A walk in the park made me discover my new hobby

“I had been looking for something to do with my free time, and I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this before” - Kimberly, 31

I had free time. I just didn't know what to do with it.

It was a Saturday afternoon, and I decided to go for a walk in the park for the first time in a long time.

I hadn’t been leaving my house much, even though I had free time. That free time would just vanish because I’d stay on my phone, and before I realized it, it was already late and going out felt like way too much effort.

So that Saturday, I wanted to disconnect for a bit and see some daylight.

The park has these big grassy areas where people sit in groups and hang out, which I’ve always thought was such a cool thing to do.

Suddenly, among all those groups, there was this girl sitting alone, headphones on, doing something with her hands.

I got a little curious, and when I got closer, I realized she was knitting.

Knitting always looked like a grandma hobby to me, so seeing a girl in her 20s knitting really caught my attention

And the fact that she was all by herself, looking so carefree and disconnected, really got me wondering if I could do that too.

Because like I said, I hadn’t been going out much, I’d been doomscrolling a lot, and I always felt like I was missing so much ME time.

It looked like she had exactly what I was looking for.

Why knitting made sense for me?

In my search for something to fill my free time, something that spoke to me, I’d tried pottery, painting and gardening. They’re cool activities, but they need a lot of setup.

You can’t do pottery at the park, you know?

So I knew I needed a hobby I could take anywhere with me, whether on a flight, at a cafe or at the park.

And that’s why knitting made a lot of sense.

But there was one more complication...

Isn’t knitting really hard?

I always thought knitting was REALLY hard, because it looks really hard. I think that’s a really common belief.

So I went up to the girl, told her I liked what she was doing, and asked, “Where did you learn to do that?”

And she said, “YouTube.”

I already knew this, but I’d never really thought about it that deeply: you can learn anything online. Literally anything.

That kind of blew my mind, because even though I’m young and watch YouTube almost every day, it had just never occurred to me.

So I got home and started reading, watching reviews and going through the huge list of tutorials out there. I also found out there are tutorials on TikTok and Instagram.

Now I felt way more confident about starting. I didn’t even need a teacher, like I did with pottery or when I tried yoga.

So, how do I start?

I’m going to oversimplify this for everyone reading:

Yarn companies sell knitting kits with everything you need inside. These kits are labeled by difficulty level, and some of them come with a step-by-step video tutorial for the garment.

So basically, you just need to choose the design you want to make and the quality of yarn you want it made with.

I picked a vest from Sierra Yarn because it was a beginner-level kit, it was small, it had a video tutorial, and the yarn was 100% natural fiber, which means high quality, no plastic and long-lasting.

When the kit finally arrived, I was in love with the color and excited to start my project.

Before jumping into the vest, I went through Sierra Yarn’s course on the basic techniques. You can learn the basics within an hour.

That same night, I cast on my first stitches. My first rows were a little uneven, but by the end of the night I was knitting without pausing the video every two seconds.

Some garments require slightly trickier techniques, but there are video tutorials for each of those too. I just followed the vest video step by step.

The day I finished it, I put it on right away. I couldn’t believe I’d made something by hand. I finally felt like a real knitter.

I’d say knitting is fairly easy. It only gets a little harder as you start to improve, but I think that happens with every hobby.

Swap the Scroll for a Beginner KitEverything included · ships free

My advice

After finishing my vest, I was already obsessed with knitting. It’s kind of a ritual for me now: usually 15-20 minutes before bed, because it really relaxes me, and then I try to have a “knit outside” day once a week.

Now I’m the girl knitting alone in the park.

I’d say it has made my days more meaningful, because I’m experiencing real things instead of just scrolling, you know?

I’ve also met new people thanks to it, which I’m really grateful for.

I’ve made a couple of garments already, and I’d recommend it to anyone.

It doesn’t have to be complicated. I’d say the most beautiful, timeless pieces are the ones that don’t overcomplicate the design.

My only advice would be:

• Get a beginner-friendly kit that comes with a video tutorial
• Get good quality yarn. You don’t want to invest your time in an acrylic garment you won’t want to wear
• Knit something you’ll actually want to wear, so you stay motivated
• Don’t be afraid to contact support if you need it. Sierra Yarn was really helpful with this

If you liked the vest I made, you can find it here, but Sierra Yarn also has blankets, boxy sweaters, scarves and much more.