10 Moments That Teach Us Handmade Crafts and Hobbies Are Quietly Boosting People’s Confidence

There’s real science behind why so many people find crochet and knitting so satisfying. According to a survey by the Craft Yarn Council, 93% of knitters and crocheters report a genuine sense of accomplishment from their craft, and 56% say it directly boosts their confidence and self-esteem. A scoping review on needlecraft and mental health backs this up, finding that handicrafts like knitting, crochet, sewing, and embroidery consistently strengthen people’s sense of confidence by focusing on ability rather than limitation. It turns out a lopsided scarf or an uneven granny square isn’t a beginner’s mistake — it’s often the first stitch toward real self-belief.
I started knitting two years ago after my youngest moved out and the house suddenly felt way too quiet. The first thing I made was a blanket for my bed and it was so crooked the edges didn’t even line up. I used it anyway because I’d spent forever making the thing and wasn’t about to start over.
My sister saw it one day and asked me to make her one too. I told her it would probably be just as crooked and she said she didn’t care, she just wanted one I made. I’ve made nine blankets now, plus a bunch of scarves and hats. My edges are still never quite even. Nobody seems to care though, so I stopped caring too. At this point I think they’d look weird if they were perfect.
I crocheted a blanket for my baby for 9 months. She didn’t make it. My husband burned the blanket afterward and told me, “You never even met her. Move on!” I didn’t touch a crochet hook again after that.
Last week I found a little blanket at a thrift store and donated it to the hospital. 2 days later, a nurse called and said the baby who got it was doing better and her mom had asked who donated it because apparently it was the only thing that had calmed her down all week. I just stood in my kitchen holding the phone. I know the blanket had nothing to do with that baby getting better, but something about that call made me dig out my old crochet stuff again. I’ve made 11 blankets since. My husband doesn’t know. I’m not ready to tell him yet.
Your little angel is with you always.
i an sorry for your loss,i believe the heart tells the mom's,that the baby is alive,and has a soul when the child is conceived. You have every right to greaves a unborn baby's,passing. it sad that your husband was so selfish in his response. i would guess He wasn't equipped to help you through the healing process,so He went for a self preservering tactic,soo sad! i am proud of you to work through the pain by giving you other's!! Bill Jones
What an uncaring , despicable evil comment that was MJS you need help !!!!!!!!😮🤬
The baby was a part of her for 9 months and for her inconsiderate husband to burn it tells me he doesn't care about her feelings. He was probably hurt to and his way of dealing with it put her in his line of sight.
Well done you need to do things for yourself and others and so glad that the little baby is doing so well God bless you 🥰
People handle loss in different way. She wanted that baby badly. There is nothing wrong with what she is doing doing. I think it's great that you are doing what your doing.
WHY TELL HIM ANYTHING? HE DESTROYED SOMETHING THAT CAME FROM YOUR HEART, AND HE OBVIOUSLY GOT AWAY WITH IT. I AM TERRIBLY SORRY FOR THE LOSS OF YOUR CHILD, BUT GET RID OF YOUR "PARTNER". HE BRINGS NOTHING (GOOD) TO YOUR WIRLD.
You are a very rude person Monica. She carried her daughter for nine months, yes ma'am she knew her. She felt her move , kick, and relax. You are a nasty human. I hope you don't have children. You are the one that needs help.
"My husband doesn't know yet" why are you still calling him husband? He would have been called ex as soon as he put the flammable liquid onto the blanket. I am childless and still have 4 positive pregnancy tests, all my old IVF needles and empty bottle.. its been 8 years 🤣 is it healthy? probably not, but, I am starting to let go of some things and in my own time. My partner has moved them so many times and not once thought of getting rid of them.
11 blankets 5 days!!!! Impressive were it even remotely true.
HAVE YOU EVER HAD "ALL THE TIME" IN THE WORLD, BUT NO WAY TO SPEND IT? THIS WOMAN IS FIERCELY HOLDING IN, TO A GREAT LOVE AND LOSS. 11 BLANKETS IN 5 DAYS, REALLY ISN'T THAT BIG A DEAL. YOU KNOW THE OLD SAYING: IDLE HANDS ARE THE DEVIL'S.....
You continue with your crocheting.lt is your therapy.My friend and l make blankets,we pray over them while working with them.Once completed we find the recipient and find a scripture to go with the blanket.We give where we feel God wants it to go.Have had very good reports.People wrap it around them when fesrful,anxious,lonely,depressed,whatevet.lt brings comfort to them
Obviously your a lesbian or a man hater, or never had a baby. You need to go to church and find a heart you careless selfish ridiculous person.
Some men just don't get it.
