What do I have in common with Christopher Walken?

Yes. It is knitting.

Now I am going to tell you a little story. I studied architecture in Italy and this master’s degree required a global knowledge of a lot of things. It was at that time that multitasking entered my life. At the time, it was difficult to deal with and frustrating I daresay. After a well-gained experience in maquette making and hand cuts and god-knows-how many studying hours and beers, I eventually realized that this was actually a good thing. Interacting with different subjects at the same time, gave me the opportunity to mix and match, methods, knowledge and creativity. It’s what Tim Harford calls slow-motion multitasking. Working on different projects, of different topics at the same time, by going forward or backward following what you feel like doing at the moment. It is somewhat intuitive, and it feels good to follow your desire on what you want to work on next.

Now at some point there, between all the studying, I started knitting. Did I think that adding another thing in my schedule was a good idea?  No, not really. Should I have left it for later? Probably. Did I have the time or energy to learn something new? I am not even going to answer that. I just really needed to turn my attention to a totally different subject from what I was dealing with the whole day. When I started knitting, or better, when I started learning how to knit, I felt mad and anxious. I thought I would put the needles in my hands and a scarf would magically appear around my neck. But no, it took time.

Eventually, I became a better knitter, and I managed to knit this freaking scarf. And many more. And then I moved on to knitting more complicated things. And then I learned how to crochet. And so on. Knitting helps me detach, it unleashes my creativity and most of all, it helps me balance. Again, check Tim Harford, “Disruptions help us solve problems, they help us be more creative”. Knitting disrupts my disruptions. By interrupting my studying with knitting, when I go back to studying, I am more concentrated, hence more productive. Plus, I have a useful product in the end.

If you have a busy schedule that you, as well, would like to creatively interrupt, think of the power of craft. What can it offer you? What can you offer to yourself?

Finally, this. Enjoy.

Till next time.

Love & Craft,

S.