What's up with all the people talking about Selfish Knitting Month?
To be fair, I understand the idea behind selfish knitting month. The idea is to take the month of January and make your knitting about you after spending all that time knitting for others during the holiday season. Okay. I get it. But I don't see that as selfish. While it may just be a semantics game in the long run, I can't help but wonder if We Who Knit for Other People (yes, this includes me) aren't suffering from just a bit of martyrdom complex?
I would really like to see this term go away, and here is why: it may seem harmless and funny, but I do think it feeds into the current American cultural mindset that anything we do for ourselves makes us unworthy, or self centered. Yet when others don't seem to appreciate the things that have been made for them, the effort put into creating a handmade gift all of a sudden seems so wasted that the knitter gets his/ her feelings hurt. It does not have to be this way Knit Country Friends! There are a few things I think we should all keep in mind:
1) A gift is just that. A gift. Once you give it, let it go. You blessed the recipient with the time you spent thinking about them during the creating of the object. You blessed yourself by spending time in a creative activity. Research shows that helps protect the brain from degenerating during old age. The knitted thing is just that. . . a thing. So let it go. Knitted objects have absolutely nothing to do with how much someone loves and appreciates you.
2) If you are knitting for others because you feel obligated to.. .stop it. You aren't. Everyone will survive if you stop knitting for them. The stress isn't worth it. Artificial obligations and deadlines kill joy. Keep the joy. Ditch the fake obligation.
3) Engaging in something you enjoy is not selfish. It's rejuvenating. When you take care of yourself, you can take care of others better. It isn't selfish. It's self care. Now, if your hobby is causing you to pay bills late or go without clean laundry, that's a different story. But that's also a different problem.
I have absolutely no guilt when I knit for myself. I also have no guilt for having a stash of supplies or for claiming space in the house for those supplies and my creative work. For what I like to do, it's reasonable. I hope you will embrace the joy of knitting for yourself whenever you damn well want to, and not feel guilty or selfish anymore!!
May you all have a happy holiday weekend!
Respectfully submitted,
Kimberly
P.S. - I would LOVE to see pictures of other people's work spaces/ storage. My space used to be a box. It feels so luxurious to have an actual room now. I'm looking for decorating/ storage efficiency ideas.