How to Get Back Into Knitting When Life Gets in the Way

Aug 17

Maybe your knitting has been sitting untouched for a week.

Maybe it's been six months.

You walk past the project bag and think about picking it up, but then you remember that you don't know what row you're on. Or you're too tired. Or you only have twenty minutes and that hardly seems worth it.

So you tell yourself you'll get back to it when you have more time.

But somehow, more time never seems to arrive.

If you've been wondering how to get back into knitting after a break, you don't need to catch up or commit to knitting every day. Start by finding your project, figuring out the next step, and knitting for just ten minutes. The goal isn't to make significant progress. It's simply to make returning to your knitting feel easy again.

Why is it so hard to get back into knitting?

Sometimes the biggest obstacle isn't finding time to knit, it's getting over the guilt we've attached to not knitting. A quick aside, but true guilt is a signal that you have acted out of alignment with your own values. You wouldn't tell your friend not to spend time taking care of herself, but somehow we hold ourselves to different, often higher, and in my opinion, worse expectations.

We assign ourselves guilt for not knitting. And we treat it as evidence of bigger statements:

I never finish anything.
I shouldn't start something new when I have all these unfinished projects.
I bought this yarn months ago and haven't touched it.
I used to knit all the time.

What happened to me?

Choosing to pick up your needles isn't just about knitting a few rows. It comes with everything you think you should have done already.

But our knitting doesn't keep score, it doesn't care how long it's been since you've worked on your project. And you don't have to "make up for lost time". You can just pick it up and start again.

5 Ways to Start Knitting After a Break

Remove the pressure of perfection

You don't need to make a big promise that you'll knit every night from now on, forever. I am way more realistic than that. I really don't want you to treat this like another item on your ever-growing to-do list. Instead, I want you to practice returning to your knitting.

What does that mean?

Returning means picking up your knitting today, without worrying about whether or not you'll have time tomorrow.

A sustainable knitting practice isn't necessarily one where you never miss a day, but rather knowing how to come back to it.

Mark your first knitting session reasonably do-able

Don't wait for the elusive "free-time" that will never come. Carve out 10 minutes from some other activity. No matter how much laundry you do, there will always be more laundry. The dishwasher will always need to be emptied. Your inbox will always have new incoming emails that need to be read, sorted, and replied to. So take 10 minutes for yourself.

Ten minutes might not look like a lot of progress with your knitting. You're not going to be finishing a sleeve or a sweater, but that's not the point.

Your first goal is to reconnect with the feeling of your body sitting down, holding your needles, working a few stitches and doing something that is entirely just for you. If you need help, set a timer for yourself and get up when the timer goes off. And stop whenever you need to without any guilt of not knitting for "longer". But if you want to keep going, do that.

Make it easy on yourself

The easiest way to turn something into a habit is to place it near a part of your routine that you want to change. Let's say it's the end of the day and you plop down exhausted on the couch with your tea or wine. Rather than grabbing your phone to decompress you spot your knitting in the corner. It is now so much easier to pick it up because it's right in front of you. So today, I am going to give you one simple task - get your knitting ready for future you.

Find your project, make sure you know how to access the pattern, and keep a project tracker handy (analog or digital) so you'll always know what row you were on, and the next step you need to work on.

Then put this somewhere it's easy to reach so that you can just pick up and knit when you have your 10-minute moment.

Be intentional with your project choice

Make sure you're choosing projects that you want to wear, but also start to look at the knitting experience you want to have. Be thoughtful in your pattern and yarn choice. Be intentional with stitch patterns, and think about the mindset you'll be in when you spend your ten minutes. Let's say you've had a really stressful day, knitting a complex cable pattern may not be the best choice. Or let's say you had a (rare) smooth day and you feel up for taking on that cable pattern. Know your moods and find a project to complement them. Choose something that will inspire you.

Measure your progress differently

Rather than looking at lists of projects crossed off or completed pieces, I want to challenge you to define your progress differently. Yes, it's easy to see what you've accomplished through finished objects, but it can also feel defeating when you don't see that pile grow. Social pressure to "keep up" is part of why we need these 10 minutes in the first place. Finished projects are not the most valuable part. Spending a few quiet minutes making something tangible with your hands after a day spent doing things for everyone else. You don't need an FO to prove that your time mattered.

How to find lost motivation

If you've followed step 3, but are still struggling, or you've lost your motivation, I invite you to start smaller. Don't start with the lofty goal of "getting back into knitting". Re-frame it as "I'm going to knit for 10 minutes". You've made the task smaller, you've time-boxed it, and made it do-able. And you'll find that motivation often follows action. You don't necessarily have to feel inspired before you begin. You'll probably feel it later. Maybe even days later. It's still worthwhile.

How often do I need to knit?

There is no set amount of knitting time that's required for it to "count". A daily knitting practice would be wonderful, but again, my focus is building a sustainable knitting practice. That means it needs to be something that you can return to regularly, rather than another habit you worry you'll fail at maintaining. Some days you'll knit more, some days you'll knit less, and some days you'll knit not at all.

You can always come back.

Try a 10-minute knitting reset tonight

Tonight I invite you to find the project that has been waiting for you. Put your phone down, make yourself a drink (tea, wine, or whatever feels right) and give yourself 10 minutes. Don't worry about how much you knit, and whether you did or didn't knit yesterday. Just knit.

Because your knitting isn't keeping score and it will always be there whenever you're ready to begin again.

Start the free 10-minute knitting reset →

Looking for a project you'll want to come back to?

Browse the Kirsten Joel Designs collection of size-inclusive knitting and crochet patterns and choose something that fits in your life.