I have been thinking a lot over the past week about the difficulties of talking about the mental health “benefits” of a craft like knitting. There’s a lot of really interesting research about crafts and mental health about right now, but I often have problems with the way such research is publicly communicated or presented. First among these is the tendency to generalise about knitting’s “benefits”. Mental health issues are many and varied; personal experiences of knitting are also many and varied, and yet all too frequently the two things are meshed together in terms that seem overarching, generic, or just plain bland. For example, I have often found the assumption that knitting is invariably calming, relaxing, or mindful really troubling. Don’t get me wrong: the soothing effect of knitting is one of the things I personally love most about it, but the idea that knitting can calm you down, preoccupy, or distract you might also carry disturbing associations of repression or control.
My concerns about placing too much emphasis on the “relaxing” nature of craft activities comes first from my own personal experience: over the past 25 years I’ve repeatedly found myself in healthcare situations where I’ve been told to “get a hobby”, or to try activities like adult colouring. On one occasion after my stroke, I was literally coerced by a care assistant into attending a scrapbooking session, and did not take particularly well to this approach. When you are really suffering (physically or mentally or both) such injunctions to “just relax and distract yourself” can ring as horribly patronising: as forms of mollification or containment that in no way address the magnitude of the problem. And this brings me to my second point: that the injunction to occupy oneself productively with the mindless work of one’s hands can come with its own gendered baggage. Looking back on some of my own experiences, as well some of the discussions of craft and mental health I’ve read, it is hard not to bring Michael Winner’s “calm down, dear” approach to women to mind (shudder), or to think of the “tak de sock” misogyny once routine in so many communities where women knitted (“tak de sock” is a familiar Shetland phrase that was the equivalent of saying “shut up woman and get back to your knitting” – though happily Shetland knitters now “tak de sock” without such compulsion, and the phrase has lost much of its negative association).
My final issue with the familiar and generic notion of knitting as “calming,” “mindful” or “relaxing” is that there doesn’t seem to be much space for creativity in that idea. Every time a knitter selects a particular yarn or shade, they execute their own creative design choice, and every time they modify a pattern to simply suit their body, they take creative control of both their craft and clothes. Recognising this is really important: to me, creative endeavour is at the very heart of what knitting is all about, for everyone who does it. As those of you who have read the pieces I’ve produced for Knitting Season will know, I’ve recently spent a lot of time thinking about how to encourage knitterly creativity in its broadest sense. While I’m someone who is completely comfortable with my own creative confidence, I’m often surprised by how under-confident many highly talented knitters are; how much they struggle with the basic idea of creativity or find it difficult to describe their knitting in creative terms at all. And part of me has wondered whether this difficulty is related to the issue with which I began this post: does the familiar idea of knitting as mentally relaxing, distracting or calming obscure alternative and potentially more complicated ideas of knitting as mentally stimulating, intriguing, engaging, or creative?
Last week a blog reader, Rachel, kindly wrote to me pointing me toward the work of Sarah Desmarais, and I spent a happy morning reading Affective Materials – the doctoral thesis Desmarais completed in 2016 in collaboration with Arts for Health Cornwall and Falmouth University. So much about Desmarais brilliant research impressed me: the nuanced understanding of thing-ness and material engagement (something I tried to get to grips with in Handywoman), and the thoughtful interdisciplinary approach to craft and making which brings fields like phenomenology and psychology together. And in her complete refusal to embrace the “calm down, dear” approach, Dr Desmarais offers many very inspiring examples of the very real and very varied mental health benefits of craft activities in group settings.
One of the many things that resonated with me about Desmarais’ thesis was her discussion of her own field-based approach, and the shortcoming of other methodologies focused on interviews or retrospective reporting (I’m sure we are all familiar with multiple-choice style questionnaires about our craft). Because crafters are very rarely interviewed while actually engaged in the process of their craft, they can lack a language to describe the variety and complexity of what they feel when they are crafting, or what exactly it is they enjoy or benefit from while doing what they do. Responses might be led by the interviewer, or the terms of the interview, or a participant might be pigeonholed into box-ticking responses in which a nuanced understanding of material engagement is completely absent. As Desmarais puts it, interviews with crafters about the mental health benefits of their crafts too often focus on:
“the soothing or pacifying rather than stimulating, thought-provoking, messy or frustrating effects of craft practice and provid[e] an inadequate account of aspects of process such as planning, problem solving, and design. When challenging aspects of crafts creativity disappear from view a remedial account of crafting for health results, reproducing conceptions of craft as leisure-time therapy without artistic merit and of participants in this context as passive recipients of care.” (Affective Materials, p. 52)
Sarah Desmarais does not write about knitting specifically, but so much of what she says is relevant to our craft. And I wonder how we, as knitters, might take up the challenge she poses, and begin to develop a different kind of descriptive vocabulary about the mental health benefits of what we do. The vast majority of us describe ourselves as “process knitters” and yet a sense of the complexity of that process – of what might be going on between our hands and minds – can get completely lost in words like “calming” or “soothing”. Don’t get me wrong: I strongly believe that one of the really important things about knitting is its absorbing and relaxing effects, but without losing sight of that, might we try to shift the emphasis away from potentially troubling notions of pacification toward ideas of creative flow or material engagement instead? Can we find a way to describe the mental health benefits of knitting in terms of surprise, joy or excitement rather than just distraction or mindful focus? Why do we so rarely talk about the sensuous enjoyment or physical pleasure that knitting affords? Why don’t we look more at ideas surrounding curiosity, experimentation, and imagination when we are trying to explore the mental-health benefits of our craft?
