“Selfish Knitting”

Christmas is over, and with it the joy (and stress) of knitting gifts for others. We as crafters now have time to knit for ourselves – “selfish knitting,” we call it. But why is knitting for yourself selfish? You are taking your time and your money and your skill and turning it all into a thing. Why shouldn’t that thing be for you? Why does the world assume that just because you make something – whether something functional or artistic (or both) – that it must be for someone else?

I think it comes from us not taking care of ourselves, not placing adequate emphasis on our own personal needs. We knit because we love it. But when you are knitting on a deadline or knitting something you don’t like or with a yarn you hate, where is the enjoyment in that? If knitting is about finding joy or peace or contentment or whatever knitting brings you personally, we should each strive to knit primarily those things that make us happy.

So go knit something you love. I hope it’s wonderful.