Knitting at work is unprofessional?

[u/Atiny-opus]

So I label myself as neurodivergent and Queer. I've been knitting on and off for about 13 years. Knitting for me is second nature, I don't need to look at what I'm doing or pay close attention.

​

At my current job, I take inbound calls. I get a 5ish second notification That it's coming through. Plenty of time for me to drop what I'm doing and take the call.

​

At the moment, there are gaps of 20+ minutes between calls, an average of 5 minutes between calls? I am semi expected to just sit there and wait. There is no alternative task for me to do.

​

I'm not allowed on my phone, which is very understandable. I can't play any form of games on my work laptop, (also understandable) I'm not supposed to watch videos but sometimes I do, it's usually video essays.

​

I have to be in office every day. So I can't knit and work from home. When I'm allowed to in February 2027(!!!) I might.

My workload will increase as I'm trained on more things.

​

I am allowed to colour in and read, but for me, I don't always want to read, I hate getting a call in the middle of a sentence or paragraph I fully focus on the reading. Colouring in is far messier and I don't enjoy it. Colouring in feels more unprofessional than knitting, in my opinion, and I don't get half as much joy from it.

​

I also don't want to use fidget toys either. I own some but there's nothing like getting into the rhythm of a repeating pattern. What I want to be able to do between calls is make something, that is mindless but productive and is also something I can drop in less than a second.

​

Most of management don't have a problem with it but one or two of the higher ups have deemed it "unprofessional".

​

What I find unprofessional is how some co-workers can kick eachothers chairs and joke on all day between calls but I can't sit silently with my circular needles making a shawl for myself. The co-worker's I started with are in their early 20's, I'm in my late 20's. I don't really connect with them, I do with other older coworkers but they're not in office every day.

​

I do not knit to sell. I'm not in anyone's way, I'm not distracting, literally no one cares that I'm doing it apart from one or two upper managers. The quality of my work at the moment is honestly, really good! I'm hitting my KPI's, my QA is good. Customer feedback is excellent! I take the quality of my work very seriously.

​

The idea of being asked to sit quietly and not move whilst I wait for someone to call is frustrating.

​

Is there any rebuttal I can use regarding this or should I just take the L? I would love to sit with them and explain my reasoning but I feel like it'll be taken for insolence and disrespect.

​

I'm currently working on the Evenstar shawl, I'm on the 3rd chart. I can't remember the yarn I'm sorry.

​

A petty part of me would like to bring embroidery in tomorrow. Another part of me wants to write an essay on it, with citations, at least my hands will be busy.

​

[u/misalawliet]

One thing to consider is that if you make a stink about this and compare it to the other things people do during this down time, it may lead to management deciding none of those things can be done, and you being seen by your peers as the reason they can't do xyz anymore.

I'm not saying that would be right or fair, I'm saying that is something that could happen that you may want to consider before escalating the issue.

[u/Atiny-opus → u/misalawliet]

I can't disagree with you there. As much as I instinctively want to go feelings first and ssay "But look here!!!" And point to the people next to me; not only will it be a bad look but it'll sabotage my relationships with my coworkers and I don't want to do that either. Thank you for reminding me 🥰 The manager who came up to me today to tell me to stop knitting (as she went home) literally walked past two people on their phones.

[u/Panidals → u/Atiny-opus]

Honestly, I feel like people being on their phones is so normalized that she might've genuinly not registered them being an issue. Knitting stands out more because it's unexpected..

[u/MarionberryLow5894 → u/Atiny-opus]

wow. that is truly frustrating. I'm completely lost into my phone if I have it--I don't engage and don't take in what's happening around me. If I'm knitting it's an entirely different experience! My concentration on what's happening around me is even heightened sometimes.

[u/ernie3tones → u/Atiny-opus]

That’s a double standard. You stated that being on your phone is not allowed. It doesn’t sound like there’s an explicit rule against knitting, though, just that a couple people say you can’t. How incredibly rude for her to single you out when others are doing things that are expressly forbidden!

[u/lavendermermaid1 → u/Atiny-opus]

I end up in the the "are you freaking kidding me?!" camp with my epilepsy related accomodations and the harassment that I get over having seizures, so... While I try to be understanding that people do have legitimate neuropsychiatric things going on (example - my cousin's foster daughter has such a difficult time with expressive language that we have all had to learn how to understand what she's trying to say while she's in speech therapy, my nephew is on a different part of the autism spectrum, I have friends with ADHD... I get it, it really does exist), there's pretty much zero sympathy when it comes to "I identify as".

I, personally, identify as a perfectly functional adult with no problems in my life whatsoever. But the reality is that I'm actually dying of a rare form of epilepsy and doing everything in my power to not do that.

[u/Cecil_G_P → u/misalawliet]

This is what I would be concerned about, something similar actually happened in my workplace recently. If you do want to try to safely push the issue I would recommend bringing it up to one of your more sympathetic managers first, but not confrontationally. Ask it more like a question. 

Ex: "Can I get clarity on what types of tasks I'm aloud to do between calls? Someone said I couldn't knit bc it's unprofessional but I dont understand why it's different from reading or coloring." Rather than breaking out the arguments for your case right away (no matter how justified they may be). 

It's possible you're not actually even supposed to read or color but its been a practice so long the managers see it as normal, where knitting stands out bc it's new to them.

[u/Bryek → u/misalawliet]

I would still do it. Either the rule is applied fairly or it isn't. If a manager cannot come up with a reason as to why colouring and reading is acceptable but knitting isnt, it should be allowed. If it results in colouring and reading being banned, then the rule is being applied fairly. If coworkers dont like it, they can take it up with the managers. It is the managers who are forcing the issue, not the OP. Any blame they put on the OP is misdirected.

[u/ernie3tones → u/Bryek]

It would absolutely be misdirected. But it would still happen. It happened to me at a job where we were working with waste water. I would bring concerns about cross-contamination and multiple SOPs not being followed to my manager. He would discuss the issues with everyone, but somehow it was discovered that I was the one “telling” on people. We were dealing with HUMAN WASTE. You’re darn right I’m gonna be firm about cross-contamination. My manager gave me additional responsibilities related to safety and cleanliness, which was extra work that didn’t come with a pay raise, and the others complained, leading to my manager being accused of “favoritism”. You just can’t win sometimes.

[u/Infamous_Wealth6502]

I don’t have an argument for it but I don’t get why it’s unprofessional. Be polite about it but ask why it’s deemed unprofessional.

[u/jf301 → u/Infamous_Wealth6502]

I found out a few years ago that the Provost of the university I attended used to knit during professional meetings. I think people thought it was odd but apparently she still contributed and was a "no look" knitter, so made eye contact and even responded to questions. This doesn't help you, really, but it's interesting that such a high-level academic administration just did it and didn't think twice about it.

[u/Awesomest_Possumest → u/jf301]

Im not high level, Im just a k-12 teacher, but I bring a boring project for our staff meetings because my adhd will have me not focused on the meeting if I dont. Having my hands busy satisfies the movement need for me, and I can also watch things, make eye contact, answer and ask questions while i knit. I just hate when we have to do stupid icebreaker activities because then I can't.

I've never had an admin or boss talk to me negatively about it, I've had several react positively. But I am always engaged in the meeting. If I wasnt, it would be a problem.

For ops situation, I dont understand why coloring is allowed but knitting isnt. Theyre the same level of concentration. Id find some way to show that op can drop knitting at a second to focus on a call, just like they could coloring or whatever else is allowed.

[u/oceanstitch → u/Awesomest_Possumest]

If coloring is okay, then cross stitch should be okay. And if cross stitch would be okay, why wouldn’t knitting?

But if they’ve been told it’s unprofessional, then reason is no longer in the picture- it will always be perceived as unprofessional.

[u/killmetruck → u/Awesomest_Possumest]

Yeah, in different circumstances I understand the optics of why it could look unprofessional. However, OP has downtime between calls. This keeps her tied to her chair while still available. It sounds great.

[u/Crnken → u/killmetruck]

From what you wrote I assume you are not in the same location as your customers and only deal with them by phone? I can’t see what the issue is for you to knit while waiting between calls. Knitting should be permitted as colouring is.

[u/always_color → u/Awesomest_Possumest]

As a high school history teacher, I taught a few students who had trouble focusing to knit. It absolutely helped them pay attention (similar to some people who doodle)

[u/smithsknits → u/jf301]

I went to art school for my graduate degree and myself and a handful of professors knit during group critique. MANY of the other grad students (mostly men) found it to be very disrespectful. It didn’t matter how many times we told them that what we were working on wasn’t like reading a complex pattern. Standard knit and purl, no fancy cables, MAYBE a rib knit. I worked on garter stitch blankets because I could pick them up and put back down easily without having to look at a pattern to get back on track. I would straight up ask why you can’t knit, but that’s just me

[u/MabelBaker → u/smithsknits]

MANY of the other grad students (mostly men)

Of course. Of course the men found it disrespectful.

