11 Other Life Skills We’ve Learnt From Knitting

We all know that being able to knit is a wonderful skill in itself, but there are actually so many other skills we develop along the way!

Patience *

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Good things come to those who wait. Not all projects can be made in a weekend, but there’s nothing wrong with that. We knitters will happily spend months on a Fair Isle throw to fit a double bed, because we know how beautiful it will be when we’ve finished.

* Does not apply when we are waiting for our yarn order to arrive!

Thrift

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Who doesn’t love a good stash buster? That huge bag of DK-weight yarn that we’ve kept for Justin (that’s Justin Case, if you don’t know him personally) means we can keep on knitting even when we’re tightening our belts. We also demonstrate thrift when shopping on the high street, as is shown when we are frequently heard to say: “I’m not paying that for a woolly hat – I’ll make my own!”

Dexterity

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Have you ever seen a knitter working cables on double-pointed needles? There are sharp points everywhere, but while it may look tricky, for us handy folk (see what we did there!), it’s merely a case of using all our digits to balance needles and manoeuvre yarn – we don’t even break into a sweat.

Maths

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People are always saying how they haven’t used maths since school, but that is certainly not true for knitters. Even if it’s just some basic addition when you are increasing two stitches on every row, it still counts (pun intended!). Sometimes we have more advanced calculations to make, especially if we’re customising a pattern, and those hours spent in the classroom make it that bit easier.

Humility

Source: reddit.com

We’ve all been there…

Us to significant other: “This pattern doesn’t make sense. I’ve read it three times and it’s complete nonsense. Doesn’t add up at all!”
Significant other: “Err…”
Us: “Look, it clearly says, ‘k4, p4, k1, k2tog, k1’ … hang on… no, wait…. Oh!.. k2tog… nevermind!”
*Cue sheepish grin*
Significant other: “Err…”

Misplaced Pattern Rage can humble even the most determined of knitters and we are wiser because of it.

Determination **

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Recognise these comments?
“I must finish this row!”
“I can’t go to bed until I’ve corrected this mistake”
“I won’t let this tiny project beat me!”

Yep, us too.

** can sometimes be mistaken for stubbornness

Multi-tasking

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There’s nothing like a spot of simultaneous shaping to keep the brain busy.
For example, “Continue to shape the neck as set AT THE SAME TIME decrease for the shoulders.” No problemo!
Or
“Keep track of the latest plot twist on Game of Thrones, while increasing on every sixth then fourth row 23 times”
So, we’ve never seen that in a printed pattern but we knitters are a clever bunch. Easy!

Resourcefulness

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Quick! We’ve been invited to a baby shower with just a few day’s notice. What do we do? Why, head to our pattern archive, of course, and pick out a quick knit baby pattern. This is followed by a swift toddle to our yarn stash, which naturally has something in the suitable weight. Then, we’ll pick up your needles, get clicking and be sewing up by teatime.

Adaptability

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Even something as simple as changing a cardi design from short sleeves to long shows how flexible we are. If a pattern’s not perfect for us, we think about how we can make it so. A few tweaks and adjustments here and there, and the pattern becomes a staple of our knitted wardrobe.

Problem solving

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It can cause some frustration, but not all patterns are written the same way. Perhaps the original pattern was published in a different language. It doesn’t mean it’s incorrect, it’s just written differently. We know people can interpret instructions in different ways, and are happy to sit and think it through.

Focus

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Many of us like to knit in front of the TV, on public transport or in the pub, so there’s always something going on. While we’ve already said we are good at multitasking, there are other times when we need to zone out completely and concentrate on counting our stitches. It’s a sort of crafty selective hearing and is very useful.

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