As a young mum, I knitted jumpers and cardigans for my children to keep them cosy in the harsh English winters. When we moved to Far North Queensland, Australia, there really wasn’t much call for heavy sweaters because living in the Tropics meant we were already…heavy sweaters. I’d always found the process relaxing and so knitting, and then crochet, became something to do to unwind.  

When the kids grew up and moved away from FNQ, I was able to offload the odd blanket here and there. Socks were also welcomed.  

Luckily, I found a new reason to knit. 

During my PhD, I was deeply frustrated with a particular aspect of my writing. I was unable to find the words I needed and so after staring at the screen for way too long, I sat down with my knitting needles and decided to tackle a new pattern I’d found on the internet. I stabbed at the yarn with my needles, misread the instructions, unravelled a few rows, but eventually found my way with the pattern. I was knitting confidently when the words I’d been chasing for my writing earlier suddenly came forward. It took a few more times of this happening before I realised I could harness knitting and crochet as a strategy to help with obstacles in the writing process. Once I knew it worked, I didn’t waste time at my desk getting upset with the missing words. Instead, I grabbed a notebook and pen and sat with my knitting. As the solutions revealed themselves, I noted them down and continued knitting until I had all the answers I needed. 

The process works for both creative and scholarly writing and I’ve written about them academically here. I’ve discovered that I can also use knitting and crochet as ways to prepare for writing, too. When I’m thinking through initial ideas for a story or for an academic paper, I turn to knitting or crochet first. Creativity facilitates creativity.