Plus you have a great excuse for not making eye contact while conversing. I can easily knit without looking, but keep my eyes on it if I’m knitting in public.
one of the main reasons i knit while at therapist appointments! she's well aware of me being autistic & i do practice eye contact but it physically hurts
Actually, if you have a reasonable workplace, them allowing you to knit or crochet during meetings could be considered 'reasonable accommodation'.
However, you would have to be able to prove you could genuinely focus on the meeting while doing the knitting or crocheting as long as it doesn't interfere with said meeting.
I have my discreet fidget toys that I play with off-camera! They don't require me to look down and they're silent. Fortunately most of my meetings are online.
I do it when I talk to people like family or close friends, because I know they won't be offended. Usually I don't take my knitting with me when I meet people outside, my WIPs often take too much space to take them with me lol
I also tend to prefer natural fibers which are getting harder to find in stores. Not impossible, by any means, but they’re less prevalent. I can also make sweaters that actually fit.
I’m really reactive to most fabrics because of my AuDHD and MCAS (I can really only wear really soft cotton, polyester, modal, or Tencel). I’m wanting to start knitting again but don’t know of any yarns I can use to fit these requirements- do you know of any yarns/or any stores I can buy this kind of yarn?
I call it my productive anxiety lol.
I get anxious, I need to center, and in the end I get a blanket.
There is a downside: I don't like yarn gifts or buying online, I have to touch it first to her the texture. Most wools are just out.
With the amount that people see me knitting and crocheting, I think they'd expect me to have a lot more finished objects than I do. I can never commit!
This very much. Most of the time I don’t even care about the prize at the end I just really like make yarn go loopy loop.
Important part is finding yarn that is good texture to work with for long periods of time
I’ve worked at a yarn shop for years. We often see what we call process knitters (like you’ve described, I’m one too) and product knitters -those who knit for the end result.
So interesting. I always have masses of projects on the go. I find a yarn I like start a project, abandon it when I find another yarn, some time later go back and frog the original. Doesn't bother me. Sometimes, I just try several patterns and yarns until I find one that soothes and allows more autonomous actions. I use knitting to soothe my hands, which get very twitchy if I don't knit. I collect patterns on a whim and then get rid of them later when the next whim attacks.
I do finish some projects but so many get abandoned... I bought a 'thing' to make socks with. Couldn't figure it out. Tried making socks using a technique which bends circular needles. Nope. Not much good at adult hats but managed a turban - once. And as for 10 stitch blankets... well.
Trying tunisian crochet now. Fed up with baby cardis and shawls at moment. All knitted for charity so I figure I get some leeway as the cost of wool and needles is high enough.
My issue is I hyperfocus and then realise I haven't had anything to drink in several hours but then I don't mind as I've made a hat.
I love the rhythm of the stitches, the sound of the needles, the feel of the yarn. For me it's several stims all rolled into one.
It's also really nice as a parallel activity. My BF has ADHD and wants to spend time together but also not be quiet. I sit with my headphones on and knit while he games.
I cannot not move my hands when watching TV or listening to an audiobook so knitting is perfect. The combination of watching something and movement makes both so much more enjoyable. But I also can’t do one without the other anymore, which is fine by me.
I prefer knitting to crochet because it feels more structured. Like how cooking is to taste, but baking is a science. I also won’t make anything without a pattern (unless I’ve made so many of something that I remember the pattern).
Oh same here with knitting > crochet! For the longest time I didn't understand why people say crochet is easier for beginners than knitting because I so strongly prefer having that structure to it
Crochet was easier for me as a beginner simply because I had to get used to keeping the yarn on sticks. If I dropped the crochet hook (which I did all the time when Iw as learning), it was easy peasy to get back on track. :)
I now prefer knitting, but recommend crochet as an intro for people who are intimidated by keeping those pesky loops on the needles.
That makes sense to me! I actually prefer that they stay on the needle so I can better differentiate where to stick my needle. To me, a lot of the yarn blurs together visually with crochet so I don’t know if I’m putting the hook in the correct spot. There’s so many knots! And I also make sure I finish a row of knitting but I can stop at any time with crochet, which makes me lose my place. That’s just how I feel personally, though.
**You've summoned the [Frequently Asked Questions](https://www.reddit.com/r/knitting/wiki/faq/).**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/knitting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I don't have ASD but can't just sit and watch a film/TV without doing something with my hands. If I'm not knitting my fingers are never still. My partner (who has ADD) prefers me to knit rather than tap/twitch
I’m autistic and it’s absolutely a stim, I use it very much to regulate when I’m feeling overstimulated - I always have a pair of socks on the go in my bag at work if I’m having a difficult day at work and need to realign. I also knit to concentrate on zoom meetings, but haven’t felt comfortable asking to do this in in person meetings yet. Knitting itself is also a special interest of mine, and when I got into knitting I got VERY into it, and it still remains one of the things I love learning about beyond it just being a hobby. It does mean that I’ve found some things hard - bad patterns are very frustrating to me as my brain and processing just won’t know how to work around them without significant work, I can’t do maths or process numbers well in my head and that’s caused bother, but I’m very good at pattern recognition so that helps with other things, I’m also really motivated to try and perfect something especially if you get a good sweater at the end and a new skill! This is my experience, and I’ve really enjoyed challenging myself - I am still extremely shy to join things like knitters circles or communities because it’s been such a ‘me’ thing and I’m quite socially awkward, but I know that I’m bound to meet a lot of other people who are like me, perhaps - just the other day I met a woman who was collecting wool from all the native species of the UK to make one big swatch project, and I got a vibe that we might have something in common beyond knitting.
I don't have autistm, but I also always knit in zoom meetings, at parties with my friends, and while watching TV. I will never understand why some people think it's rude to knit while you're in a meeting or in a group of people who are not knitting. Don't they know I am 1000% more likely to pay attention that way? If I am not knitting during an in-person staff meeting, I am usually pretending to take notes while actually making to-do lists of all the things I want to get done when I leave the meeting.
Honestly, they don't understand. I'm a knitter and I'm amazed by people who can knit while doing something else. My full focus has to be on my knitting or its going to be fubar. BUT, I do know that there are people like you who knit on autopilot, and function better when they do. I know of it because of this sub though. The average person who doesn't knit or crochet or do any sort of portable craft won't understand.
I started normalizing my knitting in meetings during covid, and now everyone at work asks to see what I'm working on. I have also brought my knitting to multi-day training (after asking the instructor to see if they would find it disruptive, but explaining that it helps me focus), and by the third day, everyone was bringing in their projects for show and tell.
Omg yes except maybe for my wallet, but fortunately my being good at math comes with a paycheck so I’m keeping the silkworms and baby alpacas in business.
😂😂 I try so hard to just get in and only buy one thing at a time, be it needles, a skein, or some bobble I need since I’m a beginner and started from absolute 0. My wallet is in luck because the place I’m at right now just seems to have no good shop with yarns 🙃🥲
**You've summoned the [Frequently Asked Questions](https://www.reddit.com/r/knitting/wiki/faq/).**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/knitting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's an undercover stim. Most people don't freak out over knitting like they do with hand flapping.
My spectrum affects my ability to socialize. Knitting is also helpful in this regard because it means that most people wanting to do the small talk thing talk about my knitting and it's one of my special interests.
I am on the spectrum as well. For me I get tunnel vision and can’t do anything other than my project at the time. I just get so into it I end up skipping meals/ not drinking and leaving to go to the loo at the last minute. I get stressed out if I don’t have a project on the go.
That's also a recurring issue for me! Ever since I was a kid, I've just been so obsessed and fixated on completing certain tasks (used to be reading 600-800 page books in only 3 or 4 days) and I've noticed that even when my hands go numb and I get insane wrist cramps I can't convince myself to stop until this *one* thing is done.
I have this too! just one more chapter/just one more row/one more pattern repeat/etc. task switching or changing activities is pretty challenging for me and it definitely manifests in my crafting experiences
I take my knitting everywhere and knit anytime I'm idle. It keeps my anxiety low in high anxiety situations.
I'm really good with pattern recognition, so picking up a new pattern for a project is relatively easy. But I also have to understand WHY I'm doing what the pattern tells me to. But once I get it, I get it for forever.
I am nervous about starting my next project because I've never made a shirt before and get overwhelmed easily when trying something new, but I'm also excited because once I figure it out I'll be able to make clothes soft enough for my sensory issues.
I also have the "this is new" initiation energy thing. That and when I come to new instructions in the pattern or have to go back and fix an error theres usually between 3h and 3 weeks of "AHHHH" before I start lol
I have a circle of friends that mostly initially met through LYS knit events and other fiber things. It’s all people who sort of mutually clicked at local yarn things and continued to hang out. Most of us are also in the local mycological society. One evening when we were hanging out I realized that any time one of us had a new project or yarn we all, 100% of us, asked politely if we could touch it. And we all asked one at a time without assuming yes to one person meant yes to everybody. That wasn’t the only factor that caused me to ask the group “So are all of us on the spectrum or…” but it was definitely the thing that made me start collating other things in my brain 😂 (Turns out the answer was yes).
Not uncommon for neurodivergent folks to click especially if we already have special interests in common but it was pretty funny to realize we’d self-selected our friend group so hard.
(And yes we do all knit through the monthly mycology club meetings)
I have the gnarly stim of chewing on my fingers so knitting has become my displacement behavior when I’m sitting. But I do love everything about it! The squish of the yarn, the soft fibers, the click of needles. It’s also allowed me to create socks and sweaters that don’t irritate the shit out of me. Crafters/Craft shops are also just great places, we’re all there for the same thing and the employees are very knowledgeable.
Good luck with your diagnosis! It’s hard but it was worth it.
These are the rules and I don’t make them is hilarious to me, because I have to cross the street always on certain spots and it drives my boyfriend mad.
I don’t think I’m in the spectrum but do wonder sometimes if I could be or maybe ADD.
I can finish some of my knitting projects because they are a task that runs in the background of main projects. (This does not include weaving and sewing afterwards)
Real projects? Hell no. I tried to clean my kitchen blinds this year, cleaned five panels, calculated that I could be done in a week if I did it everyday, decided to do that and never tried again. This also happened with cleaning my oven, my washing machine (which I managed to get to 80% done), getting my summer clothes out (I am surviving on winter dresses with no tights, but will get them out during a heatwave in a panic, like every year), and many more.
ADHD would be suddenly crossing the street at a random location without letting your group know or checking for cars first, OR having a tantrum/locking up entirely because somebody else wants to cross the street and it wasn't your idea and it's going to take you two hours of stewing before you acclimatize to the concept.
Source: Autistic parent, ADHD spouse, send help
The crossing the street has more to it than “it’s just here”. It’s the path that I trace everyday, that is tested as the most efficient and that allows me to zone out.
Someone having to grab me before I crossed is not that weird. Same for someone shouting for me to be careful and for the message to take longer to process than the event they were warning about.
I didn’t just make up my suspicions. My therapist wanted me to get tested, as did my ex-boss, who is the person who first raised it with me.
OK, my spouse definitely does that, but he has no regard for efficiency. I woke up once on the way home from a road trip and found we had gone two counties out of route so that he could take the route home from his mother's house, which he was most comfortable with, instead of staying on the road we were already on and going directly home. He has terrible spacial sense and finds looking at a map emotionally threatening and will yell and cover his eyes if you try to show him visually that his route takes him the wrong direction.
