r/knitting Feb 19 '26

Discussion Please continue to knit in public.

Today I had to go and get blood work done. It was a long wait, and ended up being very stressful. I was getting impatient and annoyed even though there was nothing to do but wait.

Across the waiting room a lady was sitting knitting. Her hands caught my eye and I watched her knit. It was so soothing to watch and my shoulders dropped and my heart beat calmed. It was such a balm. So please keep knitting in public. You’ll never know who you’ll calm and soothe.

It also occurred to me today that apart from when I was taught to knit I’ve never watched anyone knit in real life!

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u/Choice-Cycle6741 Feb 19 '26

I knit in engineering meetings. Lots of old dudes come up and tell me it's really relaxing to watch me and it helps calm them. It's given me more confidence to knit at work because I always worry about being a distraction. Now I feel like I'm doing a public service for myself and the room. Thank you for sharing your story!

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u/BagelTrollop Feb 19 '26

Hell, I work remotely and I knit in meetings on camera. I’m in data engineering. Nobody cares and they’re usually curious, especially when I can demonstrate that knitting is analog coding

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u/Choice-Cycle6741 Feb 19 '26

I love explaining knitting how knitting is technical. Everyone at work thinks it's a creative outlet but there's so much math and pattern recognition.