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In Defense of the Simple Knitting Project
- Sönna Schuttner
- Aug 28
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 5
Why every project does not need to be a masterpiece and the important role simple knitting projects play in shaping the fiber community.
8.29.2025
My dear Tangled Makers,
I have been thinking about the simple knitting projects I love to make and want to share some of the reflections I've had while stitching on them. It boils down to this: not every project has to be complex, complicated, or Instagram-worthy. Some of the most sustaining knitting I’ve ever done has been the easy knitting projects with simple back-and-forth stitches in garter ridges, stockinette, or easy textured patterns. There is a special place in our lives for the kind of knitting that allows my mind to wander, focus, or just rest while my fingers stay busy. And I would argue in defense of the simple knitting project, that there is a special place for it in the fabric of our fiber community.
This entry in the Wool & Weather journal is written by me, Sönna, as a reflection on my fiber practice and my life. No AI ghostwriting, no ads. Just field notes from Wool & Wyrd, where I share how craft sustains me through the seasons of change.
What is “simple” for one knitter may be complex for another, and this is exactly why the measure of simplicity needs to be generous and biases created by judging a project as “simple” need to be addressed. In reshaping the value system that ranks skill as more or less worthy of a place in the community, we can honor both simple and complex projects (and by extension the knitter behind them). This doesn’t mean we aren’t impressed by skill or recognize the time and effort the skilled person has put in to gain such abilities. It means we also recognize that the simple knitting project is just as vital to a knitter’s tool box, just as sustaining, and just as worthy of a place in our community. By embracing this perspective, we create a welcoming space that values every knitter and every project, shaping an inclusive fiber community. As I considered my own experiences with easy knitting projects, I came to understand that they play a very important part in shaping an inclusive fiber community.
Jump to:
✦ Simple Knitting Projects in My Own Life ✦
I’ve knit through LEGO disputes between my boys, quietly helping them learn how to live in community with their loved ones rather than feeling resentful while thinking about dishes or emails I “should” be doing. Knitting helped me stay present for them when they needed me most.
I’ve knit in line at the grocery store. I would rather have my hands busy with simple stitches than scroll mindlessly on my phone, noticing the people around me and staying grounded in the present.
Especially in nursing school lectures, knitting has been essential. With ADHD, my mind often wanders and I can struggle to follow along unless my hands are occupied. Allowing my hands to make simple back-and-forth stitches lets me maintain my focus and absorb information. I often wonder how different my school career as a child would have been if I had been allowed to knit in class. (In case you haven't guessed, I was the one talking out of turn, making noise while digging through my impossibly messy bag and turning in wrinkled papers.)
✦ How Simple Knitting Projects Show Us What Matters in Community ✦
Simple projects are not indicators of a lack of skill. We simply cannot know whether a knitter is working up a vanilla sock because they just love going round and round or because it is the first sock they have ever made. Over more than ten years working in two different yarn shops and as a customer myself, I’ve seen (over and over) the ways people judge or make assumptions about a knitter based on their project. Sadly, such assumptions often lead to condescension and I’ve seen (and felt) the distance that this creates between two people who share a craft. A garter ridge scarf might look “simple” to some, but it is just as meaningful and just as valid as any complex lace shawl. If simple knitting projects held a place in our community on par with the cabled Aran sweater or the intricately stranded color-work socks, the biases that such assumptions create will no longer limit our ability to connect or cause anyone to feel inadequate as a community member.
I’ve witnessed the same dynamic from the other side. I’ve been the person with the “easy” project and found myself being treated as “a beginner” (as if that is a lesser role in the community). That assumption can sting, but it also reminds me why we need to approach every maker with openness. Ask questions, offer guidance, but never assume. And should our questions inform us that the simple knitting project is, in this situation, an indicator of skill level, that skill level cannot not be an indicator of the knitters place in the community.
✦We Don’t Have To Prove Ourselves
If we as a community actively embrace the simple knitting project and approach the simple knitting project with the same respect we offer the complex projects, we choose to create, together, a world where every project, and therefore every person, plays an essential role and matters to the whole.
While I did feel the sting of condescension, the truth of the matter is: we don’t have to prove ourselves to anyone. Any judgment from someone else is theirs, not ours. When I carry a simple project in my hands, I’m not demonstrating my worth. I’m supporting myself with craft and participating in an age old practice. Their assumptions don’t diminish my craft, my knowledge, or my connection to every maker who has practiced fiber arts throughout time. My knitting (simple, complex, or somewhere in between) needs no approval. Neither does yours.
If we as a community actively embrace the simple knitting project and approach the simple knitting project with the same respect we offer the complex projects, we choose to create, together, a world where every project, and therefore every person, plays an essential role and matters to the whole. We create the welcoming, inclusive and uplifting world we want to live in.
The thing is, this requires us to offer that respect not only to the simple knitting project on our neighbor’s needles, but (perhaps more vitally) to the project on our own needles.
✦ My Go-To Simple Knitting Projects ✦
5 Projects for Easy Knitting
Simple knitting is its own kind of magic. These projects have carried me through moments when I needed to be present, occupy my hands, or just knit without counting. Some are my own designs, and some are patterns by other makers I’ve loved. The titles and images link to the pattern listings in case you want to add them to your queue or get your own copy now.
The Pi Squared Shawl by Wool & Wryd The Pi Squared Shawl uses the pi-based construction to guide the placement of just five increase rows, letting the pattern do the math while you enjoy simple, relaxing stitches. The pattern can be purchased for download or you can find it for free on the Wool & Wyrd Blog.
This truly is a "basic" pattern, making it endlessly adaptable. Its simplicity made it perfect as the pattern to use when I was teaching a regular Beginning Sock Knitting class at Acorn Street Shop in Seattle.
The Simple Bluster Cowl even has "simple" in its name! The pattern contains only two stitches and two easy-to-remember rows, creating a squishy, satisfying texture without any shaping, counting or complication.
Honestly, the whole Bluster Pattern Collection is a great resource for simple knitting projects!
This is the first knitting pattern that my kids knit from (after knitting capes for their Playmobil People). Its a great first pattern, which makes it a great pattern for simple knitting! Although the cuteness of a gnome child running around with their hand knit gnome hat after it has been gifted (or knit for themselves by themselves!) the pattern is sized up through larger adult so that everyone can have a bit of whimsy in the winter.
The pattern can be purchased for download or found for free on the Wool & Wyrd Blog!
The Antler Toque by Tin Can Knits I almost didn't include this one because I didn't want the cables to be intimidating for some and exclude the project from the "simple" category for that reason. BUT this IS one of the patterns I go back to again and again when I need a simple knitting project. I think I have made six of them!
✦ The Final Thread ✦
Not every knitting project needs to be a masterpiece—simple stitches and easy projects are just as important in our craft. By honoring them, we help shape a fiber community that values every maker and every project equally.
May our stitches shape more than fabric, may ground us in craft, Land, and community,
~ Sönna🌀
✨ Share your favorite simple knitting project in the comments! Bonus points if you share the link so others can add it to their queue!
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Love all of your kind words! You have been an inspiration to me since I restarted my knitting journey 4 years ago. I am learning to embrace simple knitting projects because they allow me to keep my hands busy even when my brain is tired. I am working on a Sweet Shop Blanket. Garter stitch and one square can be completed in under a couple of hours.
I love the idea of simple knitting. I wish I had come to fiber life years ago, but I’m so happy it found me anyway.
I need to make another antler toque. My first one was a big snug and makes me ah w a headache. The bookshop shawl is a good single skein east project. KaceyKnits has a lot of mindless knitting simple projects that are great.