Knitting Meditation

Slow down your stitching with this knitting meditation. Bringing mindful awareness into the body and into our work makes space for insight to arise. Often times we try to get our knitting done as fast as possible, try to speed through our projects, missing an opportunity for true mindfulness. People often say that knitting is meditation, well, let's make it so, for the next 20 minutes enjoy guided prompts to help you connect to what meditative knitting really feels like.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this knitting meditation.

For this meditation all you will need is yourself,

Your seat,

And whatever knitting project that you're working on that is easy enough that you don't have to look at a pattern.

There's this trend about how can we knit faster?

Let's change our knitting style so that we can complete the stitches quicker,

Finish more projects,

Get more done.

But my friend and knitting teacher Patti Lyons once reminded us,

Don't we love this thing?

Don't we love knitting?

Why are we trying to speed through it?

Why are we trying to hurry ourselves through something that we love?

So in the spirit of that today we're going to slow down and get back to what it felt like to make our very first stitches.

Think back to the time when you were learning and you had to remember each step of a stitch.

The basics,

The mechanics of knitting,

And to really feel what our body is doing when we're creating our stitches.

To pay attention to not only the physicality of it but also how we're feeling when we do it.

It's really wonderful that we engage in a craft that lends itself so well to slowing down.

And I think we can all appreciate the gifts that knitting brings us with slow making.

Making something by hand,

Making something with intention.

And sometimes we overlook that.

We overlook the opportunity to really be knitting.

Sometimes we're listening to audiobooks or watching television or reading or chatting with friends,

Which are all really wonderful ways to unwind and connect.

But this next few minutes we will connect with just our knitting.

And it's my hope that in doing this practice you'll be able to take what you've learned here into your creative practice and also into your daily life.

Maybe someday at some point you'll be spontaneously sparked with the realization that you are doing something.

Which noticing and noting,

Having awareness without judgment,

Is the basis of a concentration meditative practice and gives rise to insight.

So with that,

Let's find our seat,

Comfortable place,

Your favorite knitting chair,

Or maybe you're traveling on a train or on a plane.

Wherever you've decided to receive this,

Get as comfortable as you can and pull out your knitting project.

And before we even start to hold the needles in our hands,

Just hold your knitting project and contemplate the stitches that you've already made.

Contemplate the places you've been with this knitting project.

Think about all that brought this knitting project to where it is today in your two hands.

The yarn.

Do you remember where you were when you received this?

The yarn?

Maybe at your favorite local yarn store.

Maybe it was passed down to you.

Maybe you reclaimed the yarn from a thrift store sweater.

Think about the colors.

Who dyed these colors?

What do they remind you of?

Now pick up your needles and start to knit.

Knit at your natural speed.

Start to notice what happens when you're knitting.

Breathe in and breathe out.

One more time.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Knitting comes almost as easily as the breath.

Breathe in and breathe out.

Now with your needles in your hand,

Let's slow down.

Making your next stitch,

Insert your needle into the stitch knowing that you're inserting the needle into the stitch.

Wrap the yarn knowing that you are wrapping the yarn.

Pull the stitch off of the needle knowing that you are pulling the stitch off of the needle.

Transfer it to your working needle.

Moving to the next stitch.

Insert your needle into the stitch knowing that you are wrapping the yarn around the needle.

Pulling through,

Lifting the stitch,

Transferring it to your working needle.

Insert the needle,

Wrap the stitch,

Pull the stitch off.

How are you holding your hands?

Is there any tension anywhere?

How are you holding your yarn?

How do you get your next stitches ready to be worked?

Notice any tendency you might have to speed up.

And when you're working yarn feels tight,

What do you do with your hands or your body to loosen up the tension on your working yarn?

How do you pull your stitches at the end of the stitch to keep your gauge even?

Lifting,

Wrapping,

Breathing,

And turning when you get to the end of the row.

Notice what your pointer fingers are doing,

What your middle fingers are doing,

Your ring fingers,

And your pinkies.

Where are your thumbs?

Are you making any additional movements with your hands or your body to create your stitches?

Just notice.

Take note.

This is how you knit.

If you've switched from the right side of the work to the wrong side of the work,

What is different?

Just noticing.

And noticing any feelings that come up about how one side of the work looks different than the other.

Notice if you have any feelings about any perceived mistakes that you've made.

Not trying to fix anything,

Not right now.

Just noticing how you feel about that.

And taking the needle in your hand again,

Start to knit across your row.

Or perhaps you're purling now.

How is that different?

How have you switched your hand place?

How have you switched the way you're holding your yarn?

And bring your gentle awareness to any changes that you've made.

When did you make those changes?

It's almost second nature now.

But when we look deeply into what we're doing,

We can appreciate it so much more.

We don't even ask our bodies to do this because it comes so naturally.

But we can be grateful that our bodies do know how.

Notice how your hands fall into a rhythm.

Watch the yarn as it moves from stitch to stitch.

It took many hands and many hearts to make this yarn,

To bring it to life.

To bring it to you.

When you reach a natural stopping point,

I invite you to close your eyes and explore your knitting with your hands.

Feeling your project.

Sensing your project.

Can you tell the difference between individual stitches?

Take a deep breath in and breathe all the way out.

Another deep breath in and breathing out.

With your eyes still closed,

Explore the needles.

What are they made out of?

Are they warm or cold?

What size are they?

You might know this in your mind,

But how does the size feel between your hands and your body?

Between your fingers.

Are they smooth?

Are the tips running them along your fingers?

Are they sharp,

Good for lace,

Or rounded?

Are your needles straight or connected with a cable?

Take the yarn in your hand,

The working yarn,

Like you would if your eyes were open,

But keeping your eyes closed.

See if you can scoot your stitches to the tip of your needle.

Your working needle in the other hand.

And see if you can knit a few stitches with your eyes closed.

What does that feel like?

Are you noticing any feelings in particular coming up about how it feels to not see what you're working on?

Just because you can't see doesn't mean there aren't other ways of knowing.

Lean into the sensation of knitting.

Try to let the words describing the knitting fall away and just focus on what it feels like to be knitting.

Allow those feelings to just be there.

If you make any mistakes,

You can always tink back.

Feel the knitting in the tips of your fingers,

Helped by the stitches.

Feel the knitting in the palm of your hand,

Everything you've already done.

Feel the stitches hanging into your lap.

Go ahead and open your eyes and see the stitches that you've made with your eyes closed.

Did you make any mistakes?

I see here my yarn is split on one of the stitches,

But other than that,

Smooth going.

And I can fix that on the next row.

Thank you for sitting with me and connecting to this craft that we love,

For contemplating how this project came into existence,

And for taking a moment to slow down and remember why it is that we do this,

For the love of it.

So before we part ways,

I invite you to bring your knitting project close to your heart.

Hold it there for a moment.

I'm going to begin by giving thanks,

Giving thanks for all who taught you and who brought you here,

For all that went into the making of this pattern,

Of this yarn,

This fiber,

And all who came before you in this craft,

For all who will carry on this work,

For your own patience and willingness to learn more about yourself and put your love,

Attention,

And intention into your work.

Let's take one more deep breath.

Together.

And out.

Thank you for your practice.