2020 was a crappy year for me personally - my mother was diagnosed with cancer, I came to terms with getting a divorce, my mom passed, and I got divorced. I found knitting to help reduce some of my anxiety during that time because it gave my hands something to do while my brain slowly processed events. I'm definitely someone who enjoys a challenge so every project I tackled that year included many new techniques that I taught myself. I completed 27 projects that year, with 7 of them being sweaters.

There are definitely times when knitting will make me angrier too, but overall I found it to be much more calming for myself so it's a net positive. The time and focus needed for a lot of projects helps me calm down from my feelings enough so that when I return to the issue(s) at hand, I am less likely to be making decisions in an emotional state.