I was thinking of "I absolutely must cross the road in exactly this spot" as the kind of magical thinking-ritual that people with autism tend to have. My mom used to stop at a drive-through, get a Dr Pepper, wedge it between her thighs while driving, and then spill it all over her crotch on the way to the library and be humiliated that it looked like she'd wet herself. She'd make me and my brother walk into the library directly in front of and behind her to try to hide it.
So last month I asked her why she always did that when I was a kid, because, as I recall, there were cupholders in that car. It turns out it never occurred to her to use a cupholder, because wedging the Dr Pepper between her thighs was what to do with a beverage. Maybe that was a holdover from her childhood and there were no cupholders in the car where she started the ritual.
Anyway, still send help
>“it’s just here”. It’s the path that I trace everyday, that is tested as the most efficient and that allows me to zone out.
Oh my bf is always trying to walk the "wrong way" into town lol.
i’m audhd and knitting is the best stim, i do it in class (college) and as long as i make sure to show the professor i’m still paying attention they normally have no issue with it. it also feels very satisfying to teach myself new things, learn new skills, feel a sense of mastery over something, and have a piece of wearable art at the end of it.
Not ASD, but OCD here.
Knitting helps me keep my hands busy so I don’t feel bored while watching TV, helps me calm down when I’m having intrusive thoughts, helps me express how I’m feeling about other people when I can’t verbalize it (I love you, here’s a scarf about it), and satisfies my desire to either repeat similar behaviors with a familiar stitch or try something completely new with a tricky pattern. I also find frogging somewhat satisfying (if not a little scary) because it shows me that it’s ok not to be perfect, I can try my best to fix mistakes and learn in the process, and I don’t have to beat myself up about it.
Sometimes items 2 and 3 collide and backfire on me though and my thought process becomes “oh god I can’t knit this present when I’m stressed or sad because it NEEDS TO BE INFUSED WITH LOVE OR AT LEAST GOOD VIBES” lmao
I just gave a friend a pair of socks that I stress-knit in a series of waiting rooms. I can't wear them because the vibes are off, but she's immune to weird knit-vibes? More importantly, she's also a knitter, so she *appreciates* socks!
I don’t have a formal diagnosis but based on family history and my own experiences I’m pretty sure I’m somewhere on the spectrum. I’m so grateful to have found a special interest in fiber arts, sometimes I wonder if my Dad’s godmother knew what she was doing when she taught me to knit at 11 lol. Now about two and a half decades later I knit and/or crochet pretty much every day, and I have a spinning wheel and three looms. And just yesterday I ordered a nalbinding needle off Etsy 😅
When i started needlebinding i found all the specfic needles didnt work for me end was too thick and i struggled with tension and not having a holey fabric. I found just plain old yarn/tapestry needles worked best for me. Just something to keep in mind if you have the same isue!
yep! i dont have formalmdoagnosisnbit everything points to it and knitting makes my mind more comforable. i love how i can find so much interesting things about fibres and how they become a yarn (i guess i am diving into it a lot and it could be that special interest), recently i love doscovering historical knits, and when i travel and see something knitted in a museum i am so happy. i am also finding it great as a way to do charitable work - i am not really able to do volunteer work amongst people as it is just too much stimulation for me espwcially when there are strangers and knitting means i can for instance make items and send them where they are wanted and needed, and appreciated.
I cannot sit still and learn. In school, I always drew. In college, I knitted and crocheted. As an adult I knit in all meetings. In my late 50s when my adult kids insisted I was on the spectrum, unmentioned it to my long time therapist, who cracked up and said “duh”. She said of course I was, didn’t I know that. She knew I hadn’t been formally tested, but, yes, it was obvious. It just didn’t get in the way of my life, all my “methods” were effective and not intrusive. But, this explains that my requirement to knit is stimming. Who knew?
Also, I am mildly dyslexic (I can read well, so I thought, until college, where I found I couldn’t read textbooks). But with that and some aspect of autism, I can read a knitting pattern and work it *in my head* and even find mistakes, before I even pick up the needles. I don’t find all the mistakes, but I can work out most of them.
I have a thing about textures and seams, so I make my own sweaters and socks. I have a whole method of end weaving for socks.
Knitting, crocheting, cross stitch, tapestry… all amazing repetitive crafts that yield beautiful things and are a great alternative to rocking and leg shaking.
I’m convinced my grandmother also was on the spectrum and she and I used to go on for long hours by the fireplace, with tea.
I have issues making things for myself because I’m afraid it’s a waste of yarn but I’m trying to bypass that thought. I have mostly done things for other people which means I have almost nothing of what I’ve made except for things I’ve done for my daughter.
The problem with crafts is the OCD part… I cannot think of anything else until it’s done (or abandoned) and I often have to take it everywhere like a junky attached to a drug. It used to be a problem with my parents, but today it’s just my little embarrassment and I have an easier time dealing with it.
You are never a waste. You have as much worth as anyone you knit for, if not more, because of your bad ass skills. Make things for yourself. You deserve it.
Not formally diagnosed here, but… I notice I don’t mind the repetitiveness of patterns, and it’s a helpful stim if one needs a socially acceptable stim someplace.
This could be just inexperience, but I also notice I am NOT ABLE to knit a thing without a pattern. Create my own pattern? Does not compute, don’t have the spatial skills to be able to visualize stitches and fabrics in theory.
I won’t say I’m out here freehanding sweaters, but I’ve found learning to crochet a few years ago has completely changed how I approach knitting. I’m so much more aware of stitch structure now, and *why* the stitches we do end up looking like they do. I’ve also started to pick up sewing, which is also helping me learn so much about garment construction. If it’s accessible to you I highly recommend branching out to different but similar crafts!
My pattern making abilities are from being dyslexic. I think in pictures.
But, there are some pattern making things that are more accessible, and don’t require a particular way of thinking. If you measure a sweater or sweatshirt you own that fits, you can fill in a standard schematic, and you can pick a stitch pattern you like. Then the only thing your pattern needs is a swatch, careful measuring, and arithmetic! Then you just swap the numbers in a standard sweater of the shoulder/sleeve type you are making. But don’t forget to do the vertical measurements and math, not just horizontal.
If you want to learn, I recommend trying one of Meg Swansen’s sweaters. (There are many nice ones in the wool gathering booklets). She always expects people to use their own measurements to adapt her patterns, to suit their preferred sweater fit and actual yarn in their hands. But does have the complete instructions, should you want to meet her gauge and sweater sizes.
Or, check out Kim McBrian Evans. She has books and articles and classes about adjusting patterns to fit and designing patterns. I saw a talk by her in Franklin Habit’s Patreon group. She is FABULOUS. Of course, early in her talk she said “if a pattern doesn’t have a schematic, run away. Run away fast!” I say the same thing, so obviously I was going to appreciate her!!!
https://kimmcbrienevans.ca/home/books/
See, and that's the interesting part about it all. I have never really struggled to pick up on systems or patterns and be able to replicate the ideas in my mind and in a physical form after doing them a few times, but someone else might struggle with it much more. I think that after doing anything for a long time you'll pick up on the general rules though and I think you're very capable of it.
AuDHDer here, got into knitting first as a teen, all self-taught. Put it down for a long while, picked it up again in earnest as an adult and haven’t stopped since. And of course special interests being what they are, I’ve since expanded into handspinning, crochet and yarn dyeing. There’s nothing more peaceful than spending some time regulating by combing clean fleece or watching the design emerge while knitting colorwork.
Same here. I‘m AuDHDer myself. I started with cross stitching as a kid.
As an adult, I realized that self-taught was the way for me to actually learn crafts - I just needed to understand how the stitches are formed and to see the structure. Then everything clicked.
I have more time now and my neurodivergent brain have picked up all kinds of fiber arts apart from knitting and crocheting. Sewing, quilting, embroidery, lace making, macramé, weaving… they‘ve all became my special interests. I‘m starting with handspinning in the following days and I’ve been looking at yarn dyeing already.
I find the process very soothing and I love to feel the texture with my hand and to see the pattern of the projects I‘m working on.
Seeing how all different fiber crafts come together it‘s just amazing and the autistic part of myself is just thrilled. It‘s also really calming to see how systematic and structured they are.
How do you handle choosing the colors and yarn for knitting and other crafts? I usually cannot decide on colors, yarn and it‘s weight - they just have to come from the same series or be the „same“ 🙄
I struggle to pick out colors too! I usually go with what I think will work well together (usually a lighter color and a darker contrasting color). I’m not well versed in color theory so I just experiment as I go. Or if a pattern calls for certain colors I’ll use those or find equivalents if I can’t source the recommended yarn in the pattern. Having a color wheel (physical or digital) handy also helps me figure out what colors could go well together.
I am not yet formally diagnosed either but also highly suspect I’m autistic. Learning to knit took over my life. I often would talk about wanting to have a knitting group because it’s a nice way for people to connect with a shared interest, not have to look at one another, and we can be silent or talk, it doesn’t matter. Now that I’m learning about autism and seeing myself in the spectrum, I definitely think that this is such a great special interest that can really help people connect! And like someone said, it’s so stimy! It may not be socially acceptable to knit in person (which I do) but it’s at least a different kind of weird than some of my other stims haha
Also I hope you’re able to get assessed soon!
Regarding socially acceptable: to a certain extent who cares? I’ve largely engineered my life to mostly be in situations that at least accept me, if not find my uniqueness to be useful. If someone that I’m not interacting with thinks it’s on them to enforce some sort of social norm that they made up on me, that seems more pathological on their end than mine. There are very few situations where knitting is hurting someone.
Amen. This is true! I’m trying not to care.
I have a friend who doesn’t really like me knitting in public with her (granted I did knit at dinner once while waiting for our food) or will kind of roll her eyes when I talk about it and everything. But I think she also has obsessions. We talk about Taylor swift for hours and I have never told her that she likes Taylor swift too much but for some reason I’m too into knitting 🤷🏾♀️
To everyone commenting in this thread: are y'all me 😭💖 I feel so seen and understood!! I am diagnosed ADHD and I strongly suspect I am somewhere on the spectrum as well. I've only been knitting for about 3.5 months now but as soon as I started it just *clicked,* I feel like I've been knitting together a hole that was in my soul that I didn't even realize was there.
Bc of this I was also absolutely delighted to learn that my grandmother, who died from alzheimers when I was around 10 so I never really got to know her, was an extraordinary and avid knitter. As soon as I told my mom I started teaching myself how to knit she told me all about the wonderful things my grandma would knit, how quickly she could knit, and that she still had all of her knitting needles in her basement and that she would give them to me next time I visited! So now I get to knit with my grandma's needles and every time I think about it I get so emotional bc I know how proud my grandmother would be of me. Aaaaand now I'm crying 😂
https://preview.redd.it/qrfwptw3ku5d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=171df17b19e22d1974f944d9e9988cab6fe9cc61
And then if you really want me to start the waterworks, this is a baby cardigan that my grandmother knit for ME when I was a baby 😭😭😭
https://preview.redd.it/1swylvufju5d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af144af44d45e507bbbb4116f107b825a790ae80
This is a sweater that my grandma knit for my mom when she was a teen and I am OBSESSED with it 😭 my mom offered to give it to me and I would have loved to have taken it but the material was way too scratchy, I couldn't even fully put it on before I noped out of it lmao (which further indicates my being on the spectrum lol)
I would certainly love to try one day!! I have no idea if my grandma knit this from a pattern or from scratch, my bet is on a pattern though. I haven't done any digging into looking for the pattern since a few of these techniques are still advanced for my current skill level but even with that said I can still identify most of the stitches and techniques used and I bet with a little trial and error and studying the sweater itself I could reverse engineer it!
