Beth Gorishek, the Adaptive Knitter, draws on her lived experience and professional expertise to help makers craft with confidence.

Defining “Adaptive Crafting”

Gorishek defines adaptive crafting as “outside-the-box thinking.” It’s about finding a different approach to achieve the same outcome, regardless of physical limitations or temporary challenges. For someone with cognitive or physical challenges, success might not mean knitting a complex lace shawl; it might mean knitting for a few rows without pain. She emphasizes that even small achievements are significant and worth celebrating.

She uses identity-first language—not shying away from the term “disabled maker”—because it’s her reality, and it calls for creative solutions. While we often think of disabilities in terms of permanence, sometimes illness, injury, or surgery can cause a temporary disability. In other words, anything that prevents you from doing the job you are trying to do is a disability.

Coaching Calls

When a client consults with Gorishek, it’s often because of a newly acquired disability, usually in the upper extremities. She approaches consultation as an observer, a skill she honed over years of working with occupational therapists. She may ask if they can tie their shoes, so she can watch their body awareness and movement and how they have adapted to that sometimes-challenging task.

Although knitting is her specialty, she is able to help all kinds of crafters; she just needs to know what kinds of movements are used in the craft. Over the course of several sessions, they work together to create systems and movements that uniquely meet the client’s needs. She advocates for tools that make life easier, like the knitting belt, which secures the end of one knitting needle immobile at the waist or hip and thus allows for easier one-handed knitting.

Creating Community Accessibility

While each person’s disability may be unique, Gorishek maintains there are things that the crafting world can do to remove barriers. Accessible design often benefits everyone, not just those with disabilities.

She argues that inclusivity is a business asset. By failing to consider accessibility, businesses and designers leave money on the table.

One of the most pervasive barriers in the craft industry may be the rigid adherence to the “right” way to do a technique. There’s not just one “correct” way to hold a crochet hook or tension yarn. Craft instructors need to be aware of any internalized ableism that might be getting in the way of achieving the same outcome using a non-standard method.

For pattern publishers and designers, accessibility begins on the page or screen. Clear fonts, good contrast, and sufficient white space make patterns easier to read for aging eyes, those with visual impairments, or for crafters working in low-light conditions. A clean, uncluttered layout may help the focus of those with cognitive challenges or neurodivergence.

Guilds and shops—or wherever crafters gather—should pay attention to their physical spaces. Are the aisles wide enough? Can seated customers reach items, or is there always an employee available to help?  Whether it’s a guild meeting, a retreat, a weekly class, or a virtual masterclass, the environment dictates who can participate. When Gorishek helped a local guild find a new meeting space with better physical access and parking, membership numbers increased. She has also leveraged her experience to audit physical event locations, providing recommendations to improve inclusivity.

The rise of virtual events has meant greater accessibility, but even in that realm, improvements are welcome. In her work with KnitStars and with her own coaching, Gorishek emphasizes the importance of “body awareness” in a virtual setting. Virtual platforms require instructions to be more descriptive and visual in their guidance.

The Maker’s Mindset

Gorishek’s message to the crafting community is one of mindset. She encourages professionals to adopt a “Maker’s Mindset”. This mindset requires challenging out assumptions. It requires us to look at a student struggling with a technique and to ask “How can we change the technique to fit the body?” instead of “How can we make the body do this technique?” It requires designers to look at their patterns through the lens of a person with low vision. It requires shop owners to go through their aisles imagining they are using a mobility aid.

Goals for the Future

At this point, Adaptive Knitter is not a profit-making enterprise, but a passion project for Gorishek. She maintains that visibility is important. YouTube has enabled crafters with different disabilities to show how they do things, which has encouraged new crafters to try out new skills. Her future plans include creating tutorials of different  ways of doing techniques, and opening it up to other makers to demonstrate alternative methods. By widening the circle to include makers of all abilities, the craft industry doesn’t just do the right thing, it ensures its own survival by welcoming a diverse, loyal, and creative community.

Gorishek believes that “adaptation is a form of creativity. That’s an important thing to own in every crafter. We are creative beings, and finding a new, different, unique, exciting, interpretive way to do something is a part of our creation.”

Adaptive Knitter’s Tips for Increasing Accessibility

Teachers

• Focus on the outcome, however the student gets there
• Redefine success
• Observe like an occupational therapist, concentrating on the movements that the student is comfortable doing
• Diversify representation by including videos from makers with different abilities

Pattern Designers and Publishers

• Pay attention to typography. Keep fonts simple and easy to read.
• Use high contrast not only in type, but in charts and diagrams. Dark text on a light background.
• Use the “black and white test”. Print patterns on a black and white printer to ensure that the charts are legible without color.
• Keep photos separate from written directions when possible. This allows screen readers to function better and helps makers with cognitive challenges focus on the text without visual clutter. 

Physical Spaces

• Mobility access. Beyond ramps, ensure aisles are wide enough for wheelchairs and walkers.
• Check the sensory environment. Lighting should be adequate for detailed work, background noise (including music) should be managed to aid those with hearing impairments or sensory processing disorders. Scents should be neutral to avoid triggering customers’ allergies.
• Inclusive planning. When planning an event, consider diversity in age and ability. Ensure diverse representation in marketing materials to attract all audiences.

Edie Eckman

contributor