Alternatives to knitting, to keep my mind focused?

October 6, 2023 8:05 AM

I'm tired of knitting. What else could I do to help me stay focused during meetings (when it's socially acceptable to be knitting)? Must be portable, not too fiddly, satisfying.

I've got the ADHDs and doing things with my hands helps me stay alert during book groups and similar meetings. I'm taking a break from knitting. What's something I could do? Has to be semi-portable (I can bring a tote bag; I can't bring a loom). I usually don't have a table, so it has so be something I can do with just my lap for a working surface. I don't want to distract other attendees. This is usually indoors, so no whittling. Not interested: knitting, crochet, embroidery, tatting, origami.

posted by The corpse in the library to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (23 answers total)

Response by poster: I've seen this Previously but most of the answers are crafts I'm not interested in at the moment.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:08 AM on October 6, 2023

Taking notes? Or making mind maps of the conversation? Doodling? Tweaks that can make this satisfying might involve making really good notes, using a great pen, using really good handwriting or varying styles of handwriting. Feeling analytical? Make the best outline using the most precise printing. Feeling creative? Doodle appropriate art along side the text. Feeling fancy? Calligraphy pen. Use the same notebook for each repeating meeting / book group and now you have a reference / piece of art that documents a year of meetings / book groups.
posted by RoadScholar at 8:13 AM on October 6, 2023 [9 favorites]

I used to either do excessive doodling or crossword puzzles before I took up knitting.

I would actually draw something on graph paper and then color in each individual square.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:16 AM on October 6, 2023 [5 favorites]

adult coloring book? there are a bunch of "pocket size" ones.
posted by mullacc at 8:19 AM on October 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

Maybe English paper piecing? May be more fiddly than you want, but it’s one of the things I do during interminable Zoom meetings.
posted by Empidonax at 8:19 AM on October 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

You might look into momigami - kneaded paper. It’s super satisfying to crumple a sheet of paper, open it out, crumple it again, repeat repeat repeat. The more you do it the nicer the texture gets. I think all by the very first pass could work for the situations in your question - it’s not loud.
posted by janell at 8:36 AM on October 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

I keep two shashibo cubes at my desk.
posted by wicked_sassy at 9:02 AM on October 6, 2023

Needlepoint, cross stitch, embroidery
posted by Czjewel at 9:36 AM on October 6, 2023

Aaron’s putty. They make mini tins so you don’t have a giant distracting putty ball and it’s really a nice sensory aid when focusing on complex topics.
posted by donut_princess at 9:48 AM on October 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

[oops, deleted my first suggestion because you mentioned it as one you're not interested in and I missed that]

Have you ever tried henna? You will end up with a hand/back of hand/other patch of skin that must remain undisturbed for about 30 minutes after you're done i.e. until the henna dries. But it's very fun and engrossing! You're doodling on yourself and all you need to carry is a cone and if you're not fussed about your doodle getting messed up and/or if you use an unobtrusive patch of skin on say your forearm to doodle on, you don't even have to wait for things to dry.
posted by MiraK at 10:49 AM on October 6, 2023

I'm guessing you don't want to darn?

How about coloring? You could get a small pack of maybe 12 markers or colored pencils and a nice adult coloring book. If it would help to make it feel productive: you could find some illustrations to color for holiday cars or birthday cards (I'm thinking you'd color on a piece of paper and tape it to the front of a blank card).
posted by bluedaisy at 11:30 AM on October 6, 2023

(Sorry, coloring is on the list from the other thread. In that case, just ignore my previous answer.)
posted by bluedaisy at 11:31 AM on October 6, 2023

Macramé. Knotting and braiding with both hands; rhythmic; lap and tote bag friendly; not expensive; you won't have to look down a lot.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:48 PM on October 6, 2023

Along the lines of what RoadScholar suggested, I find sketchnoting to be helpful for this purpose. It's more than just taking notes, but also letting part of my brain process how I might represent what is being discussed in terms of a visual media and organization. It helps keep me engaged in the conversation and also helps with my memory.

There are some interesting examples of this type of notetaking if you search for "sketchnotes", "hobonichi", and "bujo spreads" (short for bullet journaling). You can do this easily with a notebook and a pen, or start adding in things like highlighters (such as the beautiful mildliners), colored pens, and other materials. It's also definitely possible to go overboard and get caught up planning instead of doing with this kind of thing, so having a vague idea of the limits of what you'd be interested in might be helpful too.
posted by past unusual at 2:35 PM on October 6, 2023

Paper quilling is silent, inexpensive, and portable.
posted by mezzanayne at 4:01 PM on October 6, 2023

Building on the doodling suggestions, there are various kind of structured ways of doodling that you could try, like Zentangle and Zendoodling.

Or how about gradually learning how to roll a coin across your knuckles (maybe with a cushion on your lap to avoid dropping it on the floor)?

Or cats cradle.

Or Needle felting.

Or build a card house on a piece of board on your lap, knock it down and repeat.
posted by penguin pie at 4:07 PM on October 6, 2023

This is random, but making paper garlands? If you can put a lap desk or even a book on your lap to create a hard surface (or if you have strong hands), you could bring a stack of paper/magazines to be recycled and just use a paper punch to create a zillion little circles.

Also... Would a sound-making object be acceptable? One with relatively quiet plink-plinks? I think I might have suggested the kalimba in the other thread, and offer it again here.
posted by spamandkimchi at 4:19 PM on October 6, 2023

I like modular origami, because it’s nice and repetitive making multiples of little pieces, and it’s not too obtrusive. Then you can fit it all together later and it’s so satisfying.

I also like doodling with this CMYK pen (https://a.co/d/8QgicTI), because I can get very detailed with shading to reach a precise color. And color blending!
posted by rocketing at 4:24 PM on October 6, 2023

Response by poster: > Would a sound-making object be acceptable?

No; these are for in-person meetings.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:00 PM on October 6, 2023

My sister draws elaborate stick figure flip books. Her down time tends to be in a dark room that she's at the back of, so she gets tiny notebooks that are just the right size for them, but she's done them in the corner of a regular notebook, too. It's doodling, but it has more of a point and a satisfying end result than random doodling does, and it's so repetitive that it is still pretty mindless.
posted by gideonfrog at 6:06 PM on October 6, 2023

I’m a doodler/sketcher and often do quick gesture sketches of other people in the meeting (without identifying features, just focusing on the pose they’re in). But for a while there I favored graph paper for taking notes and would use the squares for abstract repetitive doodles so that the result looked kind of like a quilt.
posted by telophase at 6:32 PM on October 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

You need something you can do without full attention so I would avoid e.g whittling. I definitely recommend structured doodling as recommended above - Zentangles look great and if you buy postcard sized paper, you can end up with elaborately detailed postcards to send off after each meeting.

I play nonograms on my phone as a distraction that allows me to pay half attention, but it doesn’t work if you need to look up at the presentation the way Knitting allows you to. I would try cats cradles, elaborate knot tying - you can get books that come with attached ropes for you to practice increasingly complex knots, and also collage cutting. You’d only need a small sharp pair of scissors and a couple of magazines/thrifted art books and you could spend a meeting cutting out very detailed elaborate pieces that later you can either run through a sticker maker and use/give to kids or you’ll end up with a bunch of ready to use pieces for artwork. I did this with a cat calendar and it was very portable and satisfyingly intricate mindless work.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 9:24 PM on October 6, 2023

Back in my meeting-going days, I used the puzzle Four Fours to occupy my ADHD brain in such situations.
posted by she's not there at 7:56 PM on October 7, 2023