I'm with your husband in this one. How could you be so sad for a child you haven't even see my god, get help.
STOP with the angry reactions and EXPLAIN to me why why would someone feel so bad for nothing?
What is wrong with you??
nothing
Who stole your heart?
Something wrong, no one is as heartless as you comment.
EVERYTHING.
What age was the fetus when it died? During its lifetime, mom felt it move, felt it turn. Felt it kick legs and swing arms. Felt its head. She had many interactions with the baby before it died.
EVERYTHING IS WRONG WITH MJS.
Oh my goodness you are clueless.
I'm ok
You are devil get help immediately please you
Even if this is your thought about the post, what possible good could ever come from putting it out there? It only shows how little compassion or care you have for this woman’s pain and loss. Why not just shut up?
Because she carried that baby for 9 months that's something so you can't understand I'm so sorry for her loss and I feel her sadness and she is moving forward.
She carried that baby for 9 months. What an unfeeling cretinous AH you are.
Obviously the person who commented knows nothing about the bond of the mother with a baby. Of course they are connected and bond immediately
Actually they do not. It takes time and the right mindset. If they bonded immediately moms wouldn't have depression from have children.
Monica Jones, it evident that you have never experienced loss of a child and I pray to God you don't. Allow people to grieve in their own way in their own time. Stop being so judgemental and pray you never have to go through that.
I seriously hope you NEVER have a child if you are this heartless
Your calling the child she carried inside of her for nine months "nothing" You need Jesus.
EVEN S A TAN IS SAYING WHAT?
People are doing thr mad emote bc you have no heart 🙄
You are a vile , horrible person, its you that needs help. Who gets onto the Internet to troll, only sad awful people like u. You are disgusting
How cruel are your words. A grieving mother is a mother whether she saw her infant or not. The father is cruel and heartless. She should be comforted not hurt by your cruelty. I know many women who lost their child and it hurts their heart and soul. You should be ashamed of yourself for what you said. You obviously have never known the pain of losing a child.
What?! You are extremely ignorant. You must be soulless. The woman carried a child. That is an instant bond. Her heartbreak was real. You need to see a heart surgeon and get a new one
No she has to get one first, before it can be replaced
THE GRINCH IS OFFERING A PIECE OF HIS HEART, 💚. BUT MJS, THINKS "HER'S" IS FINE. SHE IS WROOONG!
Burning the blanket was cruel in my opinion.Why would anyone burn the blanket when there might be a possibility of a further pregnancy? Total lack of empathy and emotional support. As for you Monica, you need extensive psychiatric care.
You are heartless and unfeeling and as bad as her husband. When you are carrying a baby, whether or not you got to meet it, the first binding begins when it is in the womb. If you can't say anything helpful or constructive DON'T say anything at all.
My sister lost a baby after carrying her to term. My sister wasn't able to talk about it for many years. I'm hoping that you can experience the loss of a child. Maybe then, you can understand what that mother felt.
You're an idiot. She carried a whole human life inside of her body,( my God). She carried the child for months,fed the child and felt it move inside her. It was still her child. You slow and so is her husband. I hate she lost her child but God calls home those that don't deserve to put up with the ignorant. And yes I know the feeling cause my family has seen the same travisty. In short get a pulse.
That woman had a deep connection. You don’t have to see it if you can feel it. Maybe one day you will get your eyes opened and eventually see the horrible choice you made in posting this comment
What is wrong with/u? My dil was pregnant w/triplets; 1 baby survived. Knowing this, she had to carry all to term. Love that 7yo to pieces! But not a day goes by that i don’t think about my 2 lost Grandbabies!
Because she carried that butiful baby for Nine months it was a part of her then and will be forever. You must not be a mother.or you and her husband are just cold hearted beast.
Monica John Smith maybe you have never lost a baby but I have and I never met it but I still loved it shame on you for being so cruel
I'm going to break this down the best I can for you. She was making a blanket for her goal of giving birth to a healthy baby. The goal was never met and she hasn't had closure yet. Maybe you can relate to a race you've trained for for years. But it's a race you never finished.)
Her efforts were all in on the blanket. The blanket would hold her baby. Provide comfort, and possibly even become a sense of loving security for her child. A mother carrying a child does not need to see her child to know she loves it.
I am not a mom nor have I ever desired to become such. But even I can show a little compassion for mother's who have lost a baby.
Being kind is free and it is ok to be kind too.
Hormones have alot to do with it and there's no help that can fix it. She carried that baby for 9 months' f e it every movement and expecting to b have a liv e breathing baby soon to hold and feed . Wh e n that doesn't happen the mother may go thru a never e bdingbgrieving process . Hormones have alot to do with it . You were terribly cruel to b say what you b did to her o n this public forum and you owe her an apology. You need to humble yourself and come on here as ndcapologuze . Not that it b will really help the way s h e feels. Her grief is much stronger than your rudeness .
