Michelle Obama says knitting is in her DNA: ‘I am the descendant of many seamstresses’

Michelle added that for her, “knitting is a release”. “It lets my hands lead the way as my mind trails behind. And it turns out that knitting was buried in my DNA — I am the descendant of many seamstresses. My mom shared with me that every woman on her side of the family learned how to work a needle and thread, to sew, crochet, and knit,” she revealed.

In a black-and-white picture that accompanied the caption, the mother-of-two was seen sitting on a couch wearing a pair of flare pants and a top with long sleeves. Smiling, she worked her hands as she went about knitting something.

 

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“During the peak of the pandemic, when everything felt so bleak, the act of stitching, purling, casting on and off is how I kept my anxiety at bay,” Michelle admitted, stating that she reflected on it in her book ‘The Light We Carry‘.

“It’s the idea that narrowing your focus into a small, seemingly insignificant task can remind us of our own agency. It shows us our own ability to build, create, and succeed. I truly believe that when you know you are capable of small tasks, it makes the bigger ones feel easier. In this case, every small stitch builds into a bigger purpose,” she further wrote.

 

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Michelle concluded the caption by asking her followers to share with her a hobby or a practice that they have picked up and one that has helped them during these last few years.

Michelle had previously admitted that she picked up knitting as a hobby during quarantine in the early days of the pandemic, discovering “how fulfilling it can be to turn small stitches into something big and beautiful”. In an Instagram post, she had described her experience, writing, “I started off making tops for my girls, and realised I still had a lot more to learn.”

 

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She also told Shayna Rose of Vogue Knitting that she taught herself how to knit, looking at videos on YouTube. Michelle was also quoted as telling Gayle King on CBS This Morning in May 2021 that she made halter tops for her daughters Malia and Sasha “which they love”.

 

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Earlier this year, while interacting with eight girls at the Mānoa Heritage Center in Hawaii, she shared that “knitting” helps her “to do something physically”, and “get out of that mental space that may be a negative at that moment”.

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