Scarves and hats are useful, though. Knit sweaters can be very comfortable and look good, if done well.

Granted, I say that as a person who lives in a cold-half-the-year climate, but my point is that, just like coders, there's plenty of shitty knitters out there.

The key with any skill is to approach it as a student, ready to improve. If this is something you wanted to try, get ready to make a few rubbish tea towels before you refine your understanding.

That's fair. If I didn't live in the Pacific Northwest where scarves and hats are eminently useful and part of the local style, I'd probably be less interested.

But, also, I've found my tastes changed some as I got into knitting. There's a sort of "see through the Matrix" effect where as I learned more about knitting, I could see things about what other people are wearing that I didn't notice before. I can often tell when someone is wearing a hand-knitted garment and every now and then even notice what yarn or pattern it is.

That makes knitted clothing and accessories more interesting to see and then more interesting for myself to wear: I'm not sending a signal to other knitters about who I am.

But if I still lived on the Gulf Coast where it's hot all the time? Yeah, probably not knitting as much.

Yeah. It's similar with origami, very fun to make, but the end result looks unescapably like "something someone made", not a fully cooked "thing". Some musical styles also feel that way, jazz most notably. Wonder if there are any books or articles analyzing this fully cooked / not fully cooked feeling.

For myself, I mostly knit a lot of socks. Padding around the house in winter, in woollen socks that I have made myself is very satisfying.