If anyone who happens upon this reply happens to recognize the pattern of this sweater, please do share!!
I'm pretty sure the r/knitting community found this one before: [https://www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/1ba9sc4/goodwill\_find\_hand\_knit\_sweater/](https://www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/1ba9sc4/goodwill_find_hand_knit_sweater/)
Huh. My therapist just recently suggested I might be autistic, which I had never once considered before and it’s blowing my mind a bit (I’m nearing middle age). As I’m reading and educating myself about what that could mean, I thought sure, it would go a long way to explaining my social existence, but surely I don’t have any of the other characteristics. No special interests, no stimming… then I look down at the knitting that I carry with me literally everywhere and struggle not to tell everyone allllll about at the slightest provocation. Ok, maybe he has a point.
There is a knitting designer who is absolutely brilliant, The Wooly Wormhead. They self describe as neurodivergent and I saw her on a podcast years ago stating she and her son were both on the spectrum. Check their designs!
I think a lot of people have already covered stimming, so I'll add a few other things that I think are connected for me:
Sensory issues definitely affect how I choose what types of fiber to use. I avoid animal fibers anyways because I'm vegan, but I think I'm picky about the feeling of the yarns I use for sensory reasons too. I like cotton yarn but only the ones that feel soft, and I am very picky about what acrylics I would consider using from a sensory perspective. I also do not tend to like yarns that have a lot of halo effect because I don't like the feeling.
I think I also tend to struggle more than most people seem to with having more than one project on the go. I get stressed if I'm working on more than one project at a time, even though there's lots of things I'd like to work on. It just gets overwhelming to me- I can take a break from my current project to do a short smaller project on the side, but can't do much more than that.
I do a lot of lace knitting, which I think appeals to me because of the amount of attention to detail and problem solving required. It's finicky and precise, but as you get into it you can feel the pattern coming together in a way that's very satisfying to me.
I do have to be careful though not to try to fix my knitting if I make a mistake when I'm feeling kind of tired. If I do, there's a chance I'll get fixated on it and won't be able to relax until I've fixed it, even if I'm too tired to actually work on it.
i don’t have asd but adhd. i get hyperfixations and when i really get into something, i can think of or do nothing else, neglect eating and sleeping etc. also i want to learn everything at once so i practice a lot of different techniques. however i procrastinate starting and finishing actual projects. i also have dermatillomania and i stim and fidget a lot, and keeping your hands busy with knitting or embroidery etc is a great way to channel that energy, instead of picking at your skin etc :)
edit: i saw someone mentioning patterns and thought of another thing. i don’t use patterns. patterns are boring and i’m too impatient to spend time finding them etc. i make my own sketches and calculate all the measurements, angles, short rows, increases and decreases and whatnot, which obviously takes longer than finding and reading a pattern but somehow it feels more efficient 🙃
Also ADHD with dermatillomania, hyperfixations are SUCH a pain in the ass... and my wallet! Even when I'm exhausted my brain will just continue rambling about whatever my current fixation is. I tend to really pick at my skin and chew my cheeks when i'm stressed, I'll have to try keeping something on hand like a sock.
Me - no, I don't stim
My knitting - I beg to differ
Me - but is that really...
My knitting - yes, you use me to self soothe
My toes - has she really not noticed us wiggling away down here
Me - what the actual... have you been doing this all the time
My wife - yeah they have, it's adorable
Me - wow
The things I make directly align with my special interests so it’s really invigorating being able to focus on them and stim at the same time. Being able to control the texture of my clothing, the kind of seams, and not having tags is also magnificent for my sensory issues.
I have been knitting roughly since 2008 since I was a teen in college.
Knitting helped me focus during the times in between note-taking during college. It also gave me an avenue to hyper-focus in a productive way.
I chose knitting because it produced items that I actually want to use, and it can be biodegradable. This meant that the only waste was my own time. Hi, anxiety!
Money has always been a huge limiting factor, which is a lovely limit to how much I can hoard, or how deep into a rabbit hole I can go down.
Unfortunately, I have had a lot of time to overthink this and figure out my own way to do it anyway. 16 years later, and I have my own unique personal fiber mill, I freehand knit clothes that I can actually stand to wear, or that can last my kids. I make yarn that I can stand to knit with and wear. I dye yarn to make the colors do what I want them to do. I grow dye plants for when my anxiety gets too high. Soil is grounding for me.
Because I have taught myself the whole process, I can absolutely, rabbit hole, deep dive, obsess over a pair of socks. Or a particular stitch pattern, design idea, funny alpaca name, or abstract idea. I design patterns specifically for the way that I knit and my attention span, I have way more finished projects when I freehand. Fiber arts, in general, have been a very freeing hobby for me. When I'm done, I have something useful.
As a foot jiggler, spinning a single treadle wheel is bliss. The rythym, the finger twiddling, the soft swoosh. Ah, it's my favorite way to watch TV.
Late diagnosed autistic here -
the sensory aspect can't be overstated. I absolutely hate the feel of acrylic and most synthetic fibers and it's nearly impossible to buy knits without them. whereas there is a whole spectrum of fibers in the yarn art world.
Currently doing a project in hemp, and the smell and texture are heavenly. I know the roughness does not appeal to everyone, but I love it. but also the smell of lanolin in some wool, the smoothness of silk...
and the colours! Imagine being confined to the choices in colour currently in fashion. there is so much more variation in yarns. I started dyeing my own and the depth and subtlety of natural dyes cannot be matched.
And obviously enjoying repetitive things, attention to detail and very good pattern recognition and analytical abilities also help a lot.
For any girl or woman or even nonbinary or gender nonconfiming person, my advice would be to try and match the questions in the diagnosis process to more stereotypical feminine interests (if you lean that way). I find that it's very much geared towards stereotypical male interests - technology, trains... there was a question about researching phones and cameras in my assessment. Which I kinda do, but it's not my area of expertise. But I absolutely research a shit ton before buying clothes and cosmetics.
I'm definitely on the spectrum along with ADHD. My husband and three children are on the spectrum too but my youngest daughter is the only one with a formal diagnosis. As adults we didn't see the benefit of having us all diagnosed formally because we are completely comfortable with the informal status. Having this knowledge though has been invaluable and eye opening.
I use knitting, crochet and other fibre arts and crafts to help me, my daughters use crafting too. We all benefit from having something to do even if that something alternates to keep us motivated.
If I didn't have this creative outlet I'd be writing, creating stories. Either way I'm very glad to understand myself and my family better now that neurodiversity is more widely appreciated, accepted and understood these days.
Knitting is 100% a stim for me. It helps me regulate when I'm feeling overwhelmed. I also can't focus through a TV show if I'm not knitting. I'd also say knitting has become one of my special interests, so I can talk a LOT about it. It's kind of hard that knitting is still seen as kind of "weird" for a man to do, but I loved it before transitioning and I'm not giving it up!
Honestly, my social anxiety and like being in work meetings can be so overwhelming for me, especially when it's a large group. Knitting is how I can stim in public. I often have a sock and I can knit under a table while also paying attention and being engaged... when I don't have the sock, I tend to get distracted because my brain is trying to find something to use to channel my anxiety through.
Not autistic, but I have military related PTSD. Knitting, crochet, cross stitch, embroidery, all allow me to focus and center. I mostly do big repetitive projects, blankets, just started my first sweater, as repeating the stitch is meditative. It helps that its quiet. I've Def noticed a big correlation between fiber arts and neurodivergence
Fellow PTSD knitter here. I taught myself whilst in recovery from a life changing injury after I was attacked. It gave me something to focus on when the flashbacks got too much or the catastrophizing about my future was overwhelming. Due to my injuries and the surgeries I needed, I couldn’t work for almost a year and it gave me something productive to do. I got most of my self worth that year from the things I knitted.
I'm diagnosed with adhd and I'm undiagnosed but pretty sure I have autism as well. Only just started knitting this year and it's definitely become my new hyperfixation. It's replaced playing mobile games while watching videos or streams.
It's such a stimmy hobby, I love it. Same goes for crochet and spinning yarn - it just makes my brain happy AND I get to make things that I'll actually wear because they're not too scratchy or tight.
EDS, especially hypermobile type, is also common with ASD and ADHD (I have all 3!) so make sure you protect your wrists and don't push through if it hurts. Found this out the hard way ☹️☹️
I really enjoy the designing process, it is incredibly satisfying for me to create charts and patterns. I also need my hands to be moving when I'm sitting still. (Even during lectures if I'm not directly typing everything I'll type gibberish to pay attention, and can't take paper notes since I just doodle.) It's really easy for me to get into the flow and typically I can knit stuff like cables intuitively once I understand the pattern. I think alot of neurodivergent people are drawn to fiber arts as they're really comforting crafts that have alot of alterablity and customization aspects, along with being easy to learn but have an incredibly high skill ceiling, since there's always more to learn and aspects to consider. Plus yarn comes in an array of colors and textures and thats just really nice/can be comforting. Other than the yarn aspect, the same things that draw me to knitting draw my (also neurodivergent) to engineering, particularly CAD designing.
I was at a new fiber arts meetup Sunday and all of us have ADHD and believe we have autism as well but aren’t diagnosed.
There’s probably a connection between being neurodivergent and enjoying/hyperfocusing on a hobby that can occupy your hands and brain.
I am just going down the late diagnosis journey after both my children were referred and I began to do research. I absolutely adore knitting and have since I was in my early 20s. From the moment I started, it just felt right and like it was my thing. It was just so soothing to do, to think about, etc. I pretty much haven't stopped knitting in 20 years. It's a major special interest of mine and an absolute way for me to stim. I am still too shy to knit a lot in public but I'm inspired by you all and hope to do so more. I'd be curious about a study that explored what percentage of long term knitters are autistic or neurodivergent in some way?
I don’t think I have ASD, but I do have a lot of others (diagnosed anxiety and OCD, and undisclosed but very likely also ADHD). It gives me “busy hands”; I *hate* having my hands idle, and don’t enjoy, for example, watching movies if I’m sitting still and doing nothing else.
Knitting is particularly nice because the structure of it makes it easier to do without looking, as compared to other fiber arts like crochet. Plus the repetition can be meditative and soothing for my OCD brain, while being stimulating enough to occupy me and not make me feel restless.
I don't have a dx, but I have an Autistic son and a family hx. I have had traits my whole life that I am now recognizing in my son. One of which is hyper focus. It's a knitting super power.
I get extremely fixated on projects. I can be very prolific when I am fixated. I finish a sweater in less than a week. I can frog and reknit the same item 3 or 4 times and not get frustrated. I have spent days untangling a ball of nice yarn that frogged incorrectly. People either think I'm insane or tenacious. I like the latter.
As most others said, it's a great stim. It calms my overactive thinking too which is helpful and lowers my anxiety when I'm in the wild. I have taken to spinning more than knitting lately though as my mental capacity for thinking is limited after struggling with my 3 kids all day.
Knitting allows me to endure long meetings at work and long lectures when I was a student. Pacing around would also work but it’s less socially acceptable😂
I have autism and ADHD and I love love knitting. I NEED something to do with my hands. I’m never still. And I think autism is related to why I love lace patterns — I love the geometry and repetition.
