9 Ways to Cozy Up Your Craft Space

By Kathryn Vercillo

cozier spaces for your crafts with Plymouth YarnFeeling cozy is a little bit like feeling comfortable, but it goes so much deeper than that. Cozy is when you feel completely warm and safe, both on the outside and in your heart. Cozy is the toasty heat from a fireplace that matches the glow from your own soul. Cozy is when you’re all tucked in beneath a handmade blanket and it feels like your grandmother is giving you a hug. Cozy is a treat, and it’s a treat that you can give yourself every single day, especially as you craft.

Our society teaches us to strive for success, passion, and perhaps even perfection. We celebrate the big things. However, a lifetime is made up of years, which, in turn, are made up of days. Therefore, it’s the little things that we do every day that determine whether or not we have a good life. If you can incorporate a little bit of coziness into your everyday life, then you can enhance the quality of your life and it all adds up to a life well-lived. With that in mind, here are nine ways that you can make your own craft space cozier.

1. Make Sure You Craft in a Comfortable Space

First and foremost, take a look at your craft space, and identify some easy, immediate ways that you can make it more comfortable. If you don’t have a designated craft space, it’s time to make one. It may be your bed, a chair, or a desk that has to double with a secondary purpose (sleeping, eating, or working.) However, you can increase the cozy factor by adding blankets, pillows, and soft cushions. Do one thing today that defines your craft space and adds just a tiny bit of coziness to it.

my cozy crochet sweater plymouth yarn2. Light a Scent Each Time You Craft

Aromas can immediately create a sense of coziness. Therefore, you enhance the feeling when you intentionally bring them into your craft space. Oil diffusers, incense, and scented candles each provide scents that you can turn on and off as you please. Light them at the start of each craft session and blow them out or turn them off when crafting is complete for the day. Cozy scents might include cinnamon, vanilla, and lavender. You might find that what feels cozy in winter is different than what feels cozy in summer. Tweak your choices accordingly.

3. Add Heat, Light, and A Glow to Your Craft Space

The idea of coziness conjures up a feeling of warmth. Candlelight and the glow of a fireplace create coziness. Find ways to bring that into your craft space. It doesn’t have to be through a fireplace or candles, although those are terrific. You might choose space heaters, a Himalayan salt lamp, or even just a soothing warm photo on your computer screen to add the elements of heat and light to your craft space.

4. What Do You Drink While Crafting?

Many people don’t eat food while they knit or crochet because they don’t want crumbs and food stains on their yarn. However, they find that they can drink sips of something in between rows and rounds without compromising their work. Warm, soothing drinks can add coziness to the craft experience. Wine, tea, coffee, and hot chocolate are all obvious choices for warming the body while you craft. You might also experiment with adding citrus and herbs to hot water. For example, sipping hot water with mint and lemon as you craft can bring immense coziness to the experience.

5. Embrace Silence and Light Sounds While Crafting

Many people use craft time to catch up on Netflix shows and podcasts. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. However, let’s face it; most of what we watch and listen to isn’t cozy. Enhance the coziness of your everyday life by using craft time to celebrate the softer sounds. Create a crafty playlist of sounds from nature such as crackling fires, raindrops, and the lull of the ocean crashing against the shore. You might bring that beautiful sound of running water into your home with a small fountain. Alternatively, see how it feels to allow space for silence as you craft. If those things don’t work for you, ask yourself what music might feel cozy in your space and try that.

6. Up your Craft Supplies Game

Sometimes it makes sense to work with really straightforward acrylic yarn and some basic aluminum crochet hooks and needles. The act of crafting is cozy in and of itself, so that’s fine. However, changing your supplies can also elevate the experience of coziness. Have you ever looked into ergonomic crochet hooks and knitting needles? They can not only increase comfort but add a sense of coziness thanks to the natural feel of the materials against the skin as you craft. Likewise, working with luxurious fibers such as baby alpaca and silk blends can make each stitch feel that much cozier than when you work with rougher fibers.

my cozy crochet sweater plymouth yarn7. Dress for Success … the Cozy Kind

It is easy to just settle down to craft without really preparing to do so. However, taking a few extra moments to slip into something cozy can dramatically change the experience. This can be as simple as slipping out of your jeans and into your favorite pajama bottoms or layering the coziest sweater that you have over whatever you already have on. It’s a minor change, but it’s one that triggers those feelings of coziness, which allows you to further relax in your craft space. Personally, I have an oversized chunky crochet sweater that doesn’t look at all flattering on me but always makes me feel like a cozy, crafty superstar when I have it on.

8. Add Plants to Your Craft Space

Human beings have an innate need to connect with nature. If you can craft in a cozy outdoor space, then take the opportunity to do so. However, when that’s not an option, you can bring the outdoors in with some plants. The green colors and the texture of plants, plus that subtle scent of soil or flowers, can give subtle coziness to your craft space.

9. Brainstorm a List of What Feels Cozy to You

All of the tips above can cozy up a craft space. However, feeling cozy is a really unique and personal thing. Therefore, it’s important that you enhance your own craft experience with the things that make you feel safe, warm, and comfy. Brainstorm a list of memories, sensations, and objects that personally give you a feeling of coziness. Then find a way to bring one or more of those things into your craft experience.

What is one thing that never fails to make you feel cozy?

 

Kathryn Vercillo is the author of several books on crochet health including Crochet Saved My Life. She publishes a monthly crochet newsletter through Patreon.