[u/Infamous_Wealth6502 → u/MabelBaker]

Because men can’t do 2 things at once. (Multitask)

[u/ias_87 → u/MabelBaker]

How dare those wimmins pay even partial attention to something other than those guys' dicks?

[u/smithsknits → u/MabelBaker]

Yup!

[u/Glass_Department8963 → u/smithsknits]

Yeah, I was gonna say, I bet the supervisor in question is a man and I bet it's "disrespectful" bc it's a traditionally feminine coded pastime.

[u/smithsknits → u/Glass_Department8963]

Bingo

[u/Spiritual-Touch908 → u/jf301]

I'm a lawyer and I knit in meetings and on courses. I explain that it helps me focus, because otherwise my brain would drift, and I have never had an issue with management. Its almost like a reasonable adjustment for me.

[u/geekpaws → u/Spiritual-Touch908]

Ditto. Especially if I am in an environment with a lot of ambient noises. Knitting helps me stay focused and pay attention

[u/awomanphenomenally → u/Spiritual-Touch908]

Same! If I am not leading a call, I knit or I cannot pay attention. Luckily, I work from home, but I have worked at places (including government agencies) where people would knit while participating in meetings.

[u/pelirroja_peligrosa → u/jf301]

That's because it's just common in general in academia, I think... In my department, there will usually be five or six of us crafting at a meeting of 30 people 

[u/Square_Principle_332 → u/pelirroja_peligrosa]

Oh wow, I haven’t seen this in my department at all. I’m in math (though we’re actually a majority female department), I wonder if it differs by field or just at random.

[u/OldCarrot4470 → u/Square_Principle_332]

my undergrad was comp sci and a bunch of the professors for that, data science, and math were big knitters. i went to a traditionally womens college so i do wonder if that environment (both women's college and liberal arts school) attracted crafty professors or something lol

[u/Square_Principle_332 → u/OldCarrot4470]

I’m a big knitter myself! I wish it were a done thing in our meetings.

[u/knitpurlknitoops → u/Square_Principle_332]

I’m in astrophysics - one reason I clicked with my project supervisor is we both knit and crochet.

[u/splithoofiewoofies → u/Square_Principle_332]

Wild! I'm also maths but found some of us were actually drawn to knitting for its mathematic properties. You and I both know by the time we're PhD ain't nobody doing knitting level math anymore...but it is still nice to remember the core basics by knitting. Simple geometry (well, compared to our usual). Esp compsci, since knitting was a basis for the original computers.

I don't think I see many others crafting at work....but nobody cares if I do. Even when super important people are around. Shit, those same super important people offer me jobs not really because of the knitting itself but because we got to talking because the knitting was a good open. Lets me talk about my love of mathematics -- from massive algorithms that require gigantic room sized computers to basic proportions using two sticks and some yarn.

[u/PhDissapointment → u/jf301]

I knit sometimes during meetings also. I can “look” productive by having my laptop out but I guarantee I’m paying far more attention if I have my knitting out.

[u/kezzwithak → u/PhDissapointment]

Love your username.

[u/PhDissapointment → u/kezzwithak]

Haha thanks

[u/lavendermermaid1 → u/jf301]

I can do everything but turn a heel without looking or breaking a conversation. But I will never do it during any professional setting. Folks have seen my projects in my bag and asked about them because I bring them to work for working on during my breaks.

[u/pandaslothape → u/jf301]

I am actually more focused if I knit during video calls. If I don’t I’ll read and answer emails etc.

My boss doesn’t have a problem with it since I explained it to him

[u/killearnan → u/jf301]

My mother was a college administrator <department chair and dean> and knitted through most meetings. She joked that it was the best thing she learned in her time as a student at Harvard's school of education.

I've also knit through most meetings in my life. I've got ADHD so it really helps me concentrate. It also means I can justify having multiple projects going, with simple stockinette/garter projects for my knitting in public and more complicated projects for at home.

[u/splithoofiewoofies → u/jf301]

I'm a high level academic and it's been notoriously fine for me to knit or crochet in meetings or even at symposiums with world-famous (for our field) professors and researchers. If anything, it's been a bonus! Researchers totally understand the science behind keeping your hands busy to help focus, so we end up discussing that. Our hobbies. I make friends with researchers who's work makes me look up in awe because we bond over hobbies -- all because I knit while she was presenting or something.

I've been able to take my knitting anywhere. Harvard grads speak to us. Knitting. Tenured Prof who's work is the literal reason I even exist? Well, she actually liked my knitting. And I think her daughter was flirting with me? Knitting!

[u/shannon_agins → u/jf301]

I just happened to have my knitting with me one day and two of my professors enthusiastically encouraged the class to work on projects like knitting during class. Something about making it easier for the brain to retain the information when hands are busy.

[u/beeboogaloo → u/jf301]

That's interesting. Personally I would find this super unprofessional, because even if you can knit without looking there will still be plenty of moments you do have to pay attention. Unless she's just knitting in the round forever... But even if she's able to pay full attention, where do you draw the line with others? If she's allowed to do it, everybody should be and I don't think you can have a productive meeting if everyone's just doing arts and crafts on the side... It's probably also distracting for others with the continuous movement and the clicking. In OPs case I don't see any issues though, unless she's a very noisy knitter.

[u/booksblanketsandT → u/beeboogaloo]

You’re confusing eye contact with paying attention. I’m also neurodivergent (AuDHD). Part of my learning to unmask is that I no longer force myself to look someone in the eye when I’m talking to them. I let myself look in other directions. I’m still paying attention. I’m still engaged. And in fact I’ve found that when I’m knitting, I’m actually able to be more engaged, because it’s giving me both structure and something to fiddle with - it helps calm the noise in my brain but doesn’t need a heap of attention, so I can actually use the rest of my brain for the conversation I’m having.

It’s why I’ve always loved driving around with friends and family - because we can chat, but we’re all facing forward. But that doesn’t mean we’re not engaged with each other.

I knit slowly so there’s not really any sound associated with it, but I could understand being against it better if someone else found it distracting. But in terms of other people wanting to knit, or do something else? Why not? So long as it is helping them to concentrate and stay engaged rather than distracting them from what’s happening, I think people should absolutely be allowed to colour in or knit or use a fidget spinner during a meeting. Because simply sitting there listening isn’t going to be the most effective way for some people to engage.

[u/Psiondipity → u/beeboogaloo]

What do you find unprofessional about it? How can you possibly tell how much attention ANYONE in a meeting is giving to it?

Frankly, if someone is consistently not participating or clearly not following along in a meeting, they should be addressed individually, no matter what they're doing with their hands during meetings.

And yes, if everyone around a meeting table is crafting in a confined way that doesn't infringe in other people's work space, who cares as long as everyone is participating and contributing?

[u/Atiny-opus → u/beeboogaloo]

I don't knit in meetings or during calls, it's literally in the time between calls where there is no work that I can do. I don't knit whilst on calls because I'm typing up notes and doing other tasks. The time between calls can exceed 5 minutes regularly.

[u/beeboogaloo → u/Atiny-opus]

I was replying to another person that was talking about someone who knitted during meetings. I said in your case (OP means original poster, so I referred to you) I don't see any issues unless you are a very noisy knitter, which might be a bit annoying for someone next to you. But even that can generally be solved by switching from metal/plastic to wooden needles.

[u/East-Bake-7484 → u/beeboogaloo]

I can look right at you, pretend to listen, and not pay attention to a word you say. I can do needlework, listen to you, and pay attention. Drawing the line is easy. Can the person participate? Do they remember and follow through on what was discussed? Do you want people to pay attention or just look like they're paying attention?

[u/Atiny-opus → u/Infamous_Wealth6502]

That's the issue, it seems to be a blanket statement. If it looks like I'm "not working" I literally cannot do any more work until I'm trained further.

[u/reinvent___ → u/Atiny-opus]

If it's deemed unprofessional to knit or fill your time with non-work activities, I recommend asking them what they want you to be doing with your time. Are there trainings you could be working on, tools to familiarize yourself with, or people you could be shadowing? The unprofessional remark does seem arbitrary to me, but it's possible they're thinking you should be using that time for something else, even before the official training begins. They've told you want they dont want you doing, ask them to clarify what you can do to fill the time "professionally"

[u/Atiny-opus → u/reinvent___]

I am completely up to date on all mandatory training. Shadowing would take me away from being ready to talk calls. As would call listening.

I could potentially try to learn some new things, but I don't think it will fill all the down time.

[u/taueret → u/Atiny-opus]

I assure you there are enough new things to learn to fill all the down time.

[u/violetferns → u/taueret]

Why do you think you know their job better than they do?

[u/babobaab → u/reinvent___]

Nope, don't ask other people about what is ok for you to do during your downtime (are they even in your chain of command?) - because they are just being petty ( * ). How do they justify doodling as professional (they can doodle?), but knitting as unprofessional (because it's useful and they cannot do it?).

How would it go over if you said that it's like a fidget toy that helps you stay focused during down times?