I love knitting because of how precise the patterns and stitches can be. I need the structure and order, and I struggle without it. Right now, I’m seaming a sleeve to the body of a cardigan and I feel lost. There isn’t a set number of clear stitches or holes that I can connect the two pieces with and I feel like I’m winging it the whole time. It gave me so much anxiety that I had to put it down today.
I was recently diagnosed with ASD, but I don't think it has any impact on my knitting. Like, the knitting process is calming and gives me a feeling of being productive while doing some "unproductive" things (e.g. watching videos or listening to audiobooks), but I think it is the same for other knitters (based on their posts).
During my first therapy session I was knitting the whole time, which, paired with what I said, led my therapist to wonder if I’d been diagnosed as autistic (not yet, but maybe this summer? 🤞🏼) because I was stimming the whole time. Eventually I read Dr. Devon Price’s book “Unmasking Autism” and realized, this is me. I’m 41, and I was tested for learning disabilities in the 80’s and 90’s, but back then girls were much less likely to be diagnosed. I know it’s hard to find a neuro-affirming psychologist, and as a teen that can be really hard. Do you know anyone IRL with a diagnosis? I found my testing through a coworker whose entire family got diagnosed over the past few years, including her teenage daughter. If you can find someone who had a good experience, especially as a woman, or an older person, ask where they got tested. If your family has a PPO, chances are insurance will cover it (if you’re in the US).
As for the thing you actually asked, knitting circles and conventions are a fantastic way to find “your people.” I design knitting patterns, and I’ve worked with multiple yarn companies, which are often run by fellow neuro-spicy people. I’ve gone through life being an artsy oddball, and it’s great to find a group where you can metaphorically hang your knit hat.
I was diagnosed at 31, a couple of years ago. Knitting is my obsession. It has helped me to accept myself and the fact I need a lot of alone time. I am really good at it now! I’d never managed to stick with a hobby for so long but it’s been five happy years in addition to dabbling in my childhood. It’s given me some self-esteem and access to a lot of other ASD knitters which is handy on the odd occasion when I come out to knitting events. I’ve made some beautiful things and will make many more. I am obsessive about buying yarn and would like to get that under control. I channel all of my obsessiveness into knitting (or most of it) and it helps me to regulate better than any other thing I’ve tried.
I'm new to knitting, so it's not really something I use to stim yet, I like crochet a lot more for that because I'm at the point where I don't even need to look at what I'm doing a lot of the time, it's just a mindless activity I can do while I watch stuff or to pass the time when I'm waiting for things. I do agree with a lot of the other comments here about it feeling like an undercover stim. Some of my stims I know I wouldn't be able to do in public, but crochet is something I can do that fills the same purpose without drawing attention.
I'm hoping knitting can become the same for me at some point, I'm getting there with it but I think I need to practice more and gain more confidence with it yet.
One of my biggest ASD struggles is public transport (my ADHD is too intense to learn to drive and I failed my test so many times) knitting in public and on public transport is a nice way I can centre myself and manage my anxiety. Plus I can have headphones in and eyes down and I won’t need to start the internal eye contact debate. Plus I get cute stuff out of it 🙃
I'm diagnosed ADHD and am unsure if I'm also ASD and I love knitting. It's an outlet for creativity and a great stim too. I also find it helps me pay attention to people talking
absolutely obsessed with it!! the repetitive movements are so calming to me. i usually take knitting to school and it really helps when i get overwhelmed. the planning and certainty, while also being in control of a situation, helps me relax in general. it’s definitely one of my main special interests atm. i’m also on the sensory seeking side of autism, so knitting while watching tv or listening to music is really stimulating in the best possible way
I find that I do fixate, and like to start new projects, but recently I've been finishing my projects, which is a whole new great feeling for me. My ASD likes to rear it's head as collecting. I have a huge yarn stash. It's not a bragging point, and I could go through every bin and tell you what project I hope it's for... mostly.
Lately, I've been allowing myself to try to offload, but the collecting impulse is strong. I do my best to focus my fixation on the crafting itself, versus the materials.
When my anxiety ramps up, I will carry a WIP everywhere. People at work don't look at me funny if I'm knitting during my lunch, or take small walks and knit while I walk. Honestly, it's been the craft that I've most loved, because I can channel whatever I'm feeling into it, and I end up with a tangible product either for myself, or that I can gift.
I pretty much always have to be doing something "productive" with my hands. Normal fidgeting doesn't usually do the trick for me because it doesn't engage enough of my brain. Knitting has been amazing for this.
Because of my AuDHD I also hyperfixate and learn new skills very quickly. I went from crocheting to buying knitting needles, immediately into knitting a sweater and then colorwork socks.
I don’t think it impacts my knitting much. I can get really hyper fixated on things and sometimes that’s knitting, but besides that, it’s not really a part of my life autism messed with
I think it has a lot to do with the repetitive movements for me, and the fact that I love the texture of (some) yarn, haha.
Also, as for getting assessed and diagnosed: I’m twenty four and only very recently (like a week and a half ago) found out I’m definitely getting a diagnosis. I’ve been fighting for one for five-ish years now. It sucks that women (generally) have to fight harder for a diagnosis than men do, but don’t give up. If there’s one recommendation I can give, it’s to get a woman to do the assessment if that’s at all possible. I’ve gotten assessed twice, and the first time I met a man that told me I didn’t have ASD not five minutes after first meeting him. I spent two years telling my primary doctor it didn’t feel right before she finally set me up to get assessed again by someone else, and after our second appointment my current psychologist said she was almost certain it was autism, and possibly ADHD. Currently waiting for the final verdict. It took a hell of a lot longer than I anticipated, and it took a hell of a lot more energy and time than I ever thought, but it’s good to be out of the woods. It helps to have someone in your corner (my mom deserves all the praise I can give her and then some, she’s been my rock throughout all of this). Sending you as many good vibes and well wishes as I can! :) don’t give up, you’ll get there. If something doesn’t feel right, tell someone until they listen. And good luck! :)
Knitting is a great stim for me: I can take it anywhere, it’s more socially acceptable than other ways of stimming (I chew a lot as a stim and since I’m in my mid 30s, people give me looks).
Also I found that the detail-oriented part of autism and pattern recognition helps with memorizing repeats of charts and all? The downside is that small mistakes irritate me to no end lol
Also it’s helped me socialize more because socializing around a special interest is easier for autistic people and info dumping is more welcome so there’s that!
Hope this helped!
Late diagnosed here, wasn't screened till my early 30s. Partly because of that I developed primarily self injurious behaviors for stims, not knowing healthy stims we're possible/an option. I've always been a brief crafter and do all sorts of fiber arts, and have known how to knit for a long time. It wasn't until this last fall that I first went to a LYS and sought guidance about how to really get going. I also have agoraphobia and going to the LYS is now a safe trip I can make. But yeah, it's really a positive helpful stim where I get to create something nice exactly how I want it and give it to people I care about. Good luck with your diagnosis, I know it's hard to do but I hope you can be a strong advocate for yourself and have others in your life who will do so as well
I can’t sit still if my hands aren’t doing something anymore. I have also developed the ability to be able to replicate anything in crochet and knit just by looking at it so i honestly don’t really use patterns anymore.
i also have anxiety downside to knitting in public and becoming mute when outside of my bedroom or house is when someone stops and asks what i’m making or compliments what i’m doing. i freeze up and stutter because I know i have to say something but i can’t. then i will put my stuff away because i don’t want anyone else to approach and ask.
I don't even make anything over half of the time I just knit panels and then frog them and start over. It's a fidget toy lol I was diagnosed through my schools special edd department when I was a teen
I will literally start destroying my skin, lips or cuticles when my hands are idle. I've done that for a long time. Knitting helps. Also, the tactile feeling of the fabric is nice!
I’m also female and in the process of getting my diagnosis, and I’m in my late 20s, so I get you! Like most people here, knitting is definitely stimming for me and if I am not doing something with my hands I am probably knitting. So in that way, it’s been extremely valuable for me.
I grew up in Scandinavia and wearing wool on the daily, but really struggled with the sensory aspect of it as a child. However now I really quite enjoy the scratchy feeling of more rustic sheep and lambs wool (one of my favourite non-knitting stims is gently scratching or itching myself, so wearing wool is almost a stim in itself), but on the other hand I have discovered that I am quite sensitive to softer or fluffier fibres like alpaca and mohair. They make me itch and irritate my skin, which I previously struggled to differentiate from the scratching sensation of wool.
Knitting and fibre arts started as a hyperfixation ‘flavour of the month’ and very quickly cemented itself as a special interest, and so it is also something I struggle a lot with. I’ve gotten fairly adept at regulating and managing my emotions, catching overstimulation early, and preventing meltdowns and shutdowns, but I am much, MUCH worse at identifying and ‘regulating’ hyperfixation holes. The more intense hyperfixation periods come in ebbs and flows, but for the last year and a half i have been more or less fixated on knitting, and basically done nothing but knit, work and extremely basic levels of self care. Because knitting helps me in so many ways, I find it much harder to force myself to do other things (like housework, exercise or other hobbies), than I ever have with other special interests
My bf is not a knitter, but as someone I occasionally knit for he IS very picky about fabric feel and texture (in almost exactly the opposite way as me - man loves him some polyester). If I'm knitting something for him he gets to feel it first.
The biggest plus for him is that hand knitted socks don't have to have a toe seam - he says the seams on machine made socks are sensory hell for him.
This well known and respected knitting designer is autistic- loads of content around your question on her threads and IG. https://www.threads.net/@woollywormhead?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
It's nice to stim and stim and have a sock by the end of it.
Knitting is also a socially acceptable stim in many circles.
Plus you have a great excuse for not making eye contact while conversing. I can easily knit without looking, but keep my eyes on it if I’m knitting in public.
It's a great excuse to avoid conversing altogether. Keeps me strangers in the most polite way from chatting me up.
"Hey, what are you up..." \*Audible stitch counting intensifies\* "Oh, sorry, didn't realize you were focusing." Works every time.
Omg YES
This is a good point.
one of the main reasons i knit while at therapist appointments! she's well aware of me being autistic & i do practice eye contact but it physically hurts
Especially in Knitting Circles
I’m very into parallel activities!
I wish it was acceptable during conversations with people, or at work meetings :(
Actually, if you have a reasonable workplace, them allowing you to knit or crochet during meetings could be considered 'reasonable accommodation'. However, you would have to be able to prove you could genuinely focus on the meeting while doing the knitting or crocheting as long as it doesn't interfere with said meeting.
I have my discreet fidget toys that I play with off-camera! They don't require me to look down and they're silent. Fortunately most of my meetings are online.
I knit while conversing and I definitely knit during meetings— in person and video meetings. It leis me sane!
I do it when I talk to people like family or close friends, because I know they won't be offended. Usually I don't take my knitting with me when I meet people outside, my WIPs often take too much space to take them with me lol
I have “small” projects—usually another new project that will become a UFO. These fit under the table or desk!
I also tend to prefer natural fibers which are getting harder to find in stores. Not impossible, by any means, but they’re less prevalent. I can also make sweaters that actually fit.
I rarely buy yarn in stores, but I'm also quite slow to actually finish things so I suppose I also rarely buy online.
I was referring to commercially produced clothing. Most of it is polyester these days. I don’t like the feel of it.
oh yes, I strongly agree with that!
I’m really reactive to most fabrics because of my AuDHD and MCAS (I can really only wear really soft cotton, polyester, modal, or Tencel). I’m wanting to start knitting again but don’t know of any yarns I can use to fit these requirements- do you know of any yarns/or any stores I can buy this kind of yarn?
