How Learning to Knit Has Helped Me as an Entrepreneur

The art form of knitting came to me when I received free yarn and bamboo knitting needles from my local Buy Nothing group on Facebook in the early summer of 2021. I had avoided the craft for many years because I disregarded it as a real art form—wasn’t it just something that grandmas did to make sweaters and mittens for their grandkids?

After doing some YouTube searching for “how to knit for beginners,” I quickly learned that my assumptions about knitting were dead wrong. (Shout out to Sheep and Stitch for having the best videos on different beginner techniques!) There is a thriving community of folks who knit and crochet on and offline, designing new knitting patterns and testing them with their communities as we speak.

How I Got Started Knitting

I started by making simple wall hangings. To me, they were a great beginner-friendly project—wall hangings are rectangular and don’t require any fancy tools or techniques, and I wanted to hang them proudly in my apartment. I admit that I was enticed by all of the “boho” fiber arts wall hangings that are blowing up on Pinterest and Etsy in recent years. The pandemic also seems to have reignited home crafts such as knitting, since we’ve all been stuck at home during quarantine and yearning for something to keep our minds and hands busy while we wait out the uncertainty and trauma of the coronavirus.

A few months in, I’d knitted several wall hangings and an infinity scarf in seed stitch. Then, because I am an ambitious, prolific artist when I become obsessed with a new art form, I decided to try knitting a sweater in late summer of 2021. In the knitting world, going from knitting wall hangings to knitting a sweater in a matter of months is like going from riding a bike with training wheels to riding a unicycle. 

 
 

When I shared my goal, other knitters, even ones who’d been knitting for years, said, “Whoa! I only make hats and scarves. Good on you!” I knew that a sweater would be a leap for my skill set, and I knew I’d likely make mistakes and even have to redo parts of it (which certainly turned out to be true). I knew it would take a long time and it’d be frustrating. But I was hell bent on doing it anyway, and I knew that once I’d finished the sweater, I would be immensely proud of it. 

This sweater would be the first garment I’d ever made for myself.

Knitting this sweater took me four months. I had to take breaks from it at times because I got so frustrated when I had to learn new techniques, such as picking up stitches, knitting in the round (which came with learning how to magic loop—which I intuitively taught myself to do without any help), knitting in twisted rib, shaping, and knitting with double pointed needles. Before this sweater, I had no idea what any of these terms meant or how to do them, and I received a lot of help and encouragement from friends and my community. 

Finishing My First Knitted Sweater!

In early December, I finally finished the cobalt blue sweater in cotton yarn, and blocked it, and as soon as it was dry, I wore it proudly. Because I’d taken the time to redo parts that didn’t fit me quite right, the sweater fit me perfectly. I love wearing it. I’ve found that the more time that goes by, I feel more proud of it. The mistakes that felt glaring when I first finished it are not noticeable to me anymore. 

How does all of this apply to my business? I’ve learned a few things from this whole experience of finishing a sweater project, and from knitting in general. Let’s dive in:

1. You’re going to do it badly at first! Smile at yourself and your mistakes, and thank yourself for sticking with it.

I don’t know where this idea came from that we all have to be perfect at something from the beginning. Wherever it came from, let’s agree that that idea needs to die. I’ve purposely kept my first knitted “wall hangings” that are chock full of holes and dropped stitches, and the edges are wobbly AF. Because I am a recovering perfectionist, taking the time to smile at my mistakes and know that this is just the vulnerable, tender beginning of a long journey, felt downright healing. And it was. 

There are so many new skills I learned in the first 18 months of running my branding and marketing consultancy. Invoicing, pricing, learning the art of the sales call, learning how to set boundaries and listen for red flags, learning how to talk to clients, and straight up building my own processes from the ground up. 

There have been many times when I’ve felt so overwhelmed by all of these new skills I had to learn, and so down on myself for not having them all down perfectly, that I’ve felt paralyzed. But I’ve learned to take breaks, check in with others, and breathe. The good news is that I don’t have to do it all perfectly at first, and even though I’m not perfect, my clients know that I have a lot to offer them.

2. It’s vital to celebrate your wins, however small.

I loved sharing my knitting triumphs and finished pieces online when they were done, and receiving the compliments from others, as well as stories about their knitting journeys. Without celebrating your wins, you get into a downward spiral of constantly judging yourself, and trapping yourself in a loop of negative thinking—all with the underlying belief that you’re not enough no matter how many wins you accumulate. 

The truth is that more of your wins are going to be small. You’ll only have a few big wins along the way. So the more you can celebrate your small wins of consistency and grit, the more self-love you practice, the more you will have the courage to keep stepping into the uncertainty of what may happen next.

3. It’s okay to take breaks. They’re actually necessary to make real progress.

When you return after your break, not only will you have rested, but you’ll have learned from the previous mistakes that you made. With knitting, I found that when I made a major mistake and had to redo a huge section of my sweater, the next time I tried it, I did it nearly perfectly. 

