Healthy Habit 1: Apply My Knitting Mindset

Jan 06, 2024

Note: If you are curious about TEST KNITTING, be sure to read to the end!

Every product or service that has Health to sell is on sale right now.

As a consumer, you are inundated with calls to work hard to make your body better while you are simultaneously encouraged to…

LOVE YOUR BODY!!!!

Doesn’t that sound lovely? Who doesn’t want more LOVE in their lives? But if you’re like me, sometimes “loving your body” is easier wished than accomplished.

I appreciate my body well enough. But I could really do with joints that hurt a little less. And a back that doesn’t threaten to go out if I don’t exercise once in a while. Or a metabolism that doesn’t challenge delicious, rich meals to a high-noon duel then take one look at the competition and reply, “Nope, I’m not your huckleberry.”

This time of year, body image (whether from a vanity or health standpoint) comes into hyper-focus. I’m not judging anybody, because I’m right here in the melée with all y’all. We’re cutting the calories and getting back to the workouts. And desperately hoping our plans will still stick come July. Or February…

Everything I learned about LIFE, I learned from KNITTING

As I considered the “Love Your Body” mantra this week, a familiar switch flipped in my thoughts. I viewed the topic through the lenses of my knitter goggles.

Everything relates to knitting.

I know I should love my body, but I honestly don’t. It’s getting older, and it is lumpy in places I don’t want lumps, and it’s simply not My Ideal.

And yes, to be fair, I consistently need to make healthier choices so that my body—inside and out, physical and mental—works smoothly for many decades to come.

But. Why do I see my body as something to criticize unrelentingly as proof of my many failings and weaknesses, when I have other parts of my Self of which I am not so critical?

Do I ever sit around and think…

I don’t knit 80 blankets for charity every year. I must be lazy.
I don’t knit the most complicated and ornate socks in the world. I must be inept.
I don’t knit a heavily cabled sweater every month. I must be weak.

Nope. I don’t think those things. In fact, that list took some time to concoct. Body negativity comes more easily to me than craft negativity.

Isn’t that sad? Have you ever joined me in the negative self-talk? Why would we be singularly critical about our bodies, but generous and reasonable about other aspects of our Selves?

Knit Your Body

For my knitting, I may not reach all of my yearly goals, but I’m ok with that. I know that my stash is still bigger than I’d like, I spent more money on yarn this year than I meant to, and I know that I haven’t touched that Shetland lace shawl WIP I promised, promised, promised myself (and all of YouTube) that I would have half-way done by now!

In knitting, I cheer my successes, acknowledge my many accomplishments, and calmly assess areas I would like to improve.

It’s time I show my body the same respect I show my knitting. Do I love every aspect of my knitting? No. But what’s the opposite of love? Hate. Do I hate every aspect of my knitting? Resoundingly no. So perhaps when I consider “loving” my body, I should instead think of it as “not hating” my body.

“Don’t Hate Your Body!”

That wouldn’t be much fun to put on a t-shirt. But it’s not an awful starting point for a healthy habit to develop. A more positive inner monologue must be more helpful and healthful, so I will start putting my inner self-critical thoughts into perspective.

Ok, Friends, say it with me: “I don’t hate my body.”

I will think of my body like I think of my knitting—bobbing along the surface of the spectrum labeled, “Adequate to Amazing,” with some reasonable opportunities for improvement.

Healthy Habit #1: Apply my Knitting Mindset to my General Mindset (a.k.a. “Knit My Body!”)

I will find a way to Knit My Body, so that I can address that aspect of my being in a healthier way. Now that my first healthy habit is established, I will be moving on to the next one…

Healthy Habit #2: Diet and Exercise

😆

TEST KNITTING

Looking for a new venture/goal/experience for 2024?

Have you considered test knitting? Maybe you have participated in a pattern test before and enjoyed it, or maybe you’ve never test knit a pattern before. Either way, you are welcome in my test knitting group on Discord!

I have an awesome line-up of designs planned for this year. To make sure patterns are ready for the public, I want to have them test knit before they get published.

The way my group works is that you fill out this Google Form so I have all of your pertinent info:

Testing Application

Then I send you an email with a Discord Invitation. You click on it, set up whatever Discord asks you to set up, and then you’re in!

We have a general chat thread, plus a thread for testing calls. You let me know in the testing call thread if you want to participate in a test and what size you’d like to make. Then tests are each run in their own threads.

After finishing the test, I’ll send you the finalized pattern.

I currently have a pattern for adorable SPORT weight socks going into testing now!!! I still need two larger sizes tested! If you are interested, please fill out the form.

(Joining the group today is not committing to this specific test. If this pattern isn’t for you, maybe the next will be!)