If you are active in the online knitting community — that is, if you have an Instagram or Twitter account — you will probably have noticed quite a few heated discussions recently about knitting patterns, yarn substitution, and the expectations of knitting designers.

These are not new discussions.

I’ve been around so long that I’m getting deja-vu: knitting patterns are too expensive, knitting designers are elitists, yarn costs too much, knitting patterns are getting worse and so forth. I have seen dozens of blog posts about the true cost of designing & writing a knitting patterns, and I’ve also read a dozen more posts about the art of yarn substitution.

But this week I did read something that stopped me in my tracks. A fellow designer and teacher posted the following on Instagram:

Patty is a highly respected industry figure and has been teaching for many years. In other words, when Patty highlights something, you better listen.

For many years, Elizabeth Zimmerman’s words about trusting yourself and be the master of your own knitting have been the mantra for knitters everywhere. All the knitting teachers I know try to impart that sense of trusting yourself in workshops. We urge you to believe in yourself and your abilities as we give you the tools you need to go further in your journey. We want you to ‘take ownership’ of your craft, so you leave a better and more confident crafter — and we certainly want you to continue to explore and have fun with your knitting.

When did we lose that? And why? Because I agree with Patty as my inbox continues to groan under questions that often can be answered with ‘yes’ and ‘trust yourself’ (though I do answer more fully, of course).

Questions about colour combinations are something so individual that while I can lend some guidance, it is ultimately something where knitters should not need my approval (trust yourself!). Yarn substitution questions are often so region-specific that I struggle to give a good reply (because I’m not that familiar with Australian yarns) and I can answer in general terms only (“a yarn that knits up at 22 sts over 4 inches and with good drape”).

Often the best answers I can give are questions in their own right: have you tried swatching? have you worked up a small sample in the colours you are considering? And often I’ve experienced that knitters prefer a clear-cut answer because they do not want to swatch or attempt to combine colours. They become impatient with me and sometimes a bit rude. And I want to shout: you lose out on so much knowledge by deferring to experts, teachers, and designers.

I think we live in a world of instant gratification. In the immortal words of Ariana Grande: “I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it”. It is so much easier to get someone else to approve your colours or yarn sub than to swatch, take a class or read a book. Yet the craft is losing a huge amount by leaving these decisions to a select few (myself included). By trusting in your own abilities, you become a better knitter. By taking ownership of your craft, you are not only gaining invaluable skills but you also help the craft develop and grow.

One of the things I find totally amusing by current discussions is the insistence that designers are gate-keeping and knitting teachers are keeping trade secrets to themselves. In reality we are doing the exact opposite. I want knitters everywhere to be confident and happy in their abilities. I want knitters everywhere to make informed decisions. I want knitters everywhere to create things that make them happy. And, to come back to Patty’s words: the best way to ensure all these things happen is for knitters to take ownership of their own craft.

PS. I’ve written extensively about where knitting is at and where we are going over on Patreon.