To be puzzled at knitting in meetings

[JoanThursday1972]

I go to a few cross-organisation working groups and meetings. One woman always brings her knitting - I was really surprised. Is this a thing now to bring crafting projects to meetings?

She's doing it for attention/to show off.

"Oh look what I can do, aren't I clever" Clicketty click click.

I would find it mildly irritating, unprofessional and a bit weak. Same goes for post which mentions a colleague who takes a colouring book into meetings.
At meetings (even though they can be boring or too long) you should listen, or look as if you’re listening, make eye contact occasionally and pay attention to whoever is speaking. Not knitting and bloody colouring in FFS! and how can you pay attention when you’re doing other things?

I agree. The ‘I’m special’ brigade really piss me off.

I'd end up refusing to attend these meetings with people colouring, knitting, crocheting and fidget spinning.

Of course you would. 🙄

I would feel so patronised and somewhat angered by being provided with putty and pipe cleaners. I’d want to say “I’m at work, not bloody pre-school.”

I often knit in zoom sessions, it really does help me stay focused on what people are saying as I have a real tendency to drift off and miss what's being said.

I don't let people see me doing it though, and I certainly wouldn't bring knitting to a F2F!

And what about the people for whom it’s a massive distraction @HotDogJumpingFrogHaveACookie ?

Well if it was a large presentation with seats in lots of rows then I may not notice. But usually my meetings are with people sitting round a table in smaller groups of 5-20 people depending on the project and so I would absolutely notice and it wouldn’t be acceptable for me as I wouldn’t be able to do my job well.

I don’t care what the layout is or how many people are there. It’s unprofessional and I would not be happy if people were carrying on their hobby on a meeting I was running. It’s really presumptuous and, frankly, rude.

So you would prefer that they have to focus all their effort on looking like they are paying attention, which would mean that they had no energy left to actually take anything in?

People with some ND conditions need to keep their hands busy in order to focus and take things in.

I don’t care what the layout is or how many people are there. It’s unprofessional and I would not be happy if people were carrying on their hobby on a meeting I was running. It’s really presumptuous and, frankly, rude

l used to knit in meetings. But l was a Textile teacher…….

Yes. Keeping your hands busy is one thing. Knitting / carrying out another hobby is another. And yes, I do expect people to be focused on the meeting. I don’t think that’s unreasonable.

Would you rather they played Candy Crush as it's not productive but keeps your hands busy?

Why is doodling or playing with a fidget spinner ok? But not knitting?
Like has been said several times in this thread, ND people (and probably plenty of NT too) can concentrate better if they are also keeping their hands busy.
At least knitting is productive. An employee who knits to stay focussed is going to be able to contribute to meetings, and also get a scarf at the end of it. Win win to me.

Juicy!

Each to their own, and if it helps and the person is still focused they I'd say it's a good idea

This!
Why is knitting worse than a mobile game or a fidget spinner? At least it is productive.
Modern knitting needles are much quieter than the hollow metal ones I learnt on and people tend to knit slower when it is done out of hobby/focus aid, then if producing clothes is a necessity.

Is your colleague from Scandinavia? I live in Norway and have several colleagues who knit an astonishing amount, including during coffee breaks and meetings. One of them is a significant contributor to the meetings as well, so it’s not that she isn’t paying attention. It was unexpected when I first came across it, but doesn’t bother me now.

Okay, shall I do a cats cradle, or use a rubiks cube, or play candy crush or tetris on my phone, or doodle ?
My brain is bonkers, in order to concentrate I need my hands to be busy. So do lots of other posters on this thread.
How would like us to be enabled to concentrate ?
Cos looking like I am concentrating with nothing in my hands is a total illusion, and I won’t have a clue what is going on , would you really prefer this ?

It seems like a lot of the judgemental people on this thread either don't understand the concept of reasonable adjustments, or think we should get them.

They think that everyone has the same capabilites and that we should all be able to focus and look like we are paying attention. I mean it isn't hard right?! They can do it with no problems why can't everyone?!

If knitting is noisy for people and means they can't concentrate then why is that fair?

I do get tired of a person demanding 'reasonable adjustment' is code for 'if I don't get what I want everyone else is to blame'

Fairness can work both ways

Multiple people have commented that the sound depends on the needles, if someone is actually making a noise with their knitting then they should be asked to switch to quieter needles. If that doesn't work then they need to look for a silent distraction, perhaps crochet.

Of course fairness works both ways, but most complaints seem to come from people annoyed at the audacity of someone daring to knit, rather than the sound.

If someone is doing it on their lap low down where it can't be seen it should matter, but on a table it can still be distracting

But I still don't get this 'I demand and anything different is unreasonable'

No one has said that anything different is unreasonable, where there are competing needs a compromise is necessary.

Is the knitting genuinely distracting in and of itself, or is it because it is new and different and feels a bit wrong? Would the distraction get better the more normalised it becomes? How bad is the distraction? Would it take up all your headspace so that you couldn't focus on anything else? Or is it mild? The former is what happens to me if I have nothing to distraction myself and have to focus on looking attentive.

Would you be less distracted by someone playing candy crush on a phone or filling in a soduku?

The point is to find something that works for everyone, what I object to is the belief that knitting is somehow a moral failing if it isn't actually harming anyone.

I sell not on Etsy but on my own website and my hand knitted items and make a tidy income to top up my salary. I knit in online meetings ,never had an issue with anyone complaining. It helps me concentrate and i contribute to the meeting because of it. I would not take to a f2f meeting because I find it easier to concentrate during an in person meeting.