Knitting as a Meditation: Meditation Mat
- Liza Laird
- Mar 16
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 18
A SHORT STORY
A few years ago, I flew out to California to film my Creativebug classes. For one week, I stayed in Berkeley near the studio and filmed three classes, all of which are now live on creativebug.com.
In preparation for my trip, I knit samples of the projects I would be teaching and shipped them to the studio ahead of time. This way, I would have less to carry on the plane. But what is it they say about best laid plans? They often go awry. Well, when I arrived on the first day for filming, excited, nervous, and feeling all the things. I discovered that my box had arrived damaged, and my knit samples were lost. Endless hours of work, nowhere to be seen. We were set to start with the Meditation Mat class, and I had sent two knit meditation mats ahead of time, but those were gone.
It was quite the hiccup. How could we film without any examples of what the project was to look like? We brainstormed plans to rectify the problem, and luckily, my friend Kate had a knit sample she could send us for filming. Changing gears, we started by filming the other classes and waited for the new sample to arrive.
NON-ATTACHMENT
The loss of the meditation mats was a practice in non-attachment. Something that is not always easy when working with handmade items. Countless hours were spent knitting two meditation mats for the class, and in the end, I had nothing to show for it. I am grateful for the ability to knit and the time I do make to create things. I also practice non-grasping of the finished item, because in the end, it might get lost, moths might eat it, or a myriad of other small mishaps can occur.
When I got home from filming, I knit another meditation mat and sent it to Creativebug, where it safely arrived and has been used for photoshoots. But I never knit myself another one. In the meditation corner of my desk room (aka office), I’ve been wanting another meditation mat, one that matches the color scheme. So finally I’m knitting myself one.
KNIT IT AGAIN
For the past few months, I’ve been trying to pick out the yarn for the project. Originally, the plan was to use yarn from my home collection, but nothing fit quite right. The original mat I knit was with Madeline Tosh ASAP, a super-bulky yarn that always comes in a range of amazing colors. While perusing their color range, I found Moonstone, a color I became smitten with. The yarn has arrived, and it's now sitting next to my meditation cushion, awaiting the day I start winding it up to knit.
I’m not one for formal KAL’s, so this is an informal invitation to knit a meditation mat with me, or simply follow along. I'll be teaching this pattern at the April 2026 Yoga + Yarn Retreat. If you’re attending, we can knit it together. If not, and you want to watch my progress, follow me on Instagram. I'll be posting updates as I go. I'm not setting a goal or end date for this project. I am going to let it take its own pace. The Meditation Mat pattern can be found in my book, Yoga of Yarn, and the Creativebug class is a step-by-step guide to single-color brioche and making your knitting a meditation.
KNIT-ALONG (KAL) DETAILS
When I say informal, I mean it. This is an invitation for you to tell me what you're knitting while I, too, am knitting. I'll be working on the Meditation Mat Pattern on page 162 of Yoga of Yarn. Email me, comment here, or post to IG. I'd love to see what you're up to. I'll post updates as I go on my yogaofyarn.com musings pages, and on Instagram.
With gratitude,
Liza
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