The internet is full of blog posts with affirmations for small business owners, for moms, for athletes, for kids struggling with anxiety. Know what I don’t see much of? Affirmations for knitters.
So I decided to do something about it. Here are seven affirmations that I think nearly every knitter could stand to hear at least once.
1. You deserve to use the yarn you want to use now. You don’t need to wait until your skills are stronger.
I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve encountered knitters who have a skein of yarn saved until they feel like their skills are good enough for that yarn. Some knitters won’t even buy the yarn they want to use because they think their skills aren’t enough.
But the thing is, knitting is a forever journey with no end point. You’ll continue getting better at it forever and ever, so long as you keep practicing. That also means you’ll never reach an end point where your skills are fully developed.
So use the yarn you enjoy with the skills you have now. You won’t ruin the yarn (with the exception of really delicate yarns like mohair or cashmere that can’t handle a lot of frogging, but even then, I say use the yarn if you want to).
2. Your knitting is valid.
Knitters can be a self-deprecating bunch. It’s so common to encounter a knitter who downplays their skills by saying, “Oh, I only knit with chunky yarn” or “I only knit baby things” or “I only knit vanilla socks,” as if knitting those things is somehow less valid than knitting other things.
Knitting isn’t a competition, though, and you don’t have to prove yourself by constantly knitting more and more complex projects. Do you use yarn and two pointy sticks or a loom or a machine where you’re cranking handles/sliding pieces back and forth? Congrats. You’re a knitter.
3. Your yarn choice is the right yarn choice for you.
Setting aside situations where a yarn is functionally wrong for a project (like, say, pure linen yarn for a close-fitting winter cap), nobody gets to tell you that your yarn is wrong.
Whether you’re using acrylic or budget wool or a mid-range yarn from your LYS or hand-dyed yak from an extremely hard-to-find source, your yarn is your business.
I’ve written here before about how I have no patience with yarn snobbery for its own sake. Around here, we don’t look down on yarns just because of their price point or their fiber content. You deserve to knit with the yarn that works for you, your needs, and your budget, and only you have enough information to make that decision.
4. Knitting for yourself is an act of care.
“Selfish knitting” is not a phrase you’ll see me using around here. That’s because I firmly believe knitting for yourself isn’t selfish. It’s taking care of yourself with love and intentionality, and that’s beautiful.
It’s especially beautiful when so many of us exist in economies and societies that push us to be ever more efficient and to earn as much money as possible.
When you knit for yourself, you are neither efficient nor profitable, but you *are* doing something that gives you joy and clothing yourself in something that makes you feel good. What a gift.
5. It is okay to spend your time on a hobby that gives you joy.
This one goes hand in hand with our previous affirmation. It’s okay to spend your time knitting just because it makes you happy. You can keep your knits for yourself or give them to others, and either choice is fine.
That’s because we’re all better members of our families and communities when we feel fulfilled, and it’s a lot easier to feel fulfilled when we spend a little time on a regular basis doing things that give us joy. It’s okay to take half an hour and knit a few rounds.
It’s a message all of us could stand to hear, but I know from experience that the moms of small kids especially need to hear it. It’s okay. You’re not a bad mom for spending a little time on a hobby that helps you stay connected with yourself.
6. Making mistakes is a normal part of knitting. You’re not a bad knitter just because you made a mistake.
Those of us with younger kids have probably noticed a real shift in thinking at school in the last decade or so. Now, teachers focus on helping kids learn about having a growth mindset, an approach to learning where you’re defined less by the idea that you have fixed characteristics and more by the way you approach learning new things.
When many of us were younger, though, that wasn’t the case. As a result, a lot of us adult knitters struggle with perfectionism. “Practice makes perfect,” right? Well, not so much. Not in this case.
Mistakes are part of the process, and even the most experienced knitters make them. Heck, I’ve been knitting for 17 years and designing for 6, and I STILL make mistakes on a daily basis. Mistakes don’t make you a bad knitter. The only thing that can make you a bad knitter is putting down your knitting and never picking it up again.
7. Your stash is fine. No matter how big or small it is, it’s fine.
There’s a lot of bashful whispering among knitters about how much yarn we have stashed away in boxes and cupboards, and conversely, there’s a good amount of awkwardness from other knitters who have no stash to speak of.
The truth is, either situation is fine. You make the decisions that work for you. If having a large stash gives you joy and helps you always have yarn on hand for your projects, go for it. If you prefer having little to no stash and just buying yarn when you need it, that’s good, too.
Because this is the internet and things can go sideways quickly, I do feel the need to add this caveat: if your stash is causing problems for you, either because it’s making space in your home unusable or because the urge to add to your stash is having negative financial effects, that’s a different scenario. In those situations, it’s worth talking to somebody about getting help and making changes.
But otherwise, if your budget is fine and your living space serves you well, it’s nobody’s business whether you have 1 skein of yarn or 100 skeins of yarn. Enjoy your yarn. Store what you want. Use it or don’t. Whatever you choose to do is just fine.
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Thank you for this. I’m a slow knitter and I get discouraged by the other much faster knitters. I’ve been knitting a long time but I’m just so slow.
It’s definitely not a race! Whatever you knit at the pace that works for you is just right.
That was just lovely to read, thank you 😊
Thank you for this lovely collection of affirmations. I so often meet women who only knit for others, which I think is wonderful, but as our conversations progress, I wonder if they don’t think they deserve something fabulous of their own. And some people assume that if I’m knitting, I’m knitting a gift for others. I love to make my own clothes and wear them.
I would add that, although no one should make a knitter feel bad about their yarn choices, there is nothing wrong with gently moving our fellow knitters away from petroleum-based fibers. Our planet needs this!
Thanks so much,
Kathy