If you’ve ever felt guilty for sitting down with your crochet, I want you to know something.

That feeling didn’t appear out of nowhere.

Most of us have spent our lives being taught to put everyone else first. We were praised for being helpful, for caring for others and for making sure everyone else’s needs were met before our own. Somewhere along the way, many of us quietly learnt that taking time for ourselves was something to be earned.

So it’s hardly surprising that, years later, we feel uncomfortable picking up our crochet while there are dishes in the sink, washing to fold or emails waiting to be answered.

We’ve been programmed to believe that everyone else comes first.

The interesting thing is, by the time I learnt to crochet, I’d already done a lot of work with a life coach around protecting time for myself. I’d come to understand that looking after myself wasn’t selfish. It was necessary.

So I never really felt guilty about making time to crochet.

What surprised me was why it mattered so much.

As the weeks and months went by, I began to notice something changing.

I felt lighter.

Calmer.

Happier.

I also realised something else.

I wasn’t feeling as angry anymore.

Even now, I couldn’t tell you exactly where that anger had come from. At that stage of my life I was working full-time, raising a family and had spent years fostering children. Like so many women, I was carrying a mental load I didn’t even realise had become so heavy. What I do know is that crochet gave me something I hadn’t realised I was missing.

What I do know is that crochet gave me something I hadn’t realised I was missing.

Space.

Not just space to make something beautiful, but space to breathe, to think, to process my day and to reconnect with myself.

That’s why I protect my crochet time.

Not because someone told me it was important.

Because I’ve experienced the difference it makes.

These days, I don’t see crochet as something that takes time away from the people I love. I see it as one of the reasons I can show up for them with more patience, more joy and more energy.

That shift changed everything.

We often talk about self-care as though it’s another task to squeeze into an already busy day. Another thing on the to-do list. But I’ve come to think of it differently.

The things that refill us aren’t a reward for getting everything else done.

They’re what help us keep showing up for everything else in the first place.

So if you’ve been waiting until everyone else’s needs are met before giving yourself permission to crochet, perhaps it’s time to ask yourself a different question.

What if your crochet isn’t taking something away from your family?

What if it’s helping you become the version of yourself they need most?

If protecting time for yourself is something you’re still learning, I’d love to welcome you into the Full Membership. Yes, you’ll find patterns, projects and weekly live sessions, but what I treasure most is the community of women who understand that making time for themselves isn’t selfish. It’s one of the ways they care for everyone else, too.

Because the hardest person to ask for permission is often ourselves.

And perhaps today is the day you finally say yes.

Seona x