For the love of…knitting!

by Mindy Slettendahl

For the love of…knitting or my husband? How about both. Early on in our marriage my husband and I kept running into a problem. My husband, Seth, loves to watch tv and movies together, but I kept falling asleep. I realized I needed to be ‘doing something’ to keep my busy brain focused enough to stay awake. Since creativity had always been a draw for me, I started trying out different hobbies: quilting, sewing, crocheting, knitting, cross-stitch, and embroidery. I would pick up some little project, learn just enough to complete a project then move onto the next one.

As I transitioned from a newly wed to an expecting mom, I started getting more interested in making cute little pieces for my own little cuties, so I dived deepering to knitting: hats, booties, skirts and doll clothes. Knitting is such an ‘easy’ hobby, you only need two knitting needles and some yarn. It’s easy to bring along for crafting on the go and you can pause anytime. The many different creative aspects of knitting (mixing different colors and fibers, problem solving errors in my work, etc.) keeps me coming back for more and the calming repetition slows down my busy brain and helps me de-stress. My husband loves that it keeps me awake during movies and long drives, and often encourages me to knit in the car so I’m less of an anxious rider.

Fast forward a few years, a few kids and many skeins of yarn. Calvary was about to host a handmade sale as a fundraiser for Love Justice and I wanted to contribute. So I decided to make a few creative things, including a knit cowl-style scarf. They all sold and I had a few people ask if I could make more cowls after the sale. The idea of a “side hustle” started to bloom, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I wanted to make sure whatever I made was good quality, cute enough to sell, not too trendy, and would fit a need. I started doing some research, experimenting, tweaking, sourcing, and letting my kiddos test out more of my work.

I found some recycled fiber yarn and I fell in love. A yarn that is actually keeping some plastics and wool out of landfills, sign me up! I felt like I had a pretty good idea of how I could take my hobby to the next level, but I wanted to test it out, so I signed up to be a vendor at a holiday maker market. I spent two months knitting hats and scarves in every spare moment, including several movies with Seth and the kids. The market was a success! I sold most of what I had made and received many compliments on the quality and style of my hats. I officially jumped in and Made New was born.

Now I sell hand knit hats, scarves, and headbands throughout the winter at different markets and maker events. I used to be so nervous about the markets, putting my work on display with a price tag, not my comfort zone, but it has been so fun to meet other yarn-lovers, to chat with “out-of-towners here for care at The Mayo Clinic,” and to have people come back just to tell me how much they love the hat they bought last year. My husband is my favorite market buddy, he keeps me organized, helps with all the loading and unloading, is my IT guy, and my favorite model/hype man. It’s kind of funny, I started knitting so I could enjoy more time with him and now he comes along to sales to enjoy more time with me. 

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Mindy Slettedahl is the mom of three sweet kids and wife of Seth. She recently started Made New Creative knits and enjoys reading, crafting, baking and spontaneous kitchen dance parties.