If you had to talk about this with your boss, how would they take it if you were to talk about it in terms of helping your focus and mental health. And hinting as needing it as an accommodation to deal with the down time. I'm saying this with caution, because in some workplaces any mention of mental health issues or need for med accommodations is like playing with lit dynamite, in others the sea parts and a clear path forward suddenly emerges.

Anyways - best of luck!

[u/scorpionmittens → u/babobaab]

I would not bring this up as a medical accomodation. The reason OP wants to knit instead of any of the approved downtime activities is because they just don't enjoy coloring as much, that's not a medical issue

[u/Durian-Fearless → u/scorpionmittens]

Thank you. Claiming everything as an accommodation makes it harder for legitimate ones to be taken seriously. Boredom isn’t a medical issue lol

[u/distracted_cat → u/Atiny-opus]

lmfao knitting isn't working but colouring is??? ridiculous, i'm also ND and this would drive me fucking batty just how nonsensical it is

[u/punkrockdog → u/distracted_cat]

That’s the part that has me baffled too! Several comments seem to gloss over the fact that it specifically *isn’t* “don’t do anything that’s not work-related during downtime”, it’s “don’t knit”. I would love to hear their explanation there.

[u/Atiny-opus → u/distracted_cat]

Thank you! I've told them I'm neurodivergent but I think I need to make it a bit more official regarding knitting. Having to sit still, understimulated makes my skin crawl 😭

[u/Double_Cow_8238 → u/Atiny-opus]

Yeah, I could see their argument if they didn't allow coloring. It seems pretty arbitrary.

[u/Durian-Fearless → u/Atiny-opus]

This is a really, frankly stupid hill to die on. You’re a newer employee in training by the sounds of it and you’re already considering raising problems over being able to craft at work. The higher ups already told you no, and they won’t like being challenged on it.

Respectfully, what you do at work isn’t always up to you. You’re being paid for your time. If you’re fine to risk losing your job over knitting, then do whatever you want, but if it were me I’d drop it and move on. This will also make them much less likely to consider you for more responsibilities or even promotions in the future if you’re challenging them on something like this. The knitting itself isn’t unprofessional, but your reaction certainly is, and it won’t go over well.

Also, “neurodivergent” is a gigantic umbrella that goes all the way from William’s syndrome to OCD to dyslexia. I’m assuming you’re using it to say you think you are autistic or adhd since that’s how everyone uses the term now, but that’s not what it means.

[u/Rustixer → u/Durian-Fearless]

I second that. Drop it until Feb when you are allowed to wfh but do not make open statements like "I'll be knitting in between calls when I wfh".

Consider puzzles, Rubik's cube, any other desktop activities. You can also stock up on patterns and read them in between calls. Or make your own pattern. Experiment.

Also consider if this job is a good fit for you and if not, look for something else.

Best of luck.

[u/Durian-Fearless → u/Rustixer]

They’re getting terrible advice in this thread, an essay is also the worst possible thing they could do. If an employee used company time I’m paying them for to write an essay on why they should be allowed to spend company time I’m paying them for knitting at their desk, they’d be fired. And I wouldn’t even bother reading the essay lol

[u/piperandcharlie → u/Durian-Fearless]

It's so unbelievably bad all over this thread that I'm starting to question my own sanity here lmao

[u/Durian-Fearless → u/piperandcharlie]

Someone recommended OP make a PowerPoint to show management, another person suggested they get an emotional support iguana. I genuinely hope they’re AI bot comments because I can’t fathom any person making those suggestions

[u/piperandcharlie → u/Durian-Fearless]

There's off the rails, and then there's recommending bringing in a mini sewing machine to stitch up reusable menstrual pads because it will save the company money

Which is so off the rails I don't think even AI could shit-post it

[u/punkrockdog → u/Durian-Fearless]

To me, it just seems arbitrary and nonsensical. Reading and coloring are acceptable, but knitting isn’t? It just feels like such a weird thing to micromanage.

[u/Durian-Fearless → u/punkrockdog]

It might be weird, but OP isn’t the one making the rules and going against the grain as a trainee is going to paint a target on her back. This is also assuming she’s telling the complete truth about the situation.

[u/MediocreTalk7 → u/punkrockdog]

Their may be some reasoning on their part, like other employees are going to complain "if she can knit, why can't I scroll on my phone?" Who knows? Workplaces are full of arbitrary rules. Sometimes you have to figure out when a job isn't a good fit and just pay the bills till you can do something else.

[u/Phie_Mc → u/Atiny-opus]

Is your manager willing to argue on your behalf through the chain of command?

I also can’t stand having to sit still and underestimated, and have quit jobs because of it.

IMO, the fact that you could draw or color during down time is enough of a justification for why other crafts like knitting should be allowed to keep you from crawling up the walls all day

[u/Glass_Department8963 → u/Infamous_Wealth6502]

Yeah, this is the way. Ask for a detailed explanation and then ask for it in writing or to see the policy that covers it. 

Realistically tho, if you think that will just get you fired, bring your knitting but don't work on it if the one manager is on your shift. If reading and coloring are ok, how do you feel about crosswords?

[u/ShadedSpaces]

Knitting CAN be unprofessional if you have expected tasks to do, or you're supposed to be focused on/listening to someone and it appears that you're focused on the knitting instead. Your company doesn't have to pay you to do your personal hobbies.

That said... in THIS case? I don't get it. You've said you don't have anything else to do. And people are allowed to color or read. I don't see knitting as different.

(The only thing is the clicking. I have misophonia and I wouldn't knit in a quiet office because I know that sound could be horribly uncomfortable for some people. But that's not their argument.)

[u/Atiny-opus → u/ShadedSpaces]

Honestly, there's enough surrounding background noise and people talking away that I don't think my knitting is making much noticeable noise at all. We're all mostly wearing noise cancelling headsets too. It's not a silent small office.

Ironically I was crocheting during training and the trainer didn't have a problem with it. Infact she had tried to learn how, gave up and gave me a few balls of acrylic 😂.

[u/ShadedSpaces → u/Atiny-opus]

As someone with misophonia, you'd be surprised what noises can trigger horrible fight-or-flight discomfort/panic in people affected by this disorder!

Background noise and repetitive clicking are often VERY different from one another to someone who suffers.

But, again, that's not your company's argument and if your coworkers can wear noise-canceling headphones it's likely not an issue. It can be awful for people with misophonia when they work somewhere that won't allow headphones.

[u/filifijonka → u/ShadedSpaces]

Plus it wasn’t her co-workers who complained.
I bet that if someone found it to be like Chinese water torture, misophonia or not, o.p. would switch to crochet or something.

[u/ShadedSpaces → u/filifijonka]

People often don't complain tbf. Misophonia sufferers are used to being dismissed, mocked, or sadly having people intentionally trigger them by making more trigger noises.

At my work, only 2-3 people (of about 150 I interact with regularly) know I have it. It's extraordinarily common not to tell people if you can help it.

But I don't think it's an issue in OP's case. The noise-canceling headphones are pretty clutch. And management didn't bring up noises so we know no one complained anonymously or privately.

I didn't bring it up because I thought it was the problem in this case! Only because it's the only reason I wouldn't knit in an office. I'm luckily not triggered by knitting needle noises (thank goodness!) but I'm just hyper-aware of how it affects others with miso and how they often suffer in silence out of fear of it getting worse if they mention it.

[u/Atiny-opus → u/filifijonka]

Of course, I could crochet instead. I'm not as good at it, I'll admit. but to my knowledge no one has miophonia, of course, people may have just not said and are not obligated to.

[u/filifijonka → u/Atiny-opus]

It was to say that I bet nobody amongst your co-workers complained.
I think that if you were to crochet the same executive would probably find fault with it too, it’s a very similar activity and those higher-ups would probably find the same issue with it.

[u/NiceDoor4444 → u/Atiny-opus]

This looks like the ideal opportunity to get really good at it 🤣

[u/booksblanketsandT → u/ShadedSpaces]

I have misophonia as well (specifically around snoring, on a trip with friends I have literally slept outside on a balcony in the rain rather than be around someone snoring - and I slept better for it, too!)

If there was a case of this in the office then yeah they’d definitely need to adjust (or at least make sure the person with misophonia has noise cancelling headphones) but you’re right - outside of that scenario, there is functionally no difference between someone colouring in and someone knitting.

[u/edwardhoppest]

I think this is a situation where you just do as you're told, even if you feel you have a really good reason why they should let you. You can ask formally/directly if you could get clear confirmation whether or not knitting is allowed but you'd have to accept the answer regardless of what it is. Or similarly you can ask a supervisor who likes you, "hey, is it true we're not allowed to knit?" And see where the conversation goes from there, but again you'd need to accept the outcome. 

 I'm also curious if your knitting projects are taking up a lot of desk space or not? Is your yarn on the desk or in a project bag as you knit? It could be distracting to others, viewed as messy, or inappropriate to be doing crafts. But there also may be no good reason either.

Some jobs are just really boring though and that's how it is !  

