Knitting as a Meditation: Smell Your Yarn

Liza is smelling the yarn for her meditation mat project.

As a knitter, I find the texture of the yarn I'm knitting with very important. It's the tactile feeling that makes or breaks whether I will use a yarn, more than color sometimes. Each project is different and requires a different kind of yarn. There are times when I'm searching for something oh-so-soft, and others when coarse or the scratchier, the better.

Before I even begin a knitting project, I meditate with my yarn to see if it activates all or most of my senses. You can start turning your knitting into a meditation even before you cast on.

One way I do that is I sit with the yarn for a few moments.

First, I feel it. Does it give me the necessary texture I desire for this project? Is it heavy or light?

Second, I gaze at it. Is the color the right fit? Is the color dynamic or flat? Will it light me up as I am knitting it? Or will I get bored with it?

Third, I smell it. Yarn to nose, deep inhale, and where does it take me? Am I transported to sheep fields in Ireland or the Peruvian mountains? Or are there notes of chemicals and shipping materials that I hope disperse over time and after blocking?

Fourth, I listen. All things have a frequency, a sound, no matter how subtle. When I gently rub two strands together, what do I hear? Is it like a shell, sharing the sounds of the ocean? Do I hear sheep bleating, or the sounds of a carding machine preparing the fibers?

Fifth, I taste. This is always the one that elicits a laugh from my students as I teach this meditation. And often, people skip this part. To be honest, it's not the most important sense to reflect on when it comes to knitting. The point is not to have a good-tasting yarn, but to ground. yourself so fully in all of your senses that when you start knitting, it comes from a place of contentment and inner wisdom. It could be a split-second lick. It only takes a moment to wonder whether the fibers of the yarn feel natural, whether the taste changes how I feel about the yarn, or whether it reinforces that this is the right yarn for the project.

If you read my previous post about an informal KAL, you'll know I'm working on a Meditation Mat. I'm using a yarn that I've knit with before, Madeline Tosh ASAP. I prefer to avoid superwash yarns, but there is something about the softness, lushness, and feel of this yarn that has drawn me back to it time and time again. The texture has me wanting to knit with it all the time. The smooth fibers and ease of creating stitches with a large needle size (10.5 US).

I was also pulled in by the color's name, Moonstone. And since I have knit with it before, I know how the yarn knits up and creates a strong fabric for a mat that I will be sitting on daily.

The smell of the yarn is clean and cloud-like. I sense possibility as I breathe it in.

There is a hollow sound as I rub my fingers along the strands, evoking a sense of peace and silence, qualities I seek in meditation.

As I mentioned, taste is not as important a factor, and with this yarn, there is no discernible flavor that intrigues me. This doesn't deter me from using the yarn, as all of my other senses are activated and excited by it.

If I were working with a yarn I hadn't knit with before. Then, in addition to this mindfulness practice of engaging my senses, I would knit a swatch to see how the knitted texture differed, and if it would still work for the project. Or if the yarn shop where I bought the yarn has a sample knit up, it's an easy way to see how the yarn changes as it is knit.

This doesn't have to be a long, drawn-out ordeal. Over time, as you get more used to this practice, you only need a few seconds to listen to your intuition and know if the yarn is right for you. As you work on your own knitting, see if the smell, feel, and sound of the yarn reinforce your love of the project, or if it is perhaps suited to something else. I always love hearing from you, knitters, so email me at liza@yogaofyarn.com or comment below.

Stay tuned for my next post, where I talk about winding yarn.

In gratitude and happy knitting,

Liza