This sweater is helping me survive my first semester of graduate school. The body was knit during midterms - one row at a time - at moments when studying just made my brain hurt. It was a tangible measure of the progress I'd made each day (much appreciated at a time when my academic progress seemed very intangible).
I think knitting has become my therapy. I carry a half finished project around like a security blanket, and inevitably turn to it in times of stress/anger/boredom. In the years since I was first dragged into that yarn shop, this craft has taken up increasing amounts of my time and disposable income. Most of my non-knitter friends don't see the value in that.
But I'm pretty sure it's worth it.