Knitting is one of my hobbies, and I had been doing it on and off for a long time. I was always curious about learning how to knit, but I was busy for learning other things.

Fourteen years ago, I started learning china painting in the States. Back then, my English wasn't good enough but when I saw a horse painting on a porcelain tile online, I made up my mind that I absolutely wanted to learn how to paint like that. There was a china painting school in Arizona, and the artist who had painted the horse was teaching his techniques there. I worked hard to improve my English because my husband told me that if I could manage conversational English, he would let me go to the school. I met my best female American friend there and started attending her school too. It's a long story, and I'd like to write about it when I get an opportunity.

So, I started learning china painting in the States. While learning it, my conversational skills improved too. It was just like an old saying, "killing two birds with one stone." However, there was a problem. If you've ever tried to learn a musical instrument in a foreign language, you'll understand what I'm saying perfectly. You have to follow your teacher’s instructions to play the instrument, but your teacher is speaking in a different language. Your brain has to process two languages at once—listening in one and acting in another. My painting teachers spoke only English, so I had to follow their instructions while painting at the same time. At first, this was extremely difficult. I could understand what my teachers were saying, but my hands always stopped while listening to their English. I couldn't do two things at the same time in English even though it was very easy in Japanese. As a result, I was always the last student to finish in my classes.

Since I wanted to solve this problem, I thought about what I could do. Then, I thought knitting might help me because I've been speaking English online with my conversational partners every day. I've never shared what I'm doing while speaking with them, so when they read this post, I hope I won't offend them. Anyway, this worked! I started knitting while chatting. First, it was very difficult too, but gradually, I conquered my problem. Thanks to this, I could take my painting classes smoothly in the States too. Now, I can multitask—doing two or three things at once—in English.

Although I no longer to go back to the States to learn china painting, I'm focusing on creating my own style. Even so, I'm still knitting. Knitting has become a form of meditation for me.

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