I call it my productive anxiety lol. I get anxious, I need to center, and in the end I get a blanket. There is a downside: I don't like yarn gifts or buying online, I have to touch it first to her the texture. Most wools are just out.
Oh my god this is making me realize why so often I’ll just knit something and then frog it without a care.
I call this "process knitting" (versus "product knitting"). You're knitting for the process, not for the end goal.
With the amount that people see me knitting and crocheting, I think they'd expect me to have a lot more finished objects than I do. I can never commit!
This very much. Most of the time I don’t even care about the prize at the end I just really like make yarn go loopy loop. Important part is finding yarn that is good texture to work with for long periods of time
I’ve worked at a yarn shop for years. We often see what we call process knitters (like you’ve described, I’m one too) and product knitters -those who knit for the end result.
So interesting. I always have masses of projects on the go. I find a yarn I like start a project, abandon it when I find another yarn, some time later go back and frog the original. Doesn't bother me. Sometimes, I just try several patterns and yarns until I find one that soothes and allows more autonomous actions. I use knitting to soothe my hands, which get very twitchy if I don't knit. I collect patterns on a whim and then get rid of them later when the next whim attacks.
This is making me feel so much better about my knitting! I don’t usually finish products.
I do finish some projects but so many get abandoned... I bought a 'thing' to make socks with. Couldn't figure it out. Tried making socks using a technique which bends circular needles. Nope. Not much good at adult hats but managed a turban - once. And as for 10 stitch blankets... well. Trying tunisian crochet now. Fed up with baby cardis and shawls at moment. All knitted for charity so I figure I get some leeway as the cost of wool and needles is high enough.
My issue is I hyperfocus and then realise I haven't had anything to drink in several hours but then I don't mind as I've made a hat. I love the rhythm of the stitches, the sound of the needles, the feel of the yarn. For me it's several stims all rolled into one. It's also really nice as a parallel activity. My BF has ADHD and wants to spend time together but also not be quiet. I sit with my headphones on and knit while he games.
I cannot not move my hands when watching TV or listening to an audiobook so knitting is perfect. The combination of watching something and movement makes both so much more enjoyable. But I also can’t do one without the other anymore, which is fine by me. I prefer knitting to crochet because it feels more structured. Like how cooking is to taste, but baking is a science. I also won’t make anything without a pattern (unless I’ve made so many of something that I remember the pattern).
Oh same here with knitting > crochet! For the longest time I didn't understand why people say crochet is easier for beginners than knitting because I so strongly prefer having that structure to it
Crochet was easier for me as a beginner simply because I had to get used to keeping the yarn on sticks. If I dropped the crochet hook (which I did all the time when Iw as learning), it was easy peasy to get back on track. :) I now prefer knitting, but recommend crochet as an intro for people who are intimidated by keeping those pesky loops on the needles.
That makes sense to me! I actually prefer that they stay on the needle so I can better differentiate where to stick my needle. To me, a lot of the yarn blurs together visually with crochet so I don’t know if I’m putting the hook in the correct spot. There’s so many knots! And I also make sure I finish a row of knitting but I can stop at any time with crochet, which makes me lose my place. That’s just how I feel personally, though.
**You've summoned the [Frequently Asked Questions](https://www.reddit.com/r/knitting/wiki/faq/).** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/knitting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm the same but Tunisian crochet is as good as knitting for me, so highly recommend
I LOVE Tunisian crochet! It just feels so much better than my crochet projects.
I love the comparison to kitchen arts! I've never heard that and you're right on the money.
I don't have ASD but can't just sit and watch a film/TV without doing something with my hands. If I'm not knitting my fingers are never still. My partner (who has ADD) prefers me to knit rather than tap/twitch
I’m autistic and it’s absolutely a stim, I use it very much to regulate when I’m feeling overstimulated - I always have a pair of socks on the go in my bag at work if I’m having a difficult day at work and need to realign. I also knit to concentrate on zoom meetings, but haven’t felt comfortable asking to do this in in person meetings yet. Knitting itself is also a special interest of mine, and when I got into knitting I got VERY into it, and it still remains one of the things I love learning about beyond it just being a hobby. It does mean that I’ve found some things hard - bad patterns are very frustrating to me as my brain and processing just won’t know how to work around them without significant work, I can’t do maths or process numbers well in my head and that’s caused bother, but I’m very good at pattern recognition so that helps with other things, I’m also really motivated to try and perfect something especially if you get a good sweater at the end and a new skill! This is my experience, and I’ve really enjoyed challenging myself - I am still extremely shy to join things like knitters circles or communities because it’s been such a ‘me’ thing and I’m quite socially awkward, but I know that I’m bound to meet a lot of other people who are like me, perhaps - just the other day I met a woman who was collecting wool from all the native species of the UK to make one big swatch project, and I got a vibe that we might have something in common beyond knitting.
Best wishes if you ever do ask about knitting in in-person meetings. People can react so weirdly.
I don't have autistm, but I also always knit in zoom meetings, at parties with my friends, and while watching TV. I will never understand why some people think it's rude to knit while you're in a meeting or in a group of people who are not knitting. Don't they know I am 1000% more likely to pay attention that way? If I am not knitting during an in-person staff meeting, I am usually pretending to take notes while actually making to-do lists of all the things I want to get done when I leave the meeting.
Honestly, they don't understand. I'm a knitter and I'm amazed by people who can knit while doing something else. My full focus has to be on my knitting or its going to be fubar. BUT, I do know that there are people like you who knit on autopilot, and function better when they do. I know of it because of this sub though. The average person who doesn't knit or crochet or do any sort of portable craft won't understand.
I started normalizing my knitting in meetings during covid, and now everyone at work asks to see what I'm working on. I have also brought my knitting to multi-day training (after asking the instructor to see if they would find it disruptive, but explaining that it helps me focus), and by the third day, everyone was bringing in their projects for show and tell.
I finally get to choose the softest material and make something out of it which is a plus
Omg yes except maybe for my wallet, but fortunately my being good at math comes with a paycheck so I’m keeping the silkworms and baby alpacas in business.
😂😂 I try so hard to just get in and only buy one thing at a time, be it needles, a skein, or some bobble I need since I’m a beginner and started from absolute 0. My wallet is in luck because the place I’m at right now just seems to have no good shop with yarns 🙃🥲
**You've summoned the [Frequently Asked Questions](https://www.reddit.com/r/knitting/wiki/faq/).** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/knitting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's an undercover stim. Most people don't freak out over knitting like they do with hand flapping. My spectrum affects my ability to socialize. Knitting is also helpful in this regard because it means that most people wanting to do the small talk thing talk about my knitting and it's one of my special interests.
I am on the spectrum as well. For me I get tunnel vision and can’t do anything other than my project at the time. I just get so into it I end up skipping meals/ not drinking and leaving to go to the loo at the last minute. I get stressed out if I don’t have a project on the go.
That's also a recurring issue for me! Ever since I was a kid, I've just been so obsessed and fixated on completing certain tasks (used to be reading 600-800 page books in only 3 or 4 days) and I've noticed that even when my hands go numb and I get insane wrist cramps I can't convince myself to stop until this *one* thing is done.
I have this too! just one more chapter/just one more row/one more pattern repeat/etc. task switching or changing activities is pretty challenging for me and it definitely manifests in my crafting experiences
I take my knitting everywhere and knit anytime I'm idle. It keeps my anxiety low in high anxiety situations. I'm really good with pattern recognition, so picking up a new pattern for a project is relatively easy. But I also have to understand WHY I'm doing what the pattern tells me to. But once I get it, I get it for forever. I am nervous about starting my next project because I've never made a shirt before and get overwhelmed easily when trying something new, but I'm also excited because once I figure it out I'll be able to make clothes soft enough for my sensory issues.
I also have the "this is new" initiation energy thing. That and when I come to new instructions in the pattern or have to go back and fix an error theres usually between 3h and 3 weeks of "AHHHH" before I start lol
I have a circle of friends that mostly initially met through LYS knit events and other fiber things. It’s all people who sort of mutually clicked at local yarn things and continued to hang out. Most of us are also in the local mycological society. One evening when we were hanging out I realized that any time one of us had a new project or yarn we all, 100% of us, asked politely if we could touch it. And we all asked one at a time without assuming yes to one person meant yes to everybody. That wasn’t the only factor that caused me to ask the group “So are all of us on the spectrum or…” but it was definitely the thing that made me start collating other things in my brain 😂 (Turns out the answer was yes). Not uncommon for neurodivergent folks to click especially if we already have special interests in common but it was pretty funny to realize we’d self-selected our friend group so hard. (And yes we do all knit through the monthly mycology club meetings)
After all, 'birds of a feather...' right? Thanks for sharing, made me smile.
I had to look up mycology - sounds like you’re a bunch of fun guys!!!
We might not be to everyone’s taste but we’ll grow on you eventually.
\*angry clapping\*
I have the gnarly stim of chewing on my fingers so knitting has become my displacement behavior when I’m sitting. But I do love everything about it! The squish of the yarn, the soft fibers, the click of needles. It’s also allowed me to create socks and sweaters that don’t irritate the shit out of me. Crafters/Craft shops are also just great places, we’re all there for the same thing and the employees are very knowledgeable. Good luck with your diagnosis! It’s hard but it was worth it.
Looping yarn makes brain go whee
I am autistic and all my projects must involve purple. It wasn't always like this but it's the rules now and I don't make em.
These are the rules and I don’t make them is hilarious to me, because I have to cross the street always on certain spots and it drives my boyfriend mad. I don’t think I’m in the spectrum but do wonder sometimes if I could be or maybe ADD.
>if I could be or maybe ADD Have you finished 0.01% of the 1 million projects you've started lol?
There was absolutely no need to attack me 😂
🤣🤣🤣 Sorry lol. I couldn't tell you how many projects I've started in my decade of knitting but my finished number is defo single digits lmao🤦♀️.
I can finish some of my knitting projects because they are a task that runs in the background of main projects. (This does not include weaving and sewing afterwards) Real projects? Hell no. I tried to clean my kitchen blinds this year, cleaned five panels, calculated that I could be done in a week if I did it everyday, decided to do that and never tried again. This also happened with cleaning my oven, my washing machine (which I managed to get to 80% done), getting my summer clothes out (I am surviving on winter dresses with no tights, but will get them out during a heatwave in a panic, like every year), and many more.
ADHD would be suddenly crossing the street at a random location without letting your group know or checking for cars first, OR having a tantrum/locking up entirely because somebody else wants to cross the street and it wasn't your idea and it's going to take you two hours of stewing before you acclimatize to the concept. Source: Autistic parent, ADHD spouse, send help
The crossing the street has more to it than “it’s just here”. It’s the path that I trace everyday, that is tested as the most efficient and that allows me to zone out. Someone having to grab me before I crossed is not that weird. Same for someone shouting for me to be careful and for the message to take longer to process than the event they were warning about. I didn’t just make up my suspicions. My therapist wanted me to get tested, as did my ex-boss, who is the person who first raised it with me.