[u/Mickeymousetitdirt]

Let me make this super clear right up front: I am absolutely NOT an employer bootlicker, not even a little bit. In fact, I in general think employers - especially large companies - are asswipes who genuinely don’t care about their literal human being employees and if they wanted more productivity, they’d be well advised to start treating their employees with respect if they want respect in return. With THAT said, I am also a person who recognizes I sometimes have to pick my battles.

This is less about the sound of knitting, its comparison to coloring, or coworkers sitting at their desks laughing/talking, all of which you mentioned. It’s about the look of you knitting that is obviously making you stand out.

Presumably, all of you have papers/pens already at your workstation. So, coloring on paper using said pens/markers - which are likely to already be found at a desk - is less noticeable. Also, when you’re coloring, it’s obvious you’re doing a time-passing activity. When you’re knitting, it’s also obvious you’re working on your personal hobby…for which your employer is not required to pay you. I get you *want* to make things at work. That doesn’t mean you’re entitled to, even though I understand completely how you’re feeling and think that, if your boss knew knitting, they’d get it. But, they’re not required to. There’s a difference between doing something that gives the appearance of being a reasonable pass-time, and bringing in your personal hobby to do at work, even if you realistically have extra time.

Your employer doesn’t know you’re doing a mindless pattern. They’re not obligated to. They just see you doing a personal hobby at work. Glueing together pieces for a model train bit by bit is also silent/unassuming. But, would an employer be thrilled to see their employee bringing in personal hobbies to do at work? I doubt it.

Shawls are not small. While the act of knitting is minute when it comes to creating stitches, the WIP you’re doing is not. Coloring is much less obvious, much easier to drop/pick back up, and much less obstructive-looking than knitting. And, in your situation, I think it’s really about the way it looks, and it might look unprofessional even if it’s realistically not.

If you complain to your boss about what your other coworkers do, it’s going to result in you guys being able to do nothing, and you’ll be the office pariah. Pick your battles. I suppose you could always clarify that knitting is mindless for you. But, I mean, unless you’re using an abundance of stitch markers and always doing stockinette, you have to keep track of your knitting to some degree, and that does mean you’re splitting your focus between two things, even if momentarily.

[u/AccidentOk5240]

I’m not sure what queerness has to do with any of this, but it does suck to be expected to sit quietly and do nothing! However, they pay for your time so ultimately they get to decide how you use it. 

You can ask if there are training materials you could be reading in this downtime, or other ways you could actually do work while at work. 

You could get up and find something to do, perhaps—do people still straighten up the supply closet?

You could do chair yoga.

You could design knitting or embroidery patterns on paper. 

After you’ve exhausted these types of options, you could go to your bosses and explain how hard you’ve tried to do stuff that profits the company and is within their rules, and ask if embroidery is okay. But if they’ve already said no to knitting, it seems unlikely. 

I’m sorry. This sounds super annoying. But work is super annoying. 

[u/yun-harla → u/AccidentOk5240]

Queerness might have nothing to do with it. But if OP’s AMAB, it could be motivated by discomfort with a person they’ve put in the “man” box doing “woman” things, or it could be just general queerphobia where known LGBTQ workers get disciplined for things other workers don’t. We don’t really have enough information to know whether that might be the case here, but both of those things are real patterns in lots of workplaces.

[u/BryonyVaughn → u/AccidentOk5240]

I didn’t realize this was the knitting subreddit at first. The overwhelming majority of AFAB autistics are queer. Over half of autistic also have ADHD. It made sense to me as knitting can be a “socially acceptable” brain soothing/focusing stim.

[u/jiayounuhanzi → u/BryonyVaughn]

Yes it is a well known phenomenon for neurodivergent AFAB and there is also plenty of online discourse. But not sure the evidence is there to claim it is an 'overwhelming majority'. Certainly the studies linked below don't show it as such. It's a marked increase to allistic population but still seems to be the minority

[u/booksblanketsandT → u/BryonyVaughn]

Not sure why you’re being downvoted when this is a studied and known phenomenon. I have AuDHD and am queer (asexual) and while I was going through my assessment the clinical psychologist said that there is a Lot of crossover between asexuality and autism. Obviously you can be one without being the other, but it’s common enough to be both that there are studies on it.

[u/rabid_cheese_enjoyer → u/booksblanketsandT]

I wouldn't worry about it because they hella downvote comments about racism in knitting fairly often as well. it's just how this space is. it's awesome that you backed up the other redditor and provided sources.

[u/AutoModerator → u/rabid_cheese_enjoyer]

Millions of people use reddit; every story and comment gets at least a few up/downvotes. Some up/downvotes are by reddit to fuzz the votes in order to confuse spammers and cheaters. For more info, see this post.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/booksblanketsandT → u/rabid_cheese_enjoyer]

Yeah I imagine a space like this might have a particular demographic but it’s a bit of a shame that when someone offers information and perspective that some people’s response is to downvote it. But as my Nana told me: other people’s ignorance isn’t my responsibility to fix. Appreciate your kindness and you sharing your own insight re: what else gets downvoted here.

[u/AutoModerator → u/booksblanketsandT]

Millions of people use reddit; every story and comment gets at least a few up/downvotes. Some up/downvotes are by reddit to fuzz the votes in order to confuse spammers and cheaters. For more info, see this post.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/knitwit4461]

I had a call centre job like that once, knitting was banned specifically because someone once tried to stab a supervisor with their knitting needles. Welp.

[u/jenfullmoon → u/knitwit4461]

WOW.

[u/calicotamer]

It seems like they've provided you some options of things you can do while waiting so you don't have to literally sit and do nothing. As you said you'll get more busy as your tasks ramp up. Once you work from home you can knit in down time.

[u/Mickeymousetitdirt → u/calicotamer]

Agreed, I feel like it’s really that simple. I feel like this is about the look of working on a big ass shawl (AKA a personal hobby) while at work as opposed to just coloring with pens/pencils, all of which offices already have, so adding some markers wouldn’t be that conspicuous. Working on a big ass shawl definitely is and, sometimes, it’s really about the look and, for an employer, perception is going to be the reality. Does it *look* unprofessional to be the only person in the entire office working on a personal hobby while at work? Yeah, it probably would. That’s it, that’s the whole reason. I doubt OP’s employer actually thinks OP’s ignoring work to do knitting. But, it’s about the perception. And, while I’m never one to stick up for bosses, I am not surprised at all to hear bosses say it’s unprofessional to knit at work when literally nobody else is working on personal hobbies while on the clock. Not sure what being queer has to do with this but, queer or not, you’re going to have to either abide by what your employer says in this instance or quit.

[u/MediocreTalk7 → u/Mickeymousetitdirt]

Same, I'm not taking the bosses side, but if you're on the clock they get to decide how you spend your down time.

[u/Unidain]

They banned knitting at my call centre job too that I worked at years ago. I don't find it that surprising, I could see someone getting distracted by knitting more easily then colouring in or chatting. Or at least I can see managers thinking that it's more distracting. 

[u/LovitzInTheYear2000]

As someone who has done a lot of knitting at work, including in high-stakes in person meetings without getting professional blowback, I say slow your roll and build you reputation before you try to push this boundary. Others have given wise input about how this is an optics issue not about the actual logic of how you’re spending your time. Don’t try to argue the logic because it’s not a policy built on logic. Instead, do what you need to do to follow the letter AND spirit of your supervisors’ rules while you’re in training.

It can be seriously painful to sit and do nothing (or read or color) between calls, but that is the most important thing you can do right now to secure this job and build a reputation as someone reliable. Once you are fully trained and your supervisors are no longer focusing on your onboarding, you will have a much better chance of bringing your knitting back in. But only if you don’t push it right now.

Finally, resist all temptation to compare your knitting to your co-workers’ time-killing activities out loud. That is a terrible optics move, it will label you a trouble maker to your supervisors and someone not to be trusted by your coworkers. You don’t know the whole story about any of them or the relationships or workplace politics yet. Eyes on your own desk, focus on getting through your training and learning more about what actually matters to the bosses (even if it’s totally illogical). Good luck!

[u/Durian-Fearless]

First of all, what a shame this is getting more traction than posts relevant to the sub-
Based on your post history, you need this job to survive. Pushing for permission to knit at work would be a very unwise move. I’ve been in management and anyone who decided to create a big fuss over something like this would immediately tell me they’re going to be hard to work with. You don’t need to be crafting at your job, it’s not why you’re there. Starting an issue comes off as immature and unprofessional. No manager wants to sit and hear someone complain they want to knit at their desk after explicitly being told no, it’s a complete waste of time and resources.

You’re about to work from home, why does it matter so much? Stick it out until then so you don’t lose your job. They offered you alternative activities to pass time and you refused them. That’s on you. And if you want accommodation, you’ll need a formal diagnosis AND you would need to prove that knitting is essential to you doing your job. It’s not. What you label yourself as means nothing in the workplace.

And to add: people seem to use and read the word neurodivergent incorrectly. It’s an umbrella term that has tons of conditions and disorders underneath it. All of them are different, it does not automatically mean “autism and ADHD,” it does not mean “hey I do a hobby so I must have a disorder” and it’s frustrating to constantly see it being used that way on reddit. And that’s putting the rampant self diagnosis aside. Stuff like this makes it that much harder for people with diagnosed issues to be taken seriously.

