Gives you a goal – Picking up a knitting project gives you a goal to achieve. You might think you will end up keeping that project in your drawer only to discover it 4 months later, but for someone very non-competitive like myself, I too found myself knitting into 2am in the night to complete the project.
Is meditative – Knitting involves repetitive motion which bring about a state of mindfulness and calm. The EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) psychotherapy technique also relies on repetitive eye movements to heal people in distress. According to Psychology Today, while you knit you reap the benefits of a similar repetitive motion that helps your brain relax. After putting kids to bed, knitting with a cup of hot tea works wonders for my brain. Now I end up drinking cold tea after an hour when I get into knitting, that’s another story!
A good addiction – Once I start a knitting project, I want to take it with me everywhere. Unlike crafts such as painting and pottery, knitting projects are easy to carry and provide excellent source of passing time. Bonus – you don’t browse your phone mindlessly!
Teaches you perseverance – Specially when you start learning knitting, there are umpteen places where you will falter. Episodes of entangled yarn, switched hands, wrong direction motions, lost stitches, and increased stitches have taught me to handle frustrations and persevere on in other areas of life as well. After all, try try and you will succeed is the motto of learning any handicraft.
Low investment – For about $10 you can get started with a knitting project. Unlike many other hobbies that need big purchases to start, for knitting you just need needles and yarn. My first knitting project costed me $30 and I ended up making nothing! I didn’t know what to get and where to start so I bought all mismatched items and ended up abandoning the project. I will soon share the best projects to start with so you don’t get to create your own sob stories.
Just one stitch can create wonders – You don’t need to be an advanced or even intermediate knitter to make amazing things. Just one stitch is enough to make toys, garments, decorative items, household goods. Look out for my upcoming blog on one stitch wonder knitting projects. For the longest time I just used the knit stitch and created toys, coasters, scarves, and more fun items.
You choose the time you spend – There is a knitting project for everyone in this world! Whether you have 30 minutes or 30 days, there is always a project for you. Knitting can fit into your lifestyle the way you like it.
Helps you make friends – Knitting has helped me make friends with knitters and non-knitters. There are knit-alongs in libraries and community groups that are a great place to meet new people and make new projects. Plus the sight of someone knitting in the train is so unusual these days that it has automatically become a conversation starter for me. Fun tip – take your knitting project along and let people try a few stitches just for fun. It never fails to draw some laughs around.
Makes you a mathematician – Working with patterns, reducing and increasing stitches, creating 3D objects through knitting trains your brain to think 3 dimensional, hence becoming more imaginative. Dr. Elisabetta Matsumoto, an applied mathematician and physicist at the Georgia Institute of Technology recently started a 5 year project to investigate the mathematics and mechanics of knitting.
A great way to give – Knitting can easily be a hobby a purpose. Nothing replaces a handmade item when it comes to making people feel cared for. I still have the hand knitted hat a kind visitor at the hospital nursery had given to my preemie son. There are many quick and easy projects you can make to gift to someone in need of some love and care. More details on those soon!
Health benefits galore – What’s more? Knitting has proven health benefits for the body and brain. Knitting reduces the stress hormone cortisol and increases serotonin released in the body.
In the early 20th century, crafting such as knitting, weaving, and toy making was used for recovery for the mentally ill and the World War I veterans. There is research based evidence that knitting lowers heart rate, and induces an enhanced state of calm. Knitting has also shown to provide relief with anorexia nervosa, has increased cognitive functioning, calmness, and happiness.
So get started or continue with your knitting practice. Can you think of more benefits? How has knitting helped you? Let’s chat….