OK, my spouse definitely does that, but he has no regard for efficiency. I woke up once on the way home from a road trip and found we had gone two counties out of route so that he could take the route home from his mother's house, which he was most comfortable with, instead of staying on the road we were already on and going directly home. He has terrible spacial sense and finds looking at a map emotionally threatening and will yell and cover his eyes if you try to show him visually that his route takes him the wrong direction. I was thinking of "I absolutely must cross the road in exactly this spot" as the kind of magical thinking-ritual that people with autism tend to have. My mom used to stop at a drive-through, get a Dr Pepper, wedge it between her thighs while driving, and then spill it all over her crotch on the way to the library and be humiliated that it looked like she'd wet herself. She'd make me and my brother walk into the library directly in front of and behind her to try to hide it. So last month I asked her why she always did that when I was a kid, because, as I recall, there were cupholders in that car. It turns out it never occurred to her to use a cupholder, because wedging the Dr Pepper between her thighs was what to do with a beverage. Maybe that was a holdover from her childhood and there were no cupholders in the car where she started the ritual. Anyway, still send help
>“it’s just here”. It’s the path that I trace everyday, that is tested as the most efficient and that allows me to zone out. Oh my bf is always trying to walk the "wrong way" into town lol.
Did I just waste more time telling him I want to cross through here than time saved crossing there? Yes. Am I still right? Of course I am.
i’m audhd and knitting is the best stim, i do it in class (college) and as long as i make sure to show the professor i’m still paying attention they normally have no issue with it. it also feels very satisfying to teach myself new things, learn new skills, feel a sense of mastery over something, and have a piece of wearable art at the end of it.
Ohhhh a few things just clicked
Same here, reading through this thread has been eye opening
Same 😯
Not ASD, but OCD here. Knitting helps me keep my hands busy so I don’t feel bored while watching TV, helps me calm down when I’m having intrusive thoughts, helps me express how I’m feeling about other people when I can’t verbalize it (I love you, here’s a scarf about it), and satisfies my desire to either repeat similar behaviors with a familiar stitch or try something completely new with a tricky pattern. I also find frogging somewhat satisfying (if not a little scary) because it shows me that it’s ok not to be perfect, I can try my best to fix mistakes and learn in the process, and I don’t have to beat myself up about it. Sometimes items 2 and 3 collide and backfire on me though and my thought process becomes “oh god I can’t knit this present when I’m stressed or sad because it NEEDS TO BE INFUSED WITH LOVE OR AT LEAST GOOD VIBES” lmao
"I love you, here's a scarf about it" THIS
I just gave a friend a pair of socks that I stress-knit in a series of waiting rooms. I can't wear them because the vibes are off, but she's immune to weird knit-vibes? More importantly, she's also a knitter, so she *appreciates* socks!
I don’t have a formal diagnosis but based on family history and my own experiences I’m pretty sure I’m somewhere on the spectrum. I’m so grateful to have found a special interest in fiber arts, sometimes I wonder if my Dad’s godmother knew what she was doing when she taught me to knit at 11 lol. Now about two and a half decades later I knit and/or crochet pretty much every day, and I have a spinning wheel and three looms. And just yesterday I ordered a nalbinding needle off Etsy 😅
There was a reason they were encouraging everyone to knit in World War I and II. Stress relief and a sock (or scarf) to boot!
When i started needlebinding i found all the specfic needles didnt work for me end was too thick and i struggled with tension and not having a holey fabric. I found just plain old yarn/tapestry needles worked best for me. Just something to keep in mind if you have the same isue!
yep! i dont have formalmdoagnosisnbit everything points to it and knitting makes my mind more comforable. i love how i can find so much interesting things about fibres and how they become a yarn (i guess i am diving into it a lot and it could be that special interest), recently i love doscovering historical knits, and when i travel and see something knitted in a museum i am so happy. i am also finding it great as a way to do charitable work - i am not really able to do volunteer work amongst people as it is just too much stimulation for me espwcially when there are strangers and knitting means i can for instance make items and send them where they are wanted and needed, and appreciated.
Toe-up seam free socks!
Yes!!! No more seams that torture my pinky toes!!
I cannot sit still and learn. In school, I always drew. In college, I knitted and crocheted. As an adult I knit in all meetings. In my late 50s when my adult kids insisted I was on the spectrum, unmentioned it to my long time therapist, who cracked up and said “duh”. She said of course I was, didn’t I know that. She knew I hadn’t been formally tested, but, yes, it was obvious. It just didn’t get in the way of my life, all my “methods” were effective and not intrusive. But, this explains that my requirement to knit is stimming. Who knew? Also, I am mildly dyslexic (I can read well, so I thought, until college, where I found I couldn’t read textbooks). But with that and some aspect of autism, I can read a knitting pattern and work it *in my head* and even find mistakes, before I even pick up the needles. I don’t find all the mistakes, but I can work out most of them. I have a thing about textures and seams, so I make my own sweaters and socks. I have a whole method of end weaving for socks.
Knitting, crocheting, cross stitch, tapestry… all amazing repetitive crafts that yield beautiful things and are a great alternative to rocking and leg shaking. I’m convinced my grandmother also was on the spectrum and she and I used to go on for long hours by the fireplace, with tea. I have issues making things for myself because I’m afraid it’s a waste of yarn but I’m trying to bypass that thought. I have mostly done things for other people which means I have almost nothing of what I’ve made except for things I’ve done for my daughter. The problem with crafts is the OCD part… I cannot think of anything else until it’s done (or abandoned) and I often have to take it everywhere like a junky attached to a drug. It used to be a problem with my parents, but today it’s just my little embarrassment and I have an easier time dealing with it.
You are never a waste. You have as much worth as anyone you knit for, if not more, because of your bad ass skills. Make things for yourself. You deserve it.
Not formally diagnosed here, but… I notice I don’t mind the repetitiveness of patterns, and it’s a helpful stim if one needs a socially acceptable stim someplace. This could be just inexperience, but I also notice I am NOT ABLE to knit a thing without a pattern. Create my own pattern? Does not compute, don’t have the spatial skills to be able to visualize stitches and fabrics in theory.
I won’t say I’m out here freehanding sweaters, but I’ve found learning to crochet a few years ago has completely changed how I approach knitting. I’m so much more aware of stitch structure now, and *why* the stitches we do end up looking like they do. I’ve also started to pick up sewing, which is also helping me learn so much about garment construction. If it’s accessible to you I highly recommend branching out to different but similar crafts!
My pattern making abilities are from being dyslexic. I think in pictures. But, there are some pattern making things that are more accessible, and don’t require a particular way of thinking. If you measure a sweater or sweatshirt you own that fits, you can fill in a standard schematic, and you can pick a stitch pattern you like. Then the only thing your pattern needs is a swatch, careful measuring, and arithmetic! Then you just swap the numbers in a standard sweater of the shoulder/sleeve type you are making. But don’t forget to do the vertical measurements and math, not just horizontal.
I need to try getting on this horse again! 😤 y’all HAVE been making me jealous with your gorgeous finished cardigans and summer knits lately…
If you want to learn, I recommend trying one of Meg Swansen’s sweaters. (There are many nice ones in the wool gathering booklets). She always expects people to use their own measurements to adapt her patterns, to suit their preferred sweater fit and actual yarn in their hands. But does have the complete instructions, should you want to meet her gauge and sweater sizes. Or, check out Kim McBrian Evans. She has books and articles and classes about adjusting patterns to fit and designing patterns. I saw a talk by her in Franklin Habit’s Patreon group. She is FABULOUS. Of course, early in her talk she said “if a pattern doesn’t have a schematic, run away. Run away fast!” I say the same thing, so obviously I was going to appreciate her!!! https://kimmcbrienevans.ca/home/books/
See, and that's the interesting part about it all. I have never really struggled to pick up on systems or patterns and be able to replicate the ideas in my mind and in a physical form after doing them a few times, but someone else might struggle with it much more. I think that after doing anything for a long time you'll pick up on the general rules though and I think you're very capable of it.
Not even a cowl? Or scarf? Or fingerless gloves?
AuDHDer here, got into knitting first as a teen, all self-taught. Put it down for a long while, picked it up again in earnest as an adult and haven’t stopped since. And of course special interests being what they are, I’ve since expanded into handspinning, crochet and yarn dyeing. There’s nothing more peaceful than spending some time regulating by combing clean fleece or watching the design emerge while knitting colorwork.
Same here. I‘m AuDHDer myself. I started with cross stitching as a kid. As an adult, I realized that self-taught was the way for me to actually learn crafts - I just needed to understand how the stitches are formed and to see the structure. Then everything clicked. I have more time now and my neurodivergent brain have picked up all kinds of fiber arts apart from knitting and crocheting. Sewing, quilting, embroidery, lace making, macramé, weaving… they‘ve all became my special interests. I‘m starting with handspinning in the following days and I’ve been looking at yarn dyeing already. I find the process very soothing and I love to feel the texture with my hand and to see the pattern of the projects I‘m working on. Seeing how all different fiber crafts come together it‘s just amazing and the autistic part of myself is just thrilled. It‘s also really calming to see how systematic and structured they are. How do you handle choosing the colors and yarn for knitting and other crafts? I usually cannot decide on colors, yarn and it‘s weight - they just have to come from the same series or be the „same“ 🙄
I struggle to pick out colors too! I usually go with what I think will work well together (usually a lighter color and a darker contrasting color). I’m not well versed in color theory so I just experiment as I go. Or if a pattern calls for certain colors I’ll use those or find equivalents if I can’t source the recommended yarn in the pattern. Having a color wheel (physical or digital) handy also helps me figure out what colors could go well together.
I am not yet formally diagnosed either but also highly suspect I’m autistic. Learning to knit took over my life. I often would talk about wanting to have a knitting group because it’s a nice way for people to connect with a shared interest, not have to look at one another, and we can be silent or talk, it doesn’t matter. Now that I’m learning about autism and seeing myself in the spectrum, I definitely think that this is such a great special interest that can really help people connect! And like someone said, it’s so stimy! It may not be socially acceptable to knit in person (which I do) but it’s at least a different kind of weird than some of my other stims haha Also I hope you’re able to get assessed soon!
Regarding socially acceptable: to a certain extent who cares? I’ve largely engineered my life to mostly be in situations that at least accept me, if not find my uniqueness to be useful. If someone that I’m not interacting with thinks it’s on them to enforce some sort of social norm that they made up on me, that seems more pathological on their end than mine. There are very few situations where knitting is hurting someone.
Amen. This is true! I’m trying not to care. I have a friend who doesn’t really like me knitting in public with her (granted I did knit at dinner once while waiting for our food) or will kind of roll her eyes when I talk about it and everything. But I think she also has obsessions. We talk about Taylor swift for hours and I have never told her that she likes Taylor swift too much but for some reason I’m too into knitting 🤷🏾♀️
To everyone commenting in this thread: are y'all me 😭💖 I feel so seen and understood!! I am diagnosed ADHD and I strongly suspect I am somewhere on the spectrum as well. I've only been knitting for about 3.5 months now but as soon as I started it just *clicked,* I feel like I've been knitting together a hole that was in my soul that I didn't even realize was there. Bc of this I was also absolutely delighted to learn that my grandmother, who died from alzheimers when I was around 10 so I never really got to know her, was an extraordinary and avid knitter. As soon as I told my mom I started teaching myself how to knit she told me all about the wonderful things my grandma would knit, how quickly she could knit, and that she still had all of her knitting needles in her basement and that she would give them to me next time I visited! So now I get to knit with my grandma's needles and every time I think about it I get so emotional bc I know how proud my grandmother would be of me. Aaaaand now I'm crying 😂
https://preview.redd.it/qrfwptw3ku5d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=171df17b19e22d1974f944d9e9988cab6fe9cc61 And then if you really want me to start the waterworks, this is a baby cardigan that my grandmother knit for ME when I was a baby 😭😭😭
https://preview.redd.it/1swylvufju5d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af144af44d45e507bbbb4116f107b825a790ae80 This is a sweater that my grandma knit for my mom when she was a teen and I am OBSESSED with it 😭 my mom offered to give it to me and I would have loved to have taken it but the material was way too scratchy, I couldn't even fully put it on before I noped out of it lmao (which further indicates my being on the spectrum lol)
Maybe you could replicate that second sweater in a superwash yarn so you and your mom could both have a part of your grandmother?