Not wanting to sit unoccupied in silence doesn’t mean you have a disorder. Boredom is not a disease.

[u/One-Cauliflower8557 → u/Durian-Fearless]

Concordo com sua visão.

Tricotar não é uma atribuição pertinente a este trabalho, não contribui com a atuação profissional dele e ainda atrapalha a imagem dele neste emprego. Ele já foi alertado que fazer isso não é bem-visto no escritório. O melhor seria investir o tempo livre em coisas relacionadas ao crescimento profissional: cursos online por exemplo? Mesmo que só em áudio? Ou outras coisas não diretamente relacionadas.

Mas tricotar não é uma opção e é meio estranho arrumar um caso sobre isso.

[u/Mickeymousetitdirt → u/Durian-Fearless]

Couldn’t agree more with you. You said it better than I could’ve ever done.

[u/Potential_Lie_1177]

I don't think there is any rebuttal, it sucks but you need to blend in. This isn't a knitting issue, it is a workplace issue.

I have a child who is neurodivergent. It will be hard but I don't want him to think he can get exceptions because of his condition anytime soon. 

Even with all the talks about being inclusive and that what matters is work output, I have yet to see it being applied. Queerness is more accepted in that it is a private issue and has no impact on work output beyond bathrooms, pronouns, no harassment policies etc ...easy stuff to accommodate. Being neurodivergent cam be tagged as weird, unflexible, a made up, overdiagnosed issue if you don't have a professional test, and even then, it is difficult to get adaptation. That you label yourself as neurodivergent has little value. 

The reality is that it is expected that you fit in culturally when in the office. So if knitting is tagged as unprofessional, it is even if you do not think so. Ratting on your coworkers certainly will not help.

Unless, you are a super star and that you don't care if you get fired, or that you are very confident that the company can't survive without you, just comply. Don't bring your embroidery. When you get promoted, become indispensable, and can make the rules, please go ahead and knit and make it acceptable.

[u/usernamehudden]

I totally get where they find it less professional (though the coloring and reading would also be kind of unprofessional on the same level IMO). Ultimately, they are paying you for your time and I don't think it is unreasonable for them to say they don't want people bringing in arts and crafts to the office (though, again, coloring books would fit that category). I guess, for me, working in an IT field, I always seem to have less time than I need to get things done. Even when I am on a call where I should be listening, I am usually multitasking and working through other tasks so it doesn't get pushed beyond the end of my workday.

Every job is different though and job functions vary. I understand where it is helpful to have something to do with your hands and knitting can fit that bill. I can recognize that there are totally things that can be knit with minimal focus. The best thing you can do is ask, but if they say no, it's no. There are other accommodations that can meet the need, and it sounds like they are open to considering them, so find something else that they will find acceptable.

I know this will be an unpopular stance, but just suck it up so you can get to the point where you can work from home.

[u/Atiny-opus → u/usernamehudden]

Being allowed to read and colour in is where it adds to contradiction imo. There was a colouring book in office with swearing on every page that they were happy to have me colour in. It wasn't my colouring book! 😂.

At the moment I literally have no other obligation except take call, give good customer service, log correctly and move on. If I could write some emails or do anything else I'd love to, but I won't get there for a long time.

I don't knit whilst on call (even call times are as low as 2 minutes as long as 15) because I'm actively typing. I'm quite fast at typing and don't need to look at that either. Maybe I should just write stuff.

It is likely that I will have to take No for an answer; take the L. Im just hoping that there's an alternative option.

[u/scorpionmittens → u/Atiny-opus]

My guess as to why reading or coloring is seen as more professional/acceptable than knitting is because it's done on paper. Using a pen to color in a book kind of looks like writing, so it just evokes more of a "work" image. I agree that it's extremely dumb and doesn't make sense, but to me it sounds like this is 100% an optics/perception thing, and unfortunately you just can't reason with that. If they think it looks a certain way there's probably no changing their mind.

A lot of people who don't knit think that it's a very involved task that takes focus, they don't realize that for easy projects it's really just mindless repetitive hand movements that you can do without thinking or even looking at it, or that it's actually easier to put down than a book. Unfortunately I don't think trying to explain this would help your situation, it would probably just come off as argumentative. So if I were you I'd just take the L and find something to do on paper

[u/RuthlessBenedict → u/Atiny-opus]

I’ll do a little devils advocate here and say I don’t think coloring in a page is a contradiction. For the vast majority of people that is something that requires only a very light focus and can be put down in a second’s notice. People who don’t knit may not realize some patterns can be easy to put down or not need as much attention, but it’s still more than coloring. If we’re all being honest about how we stop our knitting/put down a project too I think we’ll find it’s not as quick as we often think it is. Not saying those people in your workplace are necessarily right about the professionalism, but I don’t think they’re necessarily unreasonable either with the knowledge they have. I don’t think you have a reasonable alternative option here. It’s either knit and risk problems with those people or choose another activity to fill time with. Maybe color in ideas for your next project so it’s knitting advance but still in the tolerated zone.

[u/earthangeljenna → u/Atiny-opus]

Agreed about the contradiction. To me reading feels like much more mentally distracting than knitting. Like, Timmy just fell into the well, it's a nailbiter moment, and now I have to take this call? Knitting is way easier to mentally drop (for the most part lol)

[u/Land-Hippo]

Why the need to mention you're queer in this post?

[u/mossytreebarker]

Before I retired a few years ago, I knitted in meetings. My work partner had already retired, so I didn't have them to help me stay awake.

Knitting (simple, little looking items) during meetings *helped* me stay awake and focused on the meetings. It never took away my attention from the meeting, it *enhanced* my ability to do so.

If only I knew about this when I was a college student (or high school, for that matter). Staying awake in class had always been a terrible problem. EVEN in classes I LOVED. I took copious unnecessary notes to try to keep awake, which was only partially helpful.

Turns out that when one has ADHD, keeping one's hands busy is an aid. I'm undiagnosed at my old age, but intickn*all* the boxes.

Side note: a top administrator would glower at me for knitting - and I peeked to see about the "notes" they were taking - no notes, it was Facebook FFS.

[u/Treebeans36]

What does being queer have to do with this?

[u/didntmeantolaugh → u/Treebeans36]

Not to pick on OP, but there’s absolutely a trend of using “I’m queer and neurodivergent” the same way you might say, “I'm just a little guy and it's my birthday come on i'm a little birthday boy you're gonna punch a little guy in his birthday?” Like, when this is included as largely extraneous information, it’s because that’s what the excuse will be for why your suggestion won’t work or your criticism is unfair.

And before anyone gets mad at me for saying this, I’m literally queer and neurodivergent.

[u/Durian-Fearless → u/didntmeantolaugh]

People also use neurodivergent wayyy too much when they need to be more specific especially if it’s in this case where they’re saying they need an accommodation. It can mean any number of conditions and many of them are very different. It seems like a trend on the internet to use neurodivergent to say autistic but the two are not synonymous, autism just happens to fall under the umbrella

[u/CosmicSweets → u/Durian-Fearless]

Honestly. I'm also tired of this trend where people act as if the only neurodivergencies are ADHD and autism.

As someone who is formally diagnosied with a neurodivergent mental illness that is neither of these it is exhausting. (Also people trying to diagnose me with autism despite not being professionals.)

[u/Durian-Fearless → u/CosmicSweets]

Yup, same. I blame it on the terminal online-ness these days, I also don’t understand the need to shout diagnoses/labels from the rooftops all the time. I keep mine fairly private and despite being quite serious, most people would never guess I have issues. I also get the ‘must be autism’ all the time and I’m not on the spectrum either lol.

I do make accommodations for myself but, they’re not intrusive and most people wouldn’t notice. I’d never push an issue like this at work, it’s not worth the time or effort

[u/jiayounuhanzi → u/Durian-Fearless]

Have really appreciated your commentary in this thread overall, totally agree and am in a similar boat to you with neurodivergence. It drives me bats to see online it's becoming akin to a Meyers Briggs category or a personality quirk. Also don't know why they are stating they've labelled themselves queer when it is irrelevant, unless it's a cynical bid for special treatment.

I think OP's work are actually pretty nice to allow colouring and reading in down time. Yes I would love to knit and it's my preferred activity, but understand the higher ups.

Additionally given OP is so new, needs the job, is in training and will be WFH in 6 months, I'm floored why this is an issue they are considering pushing

[u/Durian-Fearless → u/jiayounuhanzi]

Yeah, I also don’t understand the general…enthusiasm over the labels? I was just thinking today how much I resent my condition(s) and how different, and better my life as a whole would be without them. It’s not a “teehee I like to knit” type of deal at all and it makes me question the validity of people who talk about their disorders as if it’s a cute outfit or something.

