On November 13, 2019, it was announced on Maxis Monthly that a new stuff pack is to be created through voting by the sims community, in a similar manner to Laundry Day Stuff.[1] Potential themes of the stuff pack were "happy haunts", "arts and crafts", "self care routines", "fun tech" and "science & technology".[2]
On November 27, 2019, after the first round of voting, the "arts and crafts" theme won overall, and within this theme, "knitting" was voted as the top gameplay aspect.[3] On December 23, 2019, round 2 of voting commenced which allowed players to vote for the pack's overall art style, with three art styles to choose from: "Granny Chic", "DIY Delight" and "Cozy Craft Workshop".[4] Results of the second round of voting was revealed on January 10, 2020, resulting in the "DIY Delight" art style being chosen for the stuff pack.[5]
On February 14, 2020, after round 3 of voting, it was revealed that 15 CAS assets were to be included in the pack (chosen from 92) - with tops, bottoms and hats for various ages making the cut.[6] Round 4 focused on build/buy assets for the pack. Round 4 results was released on March 17, 2020, revealing a final selection of 28 objects to be included, chosen from an initial number of over 100.[7] The fifth and final voting round commenced on April 20, 2020 and allowed the sims community to vote on the pack's name and icon. Potential pack names considered for the vote were: "Knitting Rocks Stuff", "Nifty Knitting Stuff", "Knitting Stuff", "Rock 'n' Knit Stuff", "Luv 2 Knit Stuff" and "Cozy Knits Stuff", as well as five icon choices.[8] The results of the fifth round was released on May 1, 2020. It was revealed that the pack is to be called The Sims 4: Nifty Knitting Stuff and its winning icon was also debuted.[9]
Numerous blog posts were also released by EA to highlight the pack's development. On April 15, a blog post about the creation of build assets was shown.[10] On April 17, a blog post showcased the pack's new CAS game UI, rocking chair interactions and plopsy, a in-game online craft store.[11] On April 24, the concept of unlocking knittable CAS assets was shown.[12] On May 5, a blog post surfaced that explained the pack's new radio stations, Focus and Metal.[13] On May 12, beta images were shown of the rocking chair in progress and the details of animating sims on the chairs.[14]