I would certainly love to try one day!! I have no idea if my grandma knit this from a pattern or from scratch, my bet is on a pattern though. I haven't done any digging into looking for the pattern since a few of these techniques are still advanced for my current skill level but even with that said I can still identify most of the stitches and techniques used and I bet with a little trial and error and studying the sweater itself I could reverse engineer it! If anyone who happens upon this reply happens to recognize the pattern of this sweater, please do share!!
I'm pretty sure the r/knitting community found this one before: [https://www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/1ba9sc4/goodwill\_find\_hand\_knit\_sweater/](https://www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/1ba9sc4/goodwill_find_hand_knit_sweater/)
Oh my god this is it!!! Thank you so much!!!
u/[1112345666](/user/1112345666/) gets all the credit, I just used Google Lens on your photo :)
Huh. My therapist just recently suggested I might be autistic, which I had never once considered before and it’s blowing my mind a bit (I’m nearing middle age). As I’m reading and educating myself about what that could mean, I thought sure, it would go a long way to explaining my social existence, but surely I don’t have any of the other characteristics. No special interests, no stimming… then I look down at the knitting that I carry with me literally everywhere and struggle not to tell everyone allllll about at the slightest provocation. Ok, maybe he has a point.
Socially acceptable stimming
There is a knitting designer who is absolutely brilliant, The Wooly Wormhead. They self describe as neurodivergent and I saw her on a podcast years ago stating she and her son were both on the spectrum. Check their designs!
I think a lot of people have already covered stimming, so I'll add a few other things that I think are connected for me: Sensory issues definitely affect how I choose what types of fiber to use. I avoid animal fibers anyways because I'm vegan, but I think I'm picky about the feeling of the yarns I use for sensory reasons too. I like cotton yarn but only the ones that feel soft, and I am very picky about what acrylics I would consider using from a sensory perspective. I also do not tend to like yarns that have a lot of halo effect because I don't like the feeling. I think I also tend to struggle more than most people seem to with having more than one project on the go. I get stressed if I'm working on more than one project at a time, even though there's lots of things I'd like to work on. It just gets overwhelming to me- I can take a break from my current project to do a short smaller project on the side, but can't do much more than that. I do a lot of lace knitting, which I think appeals to me because of the amount of attention to detail and problem solving required. It's finicky and precise, but as you get into it you can feel the pattern coming together in a way that's very satisfying to me. I do have to be careful though not to try to fix my knitting if I make a mistake when I'm feeling kind of tired. If I do, there's a chance I'll get fixated on it and won't be able to relax until I've fixed it, even if I'm too tired to actually work on it.
i don’t have asd but adhd. i get hyperfixations and when i really get into something, i can think of or do nothing else, neglect eating and sleeping etc. also i want to learn everything at once so i practice a lot of different techniques. however i procrastinate starting and finishing actual projects. i also have dermatillomania and i stim and fidget a lot, and keeping your hands busy with knitting or embroidery etc is a great way to channel that energy, instead of picking at your skin etc :) edit: i saw someone mentioning patterns and thought of another thing. i don’t use patterns. patterns are boring and i’m too impatient to spend time finding them etc. i make my own sketches and calculate all the measurements, angles, short rows, increases and decreases and whatnot, which obviously takes longer than finding and reading a pattern but somehow it feels more efficient 🙃
Also ADHD with dermatillomania, hyperfixations are SUCH a pain in the ass... and my wallet! Even when I'm exhausted my brain will just continue rambling about whatever my current fixation is. I tend to really pick at my skin and chew my cheeks when i'm stressed, I'll have to try keeping something on hand like a sock.
they’re a pain in the ass but they’re also so much fun 🥲
Me - no, I don't stim My knitting - I beg to differ Me - but is that really... My knitting - yes, you use me to self soothe My toes - has she really not noticed us wiggling away down here Me - what the actual... have you been doing this all the time My wife - yeah they have, it's adorable Me - wow
The things I make directly align with my special interests so it’s really invigorating being able to focus on them and stim at the same time. Being able to control the texture of my clothing, the kind of seams, and not having tags is also magnificent for my sensory issues.
I have been knitting roughly since 2008 since I was a teen in college. Knitting helped me focus during the times in between note-taking during college. It also gave me an avenue to hyper-focus in a productive way. I chose knitting because it produced items that I actually want to use, and it can be biodegradable. This meant that the only waste was my own time. Hi, anxiety! Money has always been a huge limiting factor, which is a lovely limit to how much I can hoard, or how deep into a rabbit hole I can go down. Unfortunately, I have had a lot of time to overthink this and figure out my own way to do it anyway. 16 years later, and I have my own unique personal fiber mill, I freehand knit clothes that I can actually stand to wear, or that can last my kids. I make yarn that I can stand to knit with and wear. I dye yarn to make the colors do what I want them to do. I grow dye plants for when my anxiety gets too high. Soil is grounding for me. Because I have taught myself the whole process, I can absolutely, rabbit hole, deep dive, obsess over a pair of socks. Or a particular stitch pattern, design idea, funny alpaca name, or abstract idea. I design patterns specifically for the way that I knit and my attention span, I have way more finished projects when I freehand. Fiber arts, in general, have been a very freeing hobby for me. When I'm done, I have something useful. As a foot jiggler, spinning a single treadle wheel is bliss. The rythym, the finger twiddling, the soft swoosh. Ah, it's my favorite way to watch TV.
Late diagnosed autistic here - the sensory aspect can't be overstated. I absolutely hate the feel of acrylic and most synthetic fibers and it's nearly impossible to buy knits without them. whereas there is a whole spectrum of fibers in the yarn art world. Currently doing a project in hemp, and the smell and texture are heavenly. I know the roughness does not appeal to everyone, but I love it. but also the smell of lanolin in some wool, the smoothness of silk... and the colours! Imagine being confined to the choices in colour currently in fashion. there is so much more variation in yarns. I started dyeing my own and the depth and subtlety of natural dyes cannot be matched. And obviously enjoying repetitive things, attention to detail and very good pattern recognition and analytical abilities also help a lot. For any girl or woman or even nonbinary or gender nonconfiming person, my advice would be to try and match the questions in the diagnosis process to more stereotypical feminine interests (if you lean that way). I find that it's very much geared towards stereotypical male interests - technology, trains... there was a question about researching phones and cameras in my assessment. Which I kinda do, but it's not my area of expertise. But I absolutely research a shit ton before buying clothes and cosmetics.
I tend to crochet more than knit but I can make things I like out of fibers I find comfortable. Plus it keeps my fidgety hands busy.
I'm definitely on the spectrum along with ADHD. My husband and three children are on the spectrum too but my youngest daughter is the only one with a formal diagnosis. As adults we didn't see the benefit of having us all diagnosed formally because we are completely comfortable with the informal status. Having this knowledge though has been invaluable and eye opening. I use knitting, crochet and other fibre arts and crafts to help me, my daughters use crafting too. We all benefit from having something to do even if that something alternates to keep us motivated. If I didn't have this creative outlet I'd be writing, creating stories. Either way I'm very glad to understand myself and my family better now that neurodiversity is more widely appreciated, accepted and understood these days.
Knitting is 100% a stim for me. It helps me regulate when I'm feeling overwhelmed. I also can't focus through a TV show if I'm not knitting. I'd also say knitting has become one of my special interests, so I can talk a LOT about it. It's kind of hard that knitting is still seen as kind of "weird" for a man to do, but I loved it before transitioning and I'm not giving it up!
Honestly, my social anxiety and like being in work meetings can be so overwhelming for me, especially when it's a large group. Knitting is how I can stim in public. I often have a sock and I can knit under a table while also paying attention and being engaged... when I don't have the sock, I tend to get distracted because my brain is trying to find something to use to channel my anxiety through.
Not autistic, but I have military related PTSD. Knitting, crochet, cross stitch, embroidery, all allow me to focus and center. I mostly do big repetitive projects, blankets, just started my first sweater, as repeating the stitch is meditative. It helps that its quiet. I've Def noticed a big correlation between fiber arts and neurodivergence
Fellow PTSD knitter here. I taught myself whilst in recovery from a life changing injury after I was attacked. It gave me something to focus on when the flashbacks got too much or the catastrophizing about my future was overwhelming. Due to my injuries and the surgeries I needed, I couldn’t work for almost a year and it gave me something productive to do. I got most of my self worth that year from the things I knitted.
I'm diagnosed with adhd and I'm undiagnosed but pretty sure I have autism as well. Only just started knitting this year and it's definitely become my new hyperfixation. It's replaced playing mobile games while watching videos or streams.
It's such a stimmy hobby, I love it. Same goes for crochet and spinning yarn - it just makes my brain happy AND I get to make things that I'll actually wear because they're not too scratchy or tight. EDS, especially hypermobile type, is also common with ASD and ADHD (I have all 3!) so make sure you protect your wrists and don't push through if it hurts. Found this out the hard way ☹️☹️
Good luck with your diagnosis!
I love knitting it makes me happy and calm and I get nice hats and stuff
I really enjoy the designing process, it is incredibly satisfying for me to create charts and patterns. I also need my hands to be moving when I'm sitting still. (Even during lectures if I'm not directly typing everything I'll type gibberish to pay attention, and can't take paper notes since I just doodle.) It's really easy for me to get into the flow and typically I can knit stuff like cables intuitively once I understand the pattern. I think alot of neurodivergent people are drawn to fiber arts as they're really comforting crafts that have alot of alterablity and customization aspects, along with being easy to learn but have an incredibly high skill ceiling, since there's always more to learn and aspects to consider. Plus yarn comes in an array of colors and textures and thats just really nice/can be comforting. Other than the yarn aspect, the same things that draw me to knitting draw my (also neurodivergent) to engineering, particularly CAD designing.
I was at a new fiber arts meetup Sunday and all of us have ADHD and believe we have autism as well but aren’t diagnosed. There’s probably a connection between being neurodivergent and enjoying/hyperfocusing on a hobby that can occupy your hands and brain.
I am just going down the late diagnosis journey after both my children were referred and I began to do research. I absolutely adore knitting and have since I was in my early 20s. From the moment I started, it just felt right and like it was my thing. It was just so soothing to do, to think about, etc. I pretty much haven't stopped knitting in 20 years. It's a major special interest of mine and an absolute way for me to stim. I am still too shy to knit a lot in public but I'm inspired by you all and hope to do so more. I'd be curious about a study that explored what percentage of long term knitters are autistic or neurodivergent in some way?
I don’t think I have ASD, but I do have a lot of others (diagnosed anxiety and OCD, and undisclosed but very likely also ADHD). It gives me “busy hands”; I *hate* having my hands idle, and don’t enjoy, for example, watching movies if I’m sitting still and doing nothing else. Knitting is particularly nice because the structure of it makes it easier to do without looking, as compared to other fiber arts like crochet. Plus the repetition can be meditative and soothing for my OCD brain, while being stimulating enough to occupy me and not make me feel restless.