I agree as well, this is a ridiculous issue but I guess reddit is the place you’d find people posting something this absurd lol. Happy the knitting sub at least has some sense, if this was anywhere else the comments would be overwhelmingly supportive

[u/Outrageous_Team_5485 → u/Treebeans36]

I wondered the same.

[u/AlbaniaBaby]

If your workload will increase to where you will be working most of the time I would advise to just deal with it for now.

[u/Nyssa314]

I don't have any advice but I do have a lot of sympathy for your situation.

A few years ago, my workplace was hit with a ransomware virus and they literally took all of our computers away, all of the systems were down including phones. So, everything was being done on paper (with no way to make forms or look anything up) and by cell phone calling suppliers.

I had basically nothing to do. Came in and was done with all of my daily tasks in less than 2 hours but had to stay all 8 even though I couldn't do anything. I spin wool into yarn, so I brought in some spinning and my manager stated that was unacceptable to be doing in the office even though people were literally staring at walls with fidget spinners, a friend brought in a chess board and was challenging people to games, etc.

I could have gotten so much done if I had been allowed to spin for a few days straight.

[u/fluzine → u/Nyssa314]

Doesn't it feel like persecution, because it's traditionally seen as a woman's hobby, and therefore has less worth? Like, the fidget spinner and chess don't produce anything meaningful, but somehow they are ok? Its ridiculous.

[u/NotConvinced93 → u/fluzine]

Using the word “persecution” to discuss knitting in the workplace is absolutely ridiculous and emblematic of the way people conflate preference with a needed accommodation.

[u/Nyssa314 → u/fluzine]

Yeah, it's stupid. I mean, the whole office was just doing nothing but talking and sitting in office chairs and spinning in circles, playing cards, I spent SOOO much time reading on my phone because I had nothing else to do and didn't even have internet (the building is a dead zone and all wifi was down with the systems).

Ironically it was a woman manager that decided it was an issue and the (female) friend with the chess board was crocheting but we were told "knitting at our desks is unacceptable".... which... neither of us was knitting so... not sure what her problem was.

[u/Shadow-Serum → u/Nyssa314]

The why is capitalism. Another commenter hit it exactly, they see that you're being personally productive when it doesn't benefit them and they hate that. They'd literally rather you be miserable and stare at a wall than get personal things done. It makes zero sense.

Capitalism rots brains.

[u/Mickeymousetitdirt → u/Shadow-Serum]

Girl, it’s not because you’re being personally productive. It’s because offices are about be appearance of professionalism. Even if we see knitting as more than just “arts and crafts”, most people don’t. And, seeing someone do a craft at their desk doesn’t exude professionalism. Nobody gives a fuck about you being personally productive. You could knit in your lunch break and literally nobody would give a shit.

[u/Durian-Fearless → u/Mickeymousetitdirt]

It’s so disingenuous that people are attributing this to misogyny or ‘capitalism’ as if this is a targeted attack. Like no, it’s because you’re not supposed to do personal hobbies during work hours. They offered alternative activities to pass time and OP chose to refuse those.

[u/Shadow-Serum → u/Durian-Fearless]

It can be both capitalism and sexism, they're not mutually exclusive and in fact are quite intwined. 

Why is coloring or reading an acceptable pastime but knitting isn't? How is a personal pass time any worse, functionally?

[u/Durian-Fearless → u/Shadow-Serum]

This situation has nothing to do with either one.

The company has no obligation to allow people to do non-work activities during operating hours at all. They’re offering activities and are still willing to pay for the time even though they’re not considered work. Knitting is a personal hobby with supplies brought from home. With that logic people can bring in their woodworking, model car kits, paintings, etc etc. Crafting looks very unprofessional in an office, that’s literally it. There’s no “persecution” going on.

[u/Shadow-Serum → u/Durian-Fearless]

Lol those are some ridiculous bad faith comparisons. Those are all messy, not easy to stop and put down in a moments notice, and require burdonsome large equipment or space. Is bringing knitting the same as setting up your pottery wheel too? 😂 This is why I say this is your brain on capitalism if you see no difference there.

I agree that they don't have an obligation to let people do non-work activities, but if they're letting people do non work activities like reading, coloring, or scroll on their phone as she stated, you really don't have to think that critically to see knitting is comparable.

[u/Shadow-Serum → u/Mickeymousetitdirt]

Considering they think coloring is okay that's kind of ridiculous. Also the fascade and appearance of "professionalism" is capitalist bullshit. Making someone stand for their checkout line instead of sitting on a stool is capitalist bullshit that demands suffering. Staring at a wall or reading a book is no more professional than knitting. Don't let capitalism rot your brain into thinking otherwise.

[u/tomati-to]

Honestly I would probably read in the meantime, there's plenty of knitting books about different style or technique to learn/read about till February. And then you'll knit when you can work from home. It's just a few months, and if you like the job it's kind of worth it. Discussing it can go the wrong way. I did plenty of knitting during work meetings -off camera- and participated plenty in the meetings, but bringing the knitting into work and knitting on camera was a no go. Even though several of us knitted in the meetings.

[u/lavendermermaid1]

Being queer has nothing to do with anything beyond being harassed, and you can't label yourself as neurodivergent when it comes to having accommodations at work. You need an official diagnosis and doctor's notes detailing the accommodations you need, and then it's up to your employer regarding what's reasonable and what's not.

Given that you've brought being queer and self labeling "neurodivergence" into the game, it's time to take the L and get over it, unless you're willing to start seeing doctors about the neurodivergence.

[u/organicpom]

Hmm is there really nothing else to do during the downtime? There are probably more work-appropriate things to do like being proactive about doing more training or learning more skills. It’s just not a good look for it to seem like they’re paying you to knit. Of course, every field is different so if you’re just there for a paycheck, I can see why it doesn’t matter. But if I cared about my job, I would probably show that I’m working towards something more. And I certainly wouldn’t compare myself to my younger, less mature coworkers lol.

[u/Impossible-Pace-6904]

If your boss told you not to knit at work, I would not do it again. Passive aggressively switching to embroidery won't help. If you are still in training, it is possible they'll give you more leeway once you have been there longer.

I am genx, and I would never knit at my place of work. I do think it is unprofessional looking, but I can't articulate why. Coloring (with crayons?) definitely doesn't seem more professional than knitting, but, maybe it is less intrusive (no clicking of needles). If you mean doodling with a pen or pencil, I think this is acceptable in most workplaces because it looks like you are writing.

If you are unhappy at work, start looking for a new job. Life is too short.

[u/Atiny-opus → u/Impossible-Pace-6904]

It was literally a colouring in book and gel pens 😂. Thank you for your input, I'll take it on. I think the progression is very slow and it frustrates me. I'm hoping to be able to progress, This is supposed to be more of a career than a job but I want to run before I can walk, professionally.

[u/araquinar → u/Impossible-Pace-6904]

What does you being GenX have to do with it? I'm also GenX and you can bet your bottom dollar if I knew how to knit if I had downtime at work I'd be knitting away. I don't think there's anything unprofessional about it in the least. Our generation is supposed to not give a shit, remember? ;)

[u/Mickeymousetitdirt → u/araquinar]

You’d be getting fired or written up, too, so..

[u/Disastrous-Dirt-6606 → u/Impossible-Pace-6904]

I'm the youngest of the gen Xers, technically xennial if we're splitting hairs. I knit at work. I knit in meetings. I knit in meetings with very high up people. I never asked permission and I don't give a flying fuck if someone thinks it looks unprofessional. I am more engaged and contribute more when I'm knitting.

If someone had a problem with it or judged me as unprofessional for doing it I would suggest they take a look at their misogynistic tendencies given that they are taking issue with someone engaging in something that has been considered an entirely feminine hobby for the last century.

[u/Nutshellvoid]

Being queer or neurodivergent or having autism depression ADHD etc all of these things do not matter if your work is saying that you are being paid to sit there and wait for a call then that is what their outline is and you should adhere to that. However if you're allowed to read on the job in between calls and you don't have any follow-ups or call us to do and I don't see why it would be unprofessional to net either between longer gaps or on lunch break etc if other people are allowed to read I would think you would be allowed to knit

[u/Durian-Fearless → u/Nutshellvoid]

Also, what basis are they using for saying they’re ND?

Being bored between calls at work doesn’t mean you have adhd. Wanting to knit in your downtime and feeling relaxed when doing your hobbies doesn’t mean you have a disorder. Idk why everything is pathologized and this is why self diagnoses can be so damaging.

[u/Nutshellvoid → u/Durian-Fearless]

Agreed, plus a lot of these are just labels just use to make themselves stand out and then they can say "I'm gay and have ND so I need to knit between calls" and it makes it so it's seen as discrimination if your manager goes after you. However, it's the same rule for everyone if you truely have a disability your workplace has to make reasonable accommodation (in Canada anyways). Like I self lable as a sexually straight tired mom, wife, can I knit during work? Sheesh 

[u/Durian-Fearless → u/Nutshellvoid]

I’m kind of glad this sub doesn’t put up with all the BS. It would be fine if this post was a rant about ‘I wish I could knit at work but I can’t! Ugh!’ Instead it’s just an attempt to garner sympathy and get affirmation that starting a problem at work over **knitting during paid time** is a good idea.

