Successfully Knitting During Work Video Calls

Video calls are here to stay. They have become an essential part of working from home, but we knitters—natural multitaskers—just can’t afford losing that precious time to only look at our screens. Even less so when that piece of treasured knitting is nearby, batting those woolly eyelashes, eagerly waiting to jump into your hands. It is just too much of a temptation not to grab the opportunity of once again touching those wonderful textures and colors of yarn heaven!  

Blending knitting and working from home is an art. It requires empowerment and a harmless touch of mischievousness. Here are four tips and tricks to encourage you to go for it! 

Empower Yourself

If in doubt about how seriously you will be taken by work colleagues if they see you knitting, open yourself to the possibility of becoming a secret video-call knitter. After all, privacy is a right and you are entitled to not share every bit of your life with your colleagues.  

Do not feel guilty. Research shows that relaxation helps concentration—and knitting is no exception. You will be more productive at work if you enjoy knitting during a video call, so prioritize your mental health.

Related: Put Down Your Phone and Pick Up Your Knitting  

If society is not yet ready to accept that our hands are able to take an independent path from our minds, it is our duty to take a first step and lead the way to our liberation. Yes, we can! 

Beware of Visual Detection

This may sound obvious, but when knitting, we can get carried away. If you don’t want others to see you’re knitting, always keep your knitting below camera level. Yes, including your knitting needles.  

Also, be careful of facial recognition. If you constantly look down to your knitting, you may be caught! To successfully knit below camera level, choosing the right project is of utmost importance. 

Choose the Right Knitting Project

A project with repetitive stitches is the perfect one for conference calls with video. Leave complicated colorwork or cables for another time, and enjoy the ride. The key is to give your brain the freedom of knitting mechanically to allow your attention to focus on your video call.  

Knitting projects in the round with endless knit and/or purl stitches are the best. The most obvious is, of course, a scarf. A cowl will give you the pleasure of a quick achievement. Knitting the lower part of a yoke jumper will make you feel like a pro. 

Use Your Knitting to Deal with Parallel Realities

Life on the screen can be hard. You deal with your busy reality at home while, at the same time, something work-related is happening right in front of you. So, why not add your secret knitting as a third reality? Use it as an opportunity!  

Perhaps that dull meeting becomes full of color as you progress on the unexpected combination of your multicolor yarn. Or, perhaps, you can imagine that the movement of bringing the yarn to the back of the work is a way of bringing that challenging colleague to your side. The possibilities are endless.  

If you are one of those risk-taking knitters wearing pajama bottoms with formal jackets, take your knitting to your next video call. Have no doubt, the magic will happen.

ANAMARIA BEJAR is a social anthropologist and has a career in international health. A self-taught avid knitter, she is widely traveled and obsessed with yarns and knitting traditions from different cultures. Find her knitting designs, writing, and reviews on Instagram @am_open_studio and Ravelry (abeja2). 

Projects for Clandestine Knitting