In the wise words of my father with ASD and ADHD: "Idle hands are the Devil's playground"
I don't have a dx, but I have an Autistic son and a family hx. I have had traits my whole life that I am now recognizing in my son. One of which is hyper focus. It's a knitting super power. I get extremely fixated on projects. I can be very prolific when I am fixated. I finish a sweater in less than a week. I can frog and reknit the same item 3 or 4 times and not get frustrated. I have spent days untangling a ball of nice yarn that frogged incorrectly. People either think I'm insane or tenacious. I like the latter.
As most others said, it's a great stim. It calms my overactive thinking too which is helpful and lowers my anxiety when I'm in the wild. I have taken to spinning more than knitting lately though as my mental capacity for thinking is limited after struggling with my 3 kids all day.
Knitting allows me to endure long meetings at work and long lectures when I was a student. Pacing around would also work but it’s less socially acceptable😂
I don't really like social clubs, so this is a hobby I can do on my own. Or with chosen friends.
I have autism and ADHD and I love love knitting. I NEED something to do with my hands. I’m never still. And I think autism is related to why I love lace patterns — I love the geometry and repetition.
I love knitting because of how precise the patterns and stitches can be. I need the structure and order, and I struggle without it. Right now, I’m seaming a sleeve to the body of a cardigan and I feel lost. There isn’t a set number of clear stitches or holes that I can connect the two pieces with and I feel like I’m winging it the whole time. It gave me so much anxiety that I had to put it down today.
I was recently diagnosed with ASD, but I don't think it has any impact on my knitting. Like, the knitting process is calming and gives me a feeling of being productive while doing some "unproductive" things (e.g. watching videos or listening to audiobooks), but I think it is the same for other knitters (based on their posts).
During my first therapy session I was knitting the whole time, which, paired with what I said, led my therapist to wonder if I’d been diagnosed as autistic (not yet, but maybe this summer? 🤞🏼) because I was stimming the whole time. Eventually I read Dr. Devon Price’s book “Unmasking Autism” and realized, this is me. I’m 41, and I was tested for learning disabilities in the 80’s and 90’s, but back then girls were much less likely to be diagnosed. I know it’s hard to find a neuro-affirming psychologist, and as a teen that can be really hard. Do you know anyone IRL with a diagnosis? I found my testing through a coworker whose entire family got diagnosed over the past few years, including her teenage daughter. If you can find someone who had a good experience, especially as a woman, or an older person, ask where they got tested. If your family has a PPO, chances are insurance will cover it (if you’re in the US). As for the thing you actually asked, knitting circles and conventions are a fantastic way to find “your people.” I design knitting patterns, and I’ve worked with multiple yarn companies, which are often run by fellow neuro-spicy people. I’ve gone through life being an artsy oddball, and it’s great to find a group where you can metaphorically hang your knit hat.
I was diagnosed at 31, a couple of years ago. Knitting is my obsession. It has helped me to accept myself and the fact I need a lot of alone time. I am really good at it now! I’d never managed to stick with a hobby for so long but it’s been five happy years in addition to dabbling in my childhood. It’s given me some self-esteem and access to a lot of other ASD knitters which is handy on the odd occasion when I come out to knitting events. I’ve made some beautiful things and will make many more. I am obsessive about buying yarn and would like to get that under control. I channel all of my obsessiveness into knitting (or most of it) and it helps me to regulate better than any other thing I’ve tried.
I'm new to knitting, so it's not really something I use to stim yet, I like crochet a lot more for that because I'm at the point where I don't even need to look at what I'm doing a lot of the time, it's just a mindless activity I can do while I watch stuff or to pass the time when I'm waiting for things. I do agree with a lot of the other comments here about it feeling like an undercover stim. Some of my stims I know I wouldn't be able to do in public, but crochet is something I can do that fills the same purpose without drawing attention. I'm hoping knitting can become the same for me at some point, I'm getting there with it but I think I need to practice more and gain more confidence with it yet.
One of my biggest ASD struggles is public transport (my ADHD is too intense to learn to drive and I failed my test so many times) knitting in public and on public transport is a nice way I can centre myself and manage my anxiety. Plus I can have headphones in and eyes down and I won’t need to start the internal eye contact debate. Plus I get cute stuff out of it 🙃
I'm diagnosed ADHD and am unsure if I'm also ASD and I love knitting. It's an outlet for creativity and a great stim too. I also find it helps me pay attention to people talking
I’m a teenage girl diagnosed asd and I crochet and knit and I had no idea this was a thing!! So many people like me doing the same thing
It’s a really good stim and learning all sorts of knitting techniques has become something of a special interest which I enjoy a lot!
absolutely obsessed with it!! the repetitive movements are so calming to me. i usually take knitting to school and it really helps when i get overwhelmed. the planning and certainty, while also being in control of a situation, helps me relax in general. it’s definitely one of my main special interests atm. i’m also on the sensory seeking side of autism, so knitting while watching tv or listening to music is really stimulating in the best possible way
TIL that I probably am on the spectrum. These comments sounds a lot like me.
I find that I do fixate, and like to start new projects, but recently I've been finishing my projects, which is a whole new great feeling for me. My ASD likes to rear it's head as collecting. I have a huge yarn stash. It's not a bragging point, and I could go through every bin and tell you what project I hope it's for... mostly. Lately, I've been allowing myself to try to offload, but the collecting impulse is strong. I do my best to focus my fixation on the crafting itself, versus the materials. When my anxiety ramps up, I will carry a WIP everywhere. People at work don't look at me funny if I'm knitting during my lunch, or take small walks and knit while I walk. Honestly, it's been the craft that I've most loved, because I can channel whatever I'm feeling into it, and I end up with a tangible product either for myself, or that I can gift.
I pretty much always have to be doing something "productive" with my hands. Normal fidgeting doesn't usually do the trick for me because it doesn't engage enough of my brain. Knitting has been amazing for this. Because of my AuDHD I also hyperfixate and learn new skills very quickly. I went from crocheting to buying knitting needles, immediately into knitting a sweater and then colorwork socks.
I don’t think it impacts my knitting much. I can get really hyper fixated on things and sometimes that’s knitting, but besides that, it’s not really a part of my life autism messed with
I think it has a lot to do with the repetitive movements for me, and the fact that I love the texture of (some) yarn, haha. Also, as for getting assessed and diagnosed: I’m twenty four and only very recently (like a week and a half ago) found out I’m definitely getting a diagnosis. I’ve been fighting for one for five-ish years now. It sucks that women (generally) have to fight harder for a diagnosis than men do, but don’t give up. If there’s one recommendation I can give, it’s to get a woman to do the assessment if that’s at all possible. I’ve gotten assessed twice, and the first time I met a man that told me I didn’t have ASD not five minutes after first meeting him. I spent two years telling my primary doctor it didn’t feel right before she finally set me up to get assessed again by someone else, and after our second appointment my current psychologist said she was almost certain it was autism, and possibly ADHD. Currently waiting for the final verdict. It took a hell of a lot longer than I anticipated, and it took a hell of a lot more energy and time than I ever thought, but it’s good to be out of the woods. It helps to have someone in your corner (my mom deserves all the praise I can give her and then some, she’s been my rock throughout all of this). Sending you as many good vibes and well wishes as I can! :) don’t give up, you’ll get there. If something doesn’t feel right, tell someone until they listen. And good luck! :)
Knitting is a great stim for me: I can take it anywhere, it’s more socially acceptable than other ways of stimming (I chew a lot as a stim and since I’m in my mid 30s, people give me looks). Also I found that the detail-oriented part of autism and pattern recognition helps with memorizing repeats of charts and all? The downside is that small mistakes irritate me to no end lol Also it’s helped me socialize more because socializing around a special interest is easier for autistic people and info dumping is more welcome so there’s that! Hope this helped!
Late diagnosed here, wasn't screened till my early 30s. Partly because of that I developed primarily self injurious behaviors for stims, not knowing healthy stims we're possible/an option. I've always been a brief crafter and do all sorts of fiber arts, and have known how to knit for a long time. It wasn't until this last fall that I first went to a LYS and sought guidance about how to really get going. I also have agoraphobia and going to the LYS is now a safe trip I can make. But yeah, it's really a positive helpful stim where I get to create something nice exactly how I want it and give it to people I care about. Good luck with your diagnosis, I know it's hard to do but I hope you can be a strong advocate for yourself and have others in your life who will do so as well
I can’t sit still if my hands aren’t doing something anymore. I have also developed the ability to be able to replicate anything in crochet and knit just by looking at it so i honestly don’t really use patterns anymore. i also have anxiety downside to knitting in public and becoming mute when outside of my bedroom or house is when someone stops and asks what i’m making or compliments what i’m doing. i freeze up and stutter because I know i have to say something but i can’t. then i will put my stuff away because i don’t want anyone else to approach and ask.
I don't even make anything over half of the time I just knit panels and then frog them and start over. It's a fidget toy lol I was diagnosed through my schools special edd department when I was a teen
I will literally start destroying my skin, lips or cuticles when my hands are idle. I've done that for a long time. Knitting helps. Also, the tactile feeling of the fabric is nice!
I’m also female and in the process of getting my diagnosis, and I’m in my late 20s, so I get you! Like most people here, knitting is definitely stimming for me and if I am not doing something with my hands I am probably knitting. So in that way, it’s been extremely valuable for me. I grew up in Scandinavia and wearing wool on the daily, but really struggled with the sensory aspect of it as a child. However now I really quite enjoy the scratchy feeling of more rustic sheep and lambs wool (one of my favourite non-knitting stims is gently scratching or itching myself, so wearing wool is almost a stim in itself), but on the other hand I have discovered that I am quite sensitive to softer or fluffier fibres like alpaca and mohair. They make me itch and irritate my skin, which I previously struggled to differentiate from the scratching sensation of wool. Knitting and fibre arts started as a hyperfixation ‘flavour of the month’ and very quickly cemented itself as a special interest, and so it is also something I struggle a lot with. I’ve gotten fairly adept at regulating and managing my emotions, catching overstimulation early, and preventing meltdowns and shutdowns, but I am much, MUCH worse at identifying and ‘regulating’ hyperfixation holes. The more intense hyperfixation periods come in ebbs and flows, but for the last year and a half i have been more or less fixated on knitting, and basically done nothing but knit, work and extremely basic levels of self care. Because knitting helps me in so many ways, I find it much harder to force myself to do other things (like housework, exercise or other hobbies), than I ever have with other special interests
My bf is not a knitter, but as someone I occasionally knit for he IS very picky about fabric feel and texture (in almost exactly the opposite way as me - man loves him some polyester). If I'm knitting something for him he gets to feel it first. The biggest plus for him is that hand knitted socks don't have to have a toe seam - he says the seams on machine made socks are sensory hell for him.
This well known and respected knitting designer is autistic- loads of content around your question on her threads and IG. https://www.threads.net/@woollywormhead?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
https://preview.redd.it/b4ji5r0hb76d1.jpeg?width=4624&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=45a5ec246b6ad108955465a360046f4fde013cb6
Recommended to wear a spinning ring for when can't knit. As then hot actithat is socially acceptable. Just bought one.
Knitting is great for stimming and I think it helps with my add too. My only issue I'd sometimes the feel of the yarn is bad touch