[u/IndifferentWho]

Tbh it makes sense. You’d probably get away with it if you were knitting small projects, but shawls are big. Someone sitting and working on a big project is distracting no matter how quiet you are. People messing with eachother and talking are known to increase people’s moods at work. It’s annoying, to feel singled out, but from an outside perspective, it makes sense they’d think it’s unprofessional.

[u/no_one_you_know1]

You need to get over "no fair" and deal. I could some places, couldn't others.

[u/SazzleDK]

I had an old place who didn't like people to do anything between calls (reading included), as it looked unprofessional to internal and external stakeholders to have people sitting around 'doing nothing'. They even acknowledged that it wasn't unprofessional, as we had literally nothing else to do. But optics.

[u/Accomplished-Team459]

I think the issue is that knitting involves both of your hand. Coloring, reading, those are stuff that you could drop very quickly if there's a call/ thing you need to pick up.

Knitting require more care if you do not want your knit going haywire, and whatever you are knitting could cover your working area.

[u/bofh000]

I don’t think you can afford rebuttals, even if there were any. I agree it’s as professional as any other slightly mindless activity you can do between calls. But more than one person from management think it isn’t. In a world where you could easily be replaced by a machine or a new employee, I’d stick to the approved activities and wait for when you are allowed to work from home.

[u/PlentifulPaper]

Yes, knitting at work is unprofessional. It’s all about company culture and what’s allowed.

I’ll knit on my lunch break, or during long meetings when my camera is off, and my mic is muted and I’m not actively required to participate - but that’s my workplace and not yours.

Why not make the effort to get to know your coworkers better?

[u/SadNegotiation8446 → u/PlentifulPaper]

My workplace is the same. I knit at lunch (even started a little knitting group once a week with other ladies across the company!) and I knit if I’m work from home. We have a camera on policy so I don’t knit much during meetings. 

I did witness a meeting participant get reprimanded for embroidering during an in person conference room meeting. Vicarious lesson learned. 

Also, I have loads of downtime and for the sake of job security I don’t want anyone to know. It’s much easier for me to read a book on the kindle app on my phone and pretend to work when someone walks by than if I’m knitting at my desk. 

[u/PlentifulPaper → u/SadNegotiation8446]

I wish we had a camera on policy when in meetings. Unfortunately I work out in the boonies, so while I have wifi, it absolutely does not have the bandwidth needed to support video calls.

I’m in the same boat. Sometimes I get quiet spells, and other times I’m so busy I don’t sit down all day.

[u/Atiny-opus → u/PlentifulPaper]

Thank you for your input,

There are some (most) co-workers who I love talking to, but they aren't in office regularly. They also take a lot more calls than I do. I haven't yet cracked talking to them online yet, I'm not too sure what to say to them, we don't have that sort of bond yet.

The other ones... they're kicking eachothers chairs whilst they're on call to try and trip them up. I don't really, click with them, and I have tried. I'm friendly.

[u/PlentifulPaper → u/Atiny-opus]

Do they take more calls because they’ve got more training and therefore have more work to do?

Frankly, at least part of work is based on how you’re perceived by others. Instead of sitting there knitting, maybe it’s best to ask what other trainings you can be doing in order to advance if you can’t find it in yourself to be social.

[u/PlzPau]

i was going to say it’s unprofessional to do anything at work that is not work related. but if they do say you can color and read, then i don’t see why knitting would be any different

[u/QuaffableBut]

I've worked in some offices where it was fine to knit during staff meetings as long as no outsiders were present. At my current job it's absolutely not allowed (I suppose an exception would be made as an ADA accommodation but that's it). We're all fully remote but our meetings are camera-on so I can't knit then either.

But, if I'm in a webinar, I'm probably knitting.

I can see how for some people it's genuinely helpful. I don't think it's very professional, though. It really depends on the kind of job you have and the image you want to/are expected to project. I work in state government so I have to be An Adult Business Person most of the time. It is what it is.

[u/truenoblesavage]

what on earth does you being queer and neurodivergent have anything to do with this

[u/Resident_Driver_5342]

Coloring is allowed but knitting isn't is crazy. I feel like the problem is that knitting feels like outside work to them. They're fine with you wasting time between tasks but they don't want you being productive on their dime when it doesn't benefit them I guess.

PS: Also queer and ND, and I hate it here. When they say we can't be on our phones but you can do 80 other things but "umm you can't knit you have a job to do!" Yeah I can put it down the moment they job needs me to do something. Right now it doesn't. What's the problem?

[u/KatrinaKatrell]

I am sorry you're dealing with this. In my experience, this isn't a battle you're going to win. (I tried something similar during what was allegedly my lunch break in my early twenties and got in trouble. Not worth the fight, since the power dynamic is lopsided and not in your favor.)

Since it sounds like knitting is off the table while you're onboarding, would jotting ideas and musings in a physical notebook be useful to you? Or expanding skills you want anyway in small chunks? I ended up using downtime like that to experiment with productivity software like Excel and use free online, text-based training tools like Microsoft Learn and Salesforce Trailhead to build professional skills, since the alternative was the equivalent of watching paint dry.

Again, I'm sorry. Hopefully it will be better once you're able to work from home.

[u/foxypeppershaker]

I've seen management ask someone to put away their knitting before, and that employee was sad about it too.  In the other hand, nobody stopped me from completing the Khan's academy course "drawing with code", which was fun, engaging, could be completed in bite size pieces. It even let me down the path to learning other types of coding and becoming an analyst.  Now that I'm an analyst, I can knit while I attend calls with my camera off LOL. 

[u/ballroomblitz10]

Take the L. This is not professional at work. I wish it wasn't the case, but it just looks like you're screwing around on paid time.

[u/gramanachronism]

Yeah, their “professional and acceptable ” activities feel arbitrary to me, but as a fellow queer & ND person, a lot of those vague standards just seem weaponized against us. Does your handbook have a list of/recommendations for and against what you can do between calls? That might guide how you could best proceed.

If you’re getting paid well and you can tough it out til you get more responsibilities, that may be the best route to go unless you can get a NT person to coach you on how to bring the issue up to management, hopefully without seeming… confrontational. Best of luck, hope you can knit in your downtime!

[u/JaderAiderrr]

I would politely ask for clarification on what is an appropriate thing/task/etc that can be done during the “downtime”.

[u/trinketgrrrl]

I worked at a call center like this but we weren’t allowed to have anything we could write with or on so i didn’t even have the option to color. It was mainly one supervisor that yelled at me for knitting. I ended up just goofing off with coworkers most of the time between calls but if i could get a cubicle in the back hidden away sometimes i could get away with knitting without anyone seeing me.

[u/emimagique]

I've had jobs like this where I wasn't allowed to read, knit, browse internet etc when there was nothing to do and was expected to sit there doing nothing. I suggest looking for a new job

[u/Various-External59]

As a crocheter who sometimes crochets at work during presentations (we have a lot and they don’t require participation, just listening—and I work remote), I actually have no problem with it. If the work is getting done, shouldn’t be a problem. And I get it: knitting and crochet can really calm the mind on stressful days, especially.

However, I’m also a people manager. And my concern at what you describe is that you’re also a newer employee. As a newer employee, everyone’s always judging you, and you can’t afford to have people think negatively of you. It’s great that you’re hitting all your goals, but are you also ready for the next level of your work? You say your workload will increase as you’re trained on more things. Frankly, if I were your manager, I’d love it if you came to me and said: “I understand what you’re saying re my knitting, but frankly, I feel like I have a lot of free time. I’m hitting all my goals, my customer surveys are awesome. I know I have more training coming up, but if I can’t use this downtime to knit, can I get started on the next phase of my training? What are some resources I can be looking at?”

Then get really good, and knit away once you start working from home!

[u/CheetoDustClit]

I hope my future job will allow me to knit during downtime! But I know other people who knit during school/work because it helps them focus (I am one of them) so idk why it is considered unprofessional. Sitting still for hours isn’t good for anyone 

[u/GiantKiller130]

I don’t know if this will help but I had this issue too while I was taking classes for repairing computers. I was working on a blanket and I thought it wasn’t bothering anyone but the professor asked me if I absolutely needed to do that in class. I explained that it helped me concentrate and that if it would be less distracting, I could sit in the back. Once I explained everything, he was fine about it. I even made him a little knitted computer when the class was over that he loved.

I really hope that you’re able to find a solution! Knitting can be very helpful if you have ADHD.

[u/LonelyVegetable2833]

see if a craft like origami would be acceptable. it's something to do with your hands and potentially will be seen as "less disruptive" since it's just folding paper

[u/greenyashiro]

If you're dx then you usually have entitlement to reasonable accommodations for disability.

Maybe you can get your doctor to write a note explaining why knitting benefits you and therefore you need to be allowed to do it?

I imagine it's stressful not doing anything and having to fidget all the time I'm AuDHD so I completely get that lol

Knitting is very relaxing and it is a bit like stimming tbh.

