It's in your hands

When knitting means so much more than just sticks and string

“It’s in your hands” has to be simultaneously one of the most empowering statements but also one of the most terrifying. Empowering because you are in control, you are in charge of your own project, steering your own course.

Terrifying because - same.

There is no one else to blame when things don’t turn out as planned or when you get stuck. There is no one else to share the burden with when things get tough. It’s a bit like the universe shrugging it’s shoulders and letting you get on with it.

Where you sit on the empowered/terrified seesaw is a bit like a glass half full/empty mindset. Some people genuinely relish new challenges and love the idea of forging their own path. Others are more reluctant. And most of us in the middle can fit into either camp depending on the project or area under discussion.

Most of the time I am fine being in control of a project - I was never fan of group work - and if anything I can veer towards the ‘control freak’ side of things. But in a novel situation, one where I lack experience or confidence the same freedom can make me freeze - and just do nothing.

When it comes to knitting - and doesn’t it always - I am definitely in the empowerment category. I can rarely follow a pattern as written and more often than not I will add my own little twists and deviations. Sometimes intentional but not always 🤣

I love to create my own designs (obviously) and I love sharing my work with others - giving them to chance to feel similarly empowered when they pick up needles and yarn. The idea that we are in charge of our own knitting or crochet sounds so simple, but like most simple ideas it can be the most challenging.

I am always struck by how many people will knit a sweater, for example in the exact same colour shown in the pattern. Or that a knitter will get in touch, cross that the exact same colourway I used in a sock design is no longer made by an indie yarn dyer.

Once you have bought a pattern and it is in your hot little hands you are free to interpret it as you wish. I love some of Stephen West’s shawl patterns for example but I’m not a fan of brioche in large amounts. So the last shawl I knit I simply…replaced the brioche sections with garter stitch. I very much doubt anyone noticed and I actually managed to finish a project rather than getting frustrated halfway through and bundling the whole thing into the wardrobe of shame.

If your sock pattern has an all over lace pattern that you find really fiddly to work - you can modify it to just have a single panel and work the rest in stocking stitch. Or just opt to have the lace at the front of the sock, giving you a ‘plain knitting rest’ on the back.

The choice is yours - it’s literally in your hands. And for me that’s one of the most powerful things about yarn crafts. Yes we might only be talking about yarn and needles but never underestimate the sense of achievement and agency that creating finished things gives you.

In a world that wants to you to feel powerless, knitting gives you back control. And I think that now, more than ever, that’s worth remembering.