to a restaurant, to my living room while listening to a podcast. I recently knitted on the L train. The work happens in the gaps: the ten minutes waiting for a friend, the commute, the end of an evening that isn’t quite long enough for anything else.

This is why I make the project bags I make. The whole point is that the work stays with you.

And here’s another thing we sometimes feel but don’t always say: this is meditation. Turn off the audiobook or the television and let your mind wander.

Find the next entry point and draw the needle through. Adjust your tension and repeat.

That’s the practice. Portable, quiet, and faster than you think.