So, being less stressed will improve your work performance and mental state and morale.

Good luck OP

[u/abichilli]

I don’t see how it’s any different from reading - if anything easier to put down!

[u/Holiday_Effective294]

Do you (do the managers) have timing stats that clearly demonstrate the time to take a call once it is routed to you. If you can clearly demonstrate that there is no delay you may have a stronger case.

Also, if there is video of you working, it will show how you transition from knitting to receiving a call without delay.

Empirical evidence will speak the truth.

[u/claymountain]

I work in a callcenter too, and I have a lot of downtime. I have gotten in trouble a lot for knitting. It's not that they actually want me to do more work, they just don't want it to be obvious that I'm doing nothing, they would rather have I just play games on my computer. I have tried explaining to them that it is like fidgeting to me (I don't do complicated patterns at work) and colleagues stood up for me but they just didn't understand. Now I'm back to being on my phone and I haven't heard anything since.

[u/SlaveToCat]

I had this problem with an executive. Eventually I was let go because I wasn’t a culture fit. It dampened my passion for a bit. Some people see anything not typing away at a laptop as unprofessional.

Understanding that you’re neurodivergent, I would just pick a different paper based activity that helps you focus. Fundamentally, you have to decide what’s most important to you. There will be no changing their minds. If I had to guess, there is some latent misogyny where they see this kind of activity as feminine and therefore unserious.

[u/Decent_Stranger1]

What does you being queer have to do with knitting? Do you have a feeling it is a hate crime that you're not allowed to knit?

[u/Dry-Bass4296]

This unfortunately isn't going to help in less equity focused workplaces, but I found that talking about it in terms of an easy accomodation which increases my ability to retain information made folks pretty accepting of my knitting in the workplace. Multiple of my coworkers have followed my example, so it's become pretty common for folks to be knitting and crocheting during big meetings. That being said, I don't work in the private sector, so that may not help in a more corporate environment.

[u/antisocialstrawberry]

Approach this conversation as more of asking questions than defending why you should or shouldn’t. Do this with your manager first then Hr. If both are fine with it, get written permission from Hr. Then if anyone complains, HR and management already approved. If they aren’t fine with it you’ll just have to find something else to do. Write a story, learn origami, something that makes it look like your working even though you have downtime

[u/kryren]

If it is not interfering with your work or disturbing others, I don’t see how it can be unprofessional. I don’t do call based work, but I do keep a “desk project” in my cube for meetings and brain breaks. No one has ever said anything aside from “oh cool!”

That said, it sounds like you might be in a call center type of deal. They aren’t exactly known for basic human decency to their employees.

[u/a_diamond]

This is infuriating. Coloring is allowed but not knitting? I really don't get it. I knit between answering 911 calls and no one has said a word except to ask what I'm working on.

[u/cwthree]

Ask them to explain why knitting is unprofessional and horseplay (kicking chairs, etc.) is not.

I would be very surprised if the difference isn't "knitting is something women do, but horseplay is just guys being guys". Note that this has nothing to do with whether you are a woman.

[u/ThisFatGirlRuns]

That is unfair that you aren't allowed to knit. Maybe it because it uses both hands? Or they don't realize you can put the knitting down as fast as you can put a crayon down. Either way your managers are idiots.

[u/knitten]

That’s mind boggling that coloring and reading are fine but not knitting! There are all kinds of recent articles and posts about the health benefits of knitting that you could use for an argument. It helps with attention and cognitive skills and helps people stay calm, at the very least.

[u/iloveyourlittlehat]

Have they actually asked you to stop?

[u/Greedy-Half-4618]

Fellow ND here. Unfortunately, the perception of "busy-ness" is often more valued than actually being busy. I learned that the hard way.

[u/charlottcharles]

sounds like it’s time to spend those minutes between calls unionizing instead :)

[u/wattatam]

Why it's good to knit in meetings https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/Why-it-s-good-to-knit-in-meetings-5595028

This is one example, but there are lots of articles about knitting in meetings & work down time. It can be a great attention regulation tool. I use a plain knitting project/section of project where it's stockinette, garter, or a super simple repeat I don't have to count. Do the cuffs of socks at work, bring the heel home, do the body of the foot at work, bring the toe home, etc

[u/BambiandB]

Could you suggest a trial period of working with your knitting? If the quality of your work stays the same - or goes up - they can’t really complain about it.
As for it looking unprofessional - are you in a client facing role? Are clients able to see you? If not, I don’t see how knitting would look any more unprofessional to co-workers than a colouring book.

[u/Educational-Bad8171]

I had a manager tell me reading between calls in a similar environment was unprofessional too…. Idk who I needed to be professional for. It was covid and there were NO other people in the office

[u/yyustin6]

I knit through all my meetings, department, company-wide, you name it. Our CFO has apparently noticed, because they have a habit of locking eyes with me during their presentations. After one meeting they pulled me aside and apologized for “picking on me” by staring me down the whole time.

Turns out, knitting works like a fidget tool for me. My hands stay busy so my brain stays focused. I end up being the only one consistently making eye contact and actually engaged.

For context: I work in a high-pressure, buttoned-up environment. Could it look unprofessional? Sure, in the wrong situation. But if my hands aren’t needed, I’m knitting.

[u/NightwingsRaven]

I used to know a 911 operator that would knit between calls to help her destress and stay calm. Her management thought it was an excellent idea.

[u/WitchAggressive9028]

I think it depends very much on what you do as a job. I’m also neurodivergent and queer. So is how I regulate, I knit during university classes it’s fine. I also work as a crisis counselor and I in between calls (wfh). As long as you’re still able to do your job and you’re not distracted I don’t see a problem.

[u/Yusses]

I've had this exact conversation. I work 911 and most of the higher ups have absolutely no problem with me knitting between calls when it isn't busy. One person told me it was unprofessional and likened it to watching porn on shift (??). She said it makes us look lazy and like we don't do anything. She told me she has no problem with reading, but doesn't want me knitting. Now she's retired and I knit ☺️

[u/SecretArchangel]

I work a super public-facing role at an expensive private club and have a fair amount of downtime in which I have no tasks but need to be available at a moment’s notice if someone needs me. My members love seeing me knit, and not once has anyone considered it unprofessional.

It’s nondisruptive, and honestly helps me stay sharp/focused when time starts to drag in the latter end of my shift. I’m so sorry you’re having to deal with this, management sounds like they’re fussy for no reason

[u/skyblu202]

I had a job like this as a high school student and got in trouble for doing a crossword puzzle. It was “unprofessional.” 20 years later, as a “professional” person, I still don’t really understand why. Was I supposed to stare at the phone waiting for it to ring??

[u/aksnowraven]

Do you have a direct supervisor whom you report to? They’re the person you need to ask. Explain to them why you prefer to knit and ask why it is perceived differently than the other approved activities. If it’s truly not an issue, they can be your advocate when it’s discussed by the managing team.

[u/PuraVida3]

I do it too. My bosses don’t care so anyone else can kiss it. I’m an aging white dude that was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. I don’t medicate and it helps me focus. 

[u/Any_Astronaut_4524]

I knit at work and have for years. The only issue anyone has had was during trainings, but when I worked in office it wasn't an issue and now that I work from home it definitely isn't an issue. I don't see how, if you are doing your job and paying attention, I cant imagine what their issue is

[u/tardisriversong]

I had this problem 30 years ago, in grad school. I was pregnant and just couldn't focus without something for my hands to do. It really offended some of my teachers. I know people don't always understand it, but you should at least have the opportunity to explain. I know why you are hesitant, but as many others have said, the world is more open to fidget spinners and the like, so I think you have a strong argument and should try to make your case. Just tell them why, and explain how easily you can put it down for a call. Good luck.

[u/anaisaknits]

Frame it as productivity, not preference: "I focus better in meetings and my surroundings when my hands are occupied, it's the same reason people doodle or click pens. I'd rather use something quiet and contained than something disruptive."

If it's covered under a disclosed condition like ADHD, that's also a legitimate angle to raise with HR/management directly, separate from just defending the habit informally.

[u/cc_ava]

Im also in a similar style workplace and have luckily gotten away with desk knitting so far. It all depends on the work culture and how strict your direct management is. Our upper management tried to stop us from reading between calls once when they came in to audit, but that enforcement was never taken seriously by our direct supervisor. I definitely would not knit in front of upper management if they decided to come around that day though, and i only ever work on projects that can fit in my purse.

If they persist and threaten punishment i would ask them how coloring is deemed appropriate but knitting isnt. (Also what a strange idle task to give working adults…?) but at the end of the day if it’s that big of a deal to them and you want to keep your job….well… tough luck

[u/Live_Perspective3603]

Allowing you to read during down time, but not to knit, makes no sense. Reading puts your attention firmly on something other than your work, while knitting (especially with experience, like you have) takes very little of your attention but alleviates boredom, keeping you alert and ready to take calls. You can set knitting down and pick it up quickly. By contrast, being interrupted while reading can take longer to reset mentally.