You're a horrible person.
You apparently have NEVER lost a child !!! YOU are a VERY UGLY person to be so inconsiderate enough to say this to a woman who has lost her baby that she carries for 9 months in her belly !!! I lost my little bit at just past my half way point of my pregnancy and it just about killed me !!! Plus who is anyone to tell anyone how they should or shouldn't or even that they can grieve !?!?! It is no one person's place to speak this UGLY to anybody else !!! It's people like you and this poor woman's husband that make this world God damn grim !!!!
YOU, MY DEAR ARE THE "NOTHING" IN THIS STORY. YOU HAVE NO SENSE OF EMPATHY, OR TACT. YOU WOULD BE SAD IF YOUR CAR GOT WRECKED, BUT A CHILD DYING, IS "NOTHING"? I DON'T WISH ANYTHING BAD FOR YOU, BUT I MIGHT LAUGH IF SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS, TO YOU.
if she was crocheting for 9 months her baby was full term when she died, so she was a human being. You on the other hand are not.
I can only imagine that you not only have never suffered such a tremendous loss, but that the cavity where your heart should be is totally empty! I hope the writer gains the courage to share what she is doing at some point, when she is ready.
What a raging b you are.
You are pathetic, she carried her daughter for 9 months be that is a bond within itself. She didn't have to see her to feel an attachment. What if I told you that during an emergency C section I was born, and my mother past away. Would you also tell me how could miss someone I've never meet? Your wrong. You need to watch your words, you slack empathy
I suppose if you don't have a soul, or if you've been so hurt in your life that your heart has hardened so much, I could somewhat understand that you are genuinely this cold. The husband doesn't get a pass either, and while what he did was truly one of those f****Ed up moments you can never take back, the ones that leave a dagger deep in the wound for life, I can empathize because I've been in his position not just once, not twice, but 3 separate times. each time was even more devastating than the last. but we kept trying, and finally, when we were giving up, my wife was 41, we were talking to an IVF doctor about trying with donor eggs, I just broke down and cried out to God. You see, I was adopted at birth, went 36 years never knowing who gave me away or meeting a blood relative. I begged God to at least let me know who my mother was, so I could at least thank her for giving me a chance and to forgive her. that night, I saw an ad for a discount on a DNA test kit, so I ordered, and a week later, I had the results, found my aunt, reached out to her...no joke, it could have ONLY been THAT DNA company because this Aunt was the ONLY LIVING person who knew about my birth mother having a baby in the late 80s, and she only did that same company's test. I found my birth mother next day, and reached out, she received me well and then a few days later we found out we were pregnant with who was born a beautiful baby boy, who happened to be born the same day my adoptive father passed away (we named our son after him, and made sure his family name would live on, since he's the only grandson, he had no biological children and he selflessly raised me knowing his family name would end with us if we didn't have a boy). this could only have been God's hand, in direct response to my prayers. I share this to point out 2 things. my biological mother never truly met me after birth I was immediately taken away. when she drove from Tampa that year to meet me, and I hugged her when she stepped off the elevator in the hotel, I felt something I had never felt in my life - I felt like I belonged, it's called oxytocin. the 2nd thing, I knew each of our children we lost and I wish that feeling of pain on nobody.
You’re a heartless piece of s..t just like her husband 👿
Spoken like a true psychopath, you must be one of those born without a soul! Your Aura is probably nonexistent , and if you do happen to have one, it's probably only different shades of gray and black. You should look up someone that has the equipment and set up an appointment and check and see! I believe those without an Aura are also without a Soul, and the one who may have a dark one, who knows what's actually in them!!! Because those without a Bright Colorful Aura like the majority of everyone on earth, that shows they don't have the eternal light and or have lost it, or maybe never had one and are not an actual one of Gods children. Get some help regardless, I could Only imagine what type of stuff goes thru your head on a daily basis and especially if you get mad , lol
You're sick. She lost her baby, a baby that had been in her body. She has every right to feel sad about it.
MISS ANITA, I AM SO VERY HEARTBROKEN FOR YOU. IT'S BEEN 42 YEARS, AND I STILL MOURN MY LITTLE BOY. I ALWAYS WILL. MY PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU.

Don’t be such a horrible human! She lost a child. Her husband is an aH.
My daughter's never had much confidence in anything, always convinced she's bad at stuff before she even tries it properly. She picked up embroidery on a whim during winter break, borrowed my old hoop, and the first few things she made were genuinely rough. Wonky stitches, colors that didn't go together at all, thread knotted up in like six places.
