Project 3: Knit an Infinity Scarf

Knitting and I have a weekly date on my couch – and have for about the last 6 years. Each year, for the past 7 years, I have attempted to learn a new hobby annually – it helped me get over the fact that I wasn’t in school anymore and gave me an outside of work activity. Knitting was the 2014 hobby and is definitely the “stickiest” hobby of everything I’ve tried so far (it’s way cooler than mindful coloring and way healthier than making 3 loaves of bread a week). But, the real reason knitting stuck is that knitting (and also having pets – see the cat + knitting featured in the photos above) is probably one of the single-best things I do to help with anxiety.

I started to knit at a pretty pivotal point from an anxiety standpoint: basically at the point in life where I recall feeling the most anxious but also when I had already started going to therapy to help manage some of my grief and anxiety. This was about four years after my mom passed away (which means I really had only been truly processing her passing for two years). For me, knitting solved a few anxiety and grief related challenges:

First, it allowed me to sit still. After my mom passed, I swear I didn’t stop moving for probably 3 years but a point hit where I missed the ability to just sit and relax and I was so tired that I didn’t even know what it felt like not to be tired (side note: pretty sure I didn’t feel normal energy levels until probably 5-7 years after my moms passing). Knitting provided that chance to sit still and rest my body – I could knit and allow my mind to wander but I was comforted by the needles and yarn between my fingers. Bonus: I started knitting scarves for cancer patients and delivering them to the hospital that helped my mom – the ability to do some acts of service for those patients brought me a lot of comfort.

Second, knitting was there as meditative exercise when I wasn’t able to quiet my mind enough to meditate. Eventually, I started a more weekly meditation practice but for some time, my mom’s passing and the events surrounding it were too tragic for me to process and made meditating scary. Knitting enabled me to think, a bit, but also to focus on counting stitches.

Third, knitting can be done almost anytime and anywhere. I often get most anxious on travel or during times of change. Fun fact: I never travel overnight (anywhere) without knitting. Yes, this means I’ve brought knitting to bachelorette parties, happy hour with friends, had a coworker send a photo to many of my other coworkers of me knitting on a plane, and knit on the beach in Florida (my cousins can attest to this from our annual cousincations).

I’m not going to go into as much detail in this post about how to knit. I’m probably not qualified to explain that but I hope I’ve sold you on the value of knitting. If not, here’s a little summary of articles that point to knitting benefits: https://www.mhanational.org/blog/mental-health-benefits-knitting.

Quick project summary: I recommend starting your knitting journey with a simple scarf using just a knit stitch, large needles, and thick yarn. My personal preference is the Lion Brand Thick N Quick Yarn which you can get at Michaels or on Amazon – it’s not too pricey, easy to learn on, and comes in lots of fun colors. I’d recommend size 13 or 15 needles.

From there, I’d suggest casting on 10 stitches (leave a bit of extra yarn at the beginning) and knitting until you get to the length that suits you. You can then cast off (leave a bit of extra yarn at the end, too) and using a finishing needle, stitch the two sides together. You will have a seam on your scarf if you use this method but it’s easy to do at home! If you’re more advanced or ambitious, you can use the kitcheners stitch to bring both sides of the scarf together (in this scenario, you would not cast off).

If you don’t know how to knit, fear not! There are tons of great youtube videos and books available! Reach out if you want specific recommendations on these for your skill level!

Things I loved about this project: I think I sold you on knitting upfront. But, just in case I didn’t here are a couple things I love about knitting:

-Scarves make great gifts! And people love an infinity scarf. If you don’t have a family member or friend who appreciates a scarf, they’re also great to donate.

-You can watch TV while you knit. In fact, I watched almost 20 seasons of Law and Order SVU while knitting. (Let’s not calculate how many hours of TV that is).

-If you have cats, yarn is a built in cat toy.

What I would do differently: I have heard that “knitting in the round” is a slightly easier way to do infinity scarves and also allows you to do hats, too! I’d like to learn to knit in the round plus a few more stitches in the future.

Things I also enjoyed while doing this project:

The aforementioned: Law and Order SVU

Also, most of the TV I watched while on stay at home order: The Circle, Too Hot to Handle, Listen to Your Heart, Love is Blind (and other random reality TV shows).

Pre-covid: riding the Amtrak train to see family and friends.