 
 

Celebrate your learning process. It’s vulnerable, and it’s sweet. Have compassion for your mistakes and your learning process like you would a small child learning to ride a bike. That’s what you’re doing, too. And resting is a big part of this process so that your brain can build the strength and courage to try it again—and succeed.

4. Small, incremental progress really, truly adds up and suddenly, you have created a masterpiece.

There were many times when I wanted to quit knitting my sweater, and it felt like I was never going to finish. All told, it took me probably 120 hours to complete. But I kept at it, and I held onto hope and the faith that it would be so worth it when I was done. I knew that I’d be so proud of having completed a garment myself, for myself. And I was right.

When I think about the first iteration of my business website, it feels very similar. My initial website had maybe 3 pages on it. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, and I was pretty scared of sharing it with the rest of the world. Over time, I’ve added more information, blog articles, and case studies to it, as well as graphics I’ve designed myself and feel proud of. When I compare how the site feels now to when I first launched it, it feels like night and day. The same goes for my client work and my business. I spend my days differently, and I’ve learned a ton of lessons (that I’m sharing with you now). 

I’m proud of all of those times I just kept going when I felt like giving up.

5. Sometimes progress feels like you’re not getting anywhere, and sometimes it feels maddeningly repetitive.

Knitting is repetitive. But that repetition is also comforting. Once your hands learn the muscle memory of knitting, you can do it almost without thinking. 

There are times when I miss the forest for the trees, and I convince myself that I have to overhaul my business and client project processes in order for them to be worthwhile. But it’s not true. By repeating a process over and over, you’re teaching yourself excellence—because more often than not, without even knowing it, you’re improving with every repetition. I promise.

 
 

6. Community is everything. I repeat: Community. Is. Everything.

I had a friend and a neighbor help me read and understand the knitting pattern of my sweater several times. I benefited from my community on social media cheering me on while I made (painfully slow) progress. They celebrated my wins and my mistakes with me. By sharing my mistakes, others could chime in and share that they’d made similar mistakes, too.

Since sharing my knitting journey online, I’ve inspired about 7 friends to start knitting or pick knitting back up. We aren’t meant to do this life alone, and we certainly aren’t meant to do hard things alone.

This is also true in my business. I’ve joined several Slack channels and freelancer communities, and I’ve connected with other femme freelancers/business owners who are working to overcome all of the messages that women and femmes have received across our lifetimes that we are less knowledgeable and capable than men. By banding together, we can share tips, techniques, resources, processes, and our mindsets to overcome these painful and patriarchal messages. We can also teach each other how to do higher quality work, which is something I care deeply about.

7. Everyone’s journey (with knitting or otherwise) is different, and it’s futile to compare yourself to others.

What I found while entering the world of knitting is that some people love to take on large projects like sweaters and tops and dresses, and some people are perfectly content to make wonderful mittens, hats, and scarves. Some knitters do complex cable stitches, and some do beautiful, staggeringly intricate colorwork.

Everyone has different reasons for knitting and derives pleasure from various aspects of it, and their relationship to the craft is unique to them. I learned that it would be absurd to say to myself, Well, Rebecca has knitted three sweaters this year, so why haven’t I done that? The fact is: I don’t want to knit three sweaters in a year; and for me, doing so would be a breakneck pace of knitting, especially as a beginner. 

I get to choose my journey—both as an artist and as a business owner.

My relationship to my craft and to my clients, to my project work, are as unique to me as my fingerprint. Everyone has different histories and skill sets and interests from me, so comparing myself to someone else as if we’re the same is just silly and a waste of time and energy. 

Instead, I’ve worked to shift my thinking from comparison to: What can I learn from this entrepreneur? What can I share with them that I’ve learned? How can we help each other and lift each other up?

8. If you’re a creative, having multiple creative projects at a time is helpful.

Because knitting and building a successful business are both a long game, it’s easy to lose perspective while you’re in the middle of it. Sometimes I feel tired from making a big push toward something, whether that’s a sweater sleeve, or writing a brand identity document for a client. After a big push, I often feel like I need a breather so I don’t get lost in what I’m doing, and don’t get too fixated on my mistakes. Being able to turn to another project to palette cleanse is a healthy practice of self-care, and keeping my creativity flowing, even at a slow, relaxed pace. 

Sometimes in the middle of a work project, I’ll take a break by knitting a few rows on a project I’m working on. Inevitably, my brain works on the problems of the first project in the background, and by the time I return to it, I feel refreshed, and often have new solutions to a problem I was stuck on previously. 

In Conclusion: Just Keep Going

Listen, I wrote this article just as much for my benefit as I did for yours. We’re all unlearning harmful messages about perfectionism, endless productivity, and competition along the way. These things can really get in our way—I know they’ve gotten in mine. But knitting taught me that I can do things I never thought I could do before.

 
 

To be honest, three years ago, I never thought I’d be running a successful marketing and branding business, either. There are days when I still question what the hell I’m doing. But I know in my bones that I’m capable, I’m smart, I’m a leader, and I can do this. I have something to offer the world that no one else does, and I know in my heart that you do, too. 

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