She wanted to quit after attempt three. I told her not to throw the bad ones out, keep them as proof she actually tried something difficult instead of just giving up on paper. She stuck with it. Year and a half later she sold a piece at her school's craft fair for ten bucks and came home holding that bill like she'd won an award. The ugly first attempt is still pinned up over her desk. She put it there herself.
I started knitting after my wife passed because the evenings were just way too quiet and I needed something to do with my hands. She’d knitted for probably 50 years and left this big basket of yarn behind that I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of. So I started watching beginner videos online and trying to figure it out myself.
The first hat I made was pretty bad. Dropped stitches everywhere, weird shape, definitely not something I thought anyone would actually wear. My granddaughter was 7 and she wanted it anyway. She wore that thing constantly. 5 years later she still has it, even though I’ve made her much better ones since. I asked her recently why she still likes that ugly first one so much and she said, “Because it’s the first thing Grandpa learned to make with Grandma’s yarn.” I didn’t even know she thought about it that way.
I started doing pottery at this community studio because my mom basically forced me to find a hobby that wasn’t just sitting on my phone. My first few bowls were so bad. Lopsided, way too thick, and one literally collapsed on the wheel and somehow got clay in my hair.
There was this older woman at the studio who watched the whole thing happen and just went, “Good. Now you know what not to do. Do it again.” Kind of savage, but it actually worked because I tried again instead of going home. I have like nine bowls on a shelf now. They’re still not perfect, but people at school have started asking me to make them mugs for Christmas, which is honestly still insane to me.

I taught myself to crochet from YouTube because I couldn’t afford half the sweaters I wanted and figured I might as well try making one. My first one had one sleeve way longer than the other. My brother said I looked like I was melting on one side, which was rude but honestly not wrong.
I wore it to school anyway because I’d already wasted two weeks and like four skeins of yarn on it. This girl in my class asked where I bought it and when I told her I made it myself, she looked genuinely impressed. I don’t know why but that gave me such a confidence boost. I’ve made like six sweaters since then. Now I actually make the sleeves a little mismatched on purpose. It kind of became my thing.
Took up woodworking at 61 because I was going stir crazy after retirement, no idea what to do with all that free time. First thing I built was a side table, came out crooked as hell, my son actually laughed when he saw it. Not mean about it, just surprised his old man’s hands could mess something up that badly.
Kept going anyway, mostly spite honestly. 2 years later I built him a whole dining table for his wedding. Watched a grown man cry over a table. Never seen him cry before, not even at his own graduation. Still got that first crooked side table sitting in my kitchen. Keeps me humble.
I started knitting when I was unemployed because sitting around applying for jobs all day was honestly making me miserable. The first scarf I made was terrible. Completely uneven, and I almost threw it away. I ended up giving it to my seven-year-old niece because I didn’t want to waste it.
She wore it to school the next day and apparently told everyone her aunt made it for her. She was so proud of this ugly little scarf that I couldn’t believe it. I really needed that at the time. I knit things for my family all the time now. I’m still not very good. They don’t seem to care.

Started building birdhouses in the garage last spring, mostly to have an excuse to avoid my in-laws during their visits. First one I built was structurally sound but ugly, my wife called it “the birdhouse of Sauron” and honestly, fair. Gave it to my neighbor anyway because I didn’t want it sitting in my garage mocking me.
Guy put it up in his yard, and within a week there were actual birds living in it. Sent me a photo like I’d done something incredible. I’ve built maybe fifteen since then, gotten a lot better, still keep one ugly one on my own porch as a reminder that the birds genuinely do not care what it looks like. Neither should I, apparently.
If u were my neighbor i would have asked you to make houses for stray cats that visit my yard everyday. I give them food, but am unable to give them proper shelter at home. I can buy one. But certainly I love handmade things as they hold a lot more value. Love from India.
I got into crochet during finals last year because I needed something to do besides study. Definitely had nothing to do with the crochet videos that kept showing up on my socials. The first granny square I made was so uneven my roommate said it looked like a deformed pizza slice. She still brings it up.
I kept doing it between study sessions because for some reason it was the only thing that made my brain shut up for a bit. A few months later I made my mom a scarf for her birthday with 3 completely different types of yarn I found on sale. She cried, which I was not prepared for because my mom does not cry over stuff like that. She wears it every winter now and tells people, “My daughter made this,” like I’m some kind of professional. 6 months before that I could barely make a chain without messing it up.
Do you crochet or knit? Drop a photo of your work in below — we’d love to see it.
Here is what I made

Comments
That looks like Okies preparing for the F5 tornados every spring!
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