Pandemic Productivity

Sat, 30 May 2026 22:31:39 GMT

By the time the pandemic started in early 2020, I had developed a knitting obsession. I rediscovered knitting during the Women's March, seeing hand-knitted pink hats everywhere. At a local yarn shop, someone told me about the Ravelry website, warning me how hard it is to stop looking at it. She was right. I pored over it, spending hours choosing favorites and buying patterns. I discovered the Craftsy app, and learned fair isle, brioche and sweater knitting. But at the start of the lock-down, I started to worry if I would have enough yarn. My online yarn store announced that they would not be shipping any orders. Yet somehow I managed to finish a sweater I had started. From there, I went stash-diving and had enough yarn to knit a giant shawl. Why I knit a shawl, I don't know. I never figured out how to wear them, but they are pretty to look at. I knit more fair isle yoke sweaters, hats and more shawls. I knit so much that I wound up getting diagnosed with frozen shoulder. Yet I kept knitting, with multiple works-in-progress all over my house. Now, six years later, I sit in my bedroom staring at piles of stash yarn, not knowing if I will ever make anything with it again. I feel guilty about the unfinished sweater sitting next to the living room couch. I don't look at Ravelry much. My diagnosis now: Lost my knitting mojo.