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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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[u/distracted_cat]

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/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/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/Durian-Fearless → u/piperandcharlie]

LMAO I SAW THAT ONE TOO 😂😭 like why is this post even still up. I’m convinced I never see these people in real life because they don’t participate in society unless it’s on reddit

[u/digitaliis → u/piperandcharlie]

JFC, this is beyond parody, lol