These are just my initial musings after reading a piece of work that really made me think. And for anyone who is interested in such issues, I heartily recommend giving Sarah Desmarais’ thesis a read. I’d also really like to hear your thoughts about these issues (especially if you disagree with me completely!) Any suggestions for reading are always very welcome. And a big thankyou to Rachel for sending me down this particular rabbit hole.
And so, the fog is clearing as a result of your relevant and interesting blog. I felt a weight of guilt for not relaxing, calming and becoming a happier, more balanced person whilst selecting yarn, adapting patterns and knitting to achieve my hoped for result. Why, I wondered was knitting viewed as such a calm, controlled, healing craft? I swear, kick, tear my hair out and often positively shut down in anger as I try to drag my project in the direction I believe it needs to go. However, the beauty of yarn colour, textures shapes and design and the sheer excitement of possible creations, drags me screaming and protesting through the painful process. I say ‘Nay’ to the often sexist view on crafting and it’s feebleness for those assumed feeble craft engagers. For sometimes, my steel needles become weapons of war against me.
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Great post
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Interesting! – For me, knitting can be calming, de-stressing and give great satisfaction, but some projects have been stressful to complete and totally impossible if not in the frame of mind to get on with them. I am also a member of a couple of knitting groups and they bring a totally different dimension to it. There’s something very supportive about communal knitting – the encouragement and appreciation of each others work, gentle help and advice and friendship is so positive. I’ve even spent time at a group, knitting with a lady who has Alzheimers Disease. Her knitting is beautiful and she lights up when she tells her stories about learning to knit.
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I love this!! Ive been struggling with just this, literally. Unless i feel mentally fulfilled and am in a positive place body and mind i cannot complete any ceochet projects i start. But my sister who is my opposite hyperfocuses and will sit in bed for days pounding out piece after piece .. and i taught her how to crochet.
She copes with her mental ailments aith crochet and i feel mine get exasperated because i cannot complete a single project!
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Gosh you’ve just described everything that I had in my mind but am unable to express even half as well as you! The problem that I have is that when one is right in the middle of a ‘blue’ period for want of a better word, the last thing one wants to hear is someone suggesting going for a nice walk, or as you say, taking up a ‘hobby’. It’s the epitome of everything patronising and the result … makes us feel misunderstood, angry and frankly want to hit that person with a shovel. And yet … and yet, maddeningly it does work. It does work getting out into the sun, fresh air, the world and interacting even momentarily with someone. Doing knitting, drawing, writing or reading is similar in that it too has its own benefits. I just sometimes need a little man running beside me with a foghorn shouting, “Righto! Time to get up and embrace the day and get moving.” But of course even my husband wouldn’t offer his services here. I need to do these things myself, and therein lies the problem … the lethargy can be so overwhelming which is why the simplicity of picking up the knitting needles or going out for a walk is completely do-able. Lovely, brilliant post. Thanks for sharing. Katie
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I think about this a lot – how to break into that catastrophising doom in which nothing seems like it could ever help and all suggestions seem trivial or pointless. Small, self-directed actions all the way!
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I get calm.doing cross stitch on a canvas and get really happy after finishing
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This was worth a read! Loved it. Didn’t ever imagine that knitting has a calming and soothing effect on our mind. Thanks for delighting me with this new information.
Also, I have a blog on mental health. Please visit. The link is below.
https://thejustacceptit.wordpress.com
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Great thoughts in this thread. I’ve thought a lot about what knitting/crocheting “do” for me and there are several aspects to it. One is that repetitive movements of the fingers and the “flow” of that mind/body connection. The benefit of that is long-term. You only start to get it after months of practice and it depends on what pattern you are working and your mental state. The other thing knitting does for me is to keep my hands busy when they would otherwise be fidgety (in the same way as a fidget spinner or touch toy). Third, as with any hobby, it gives you something to think about, look forward to, and talk to others as a member of a community. As an outlet for creativity, I think that the time before and after the project is done/made is where that comes in–actually working the stitches is not when that happens. Much like science!
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I find knitting to be work and certainly under appreciated, under rated. It’s a labor of love nonetheless. Throughly enjoyed your post.
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Thank you for this; I will definitely be checking out this thesis. I particularly appreciate this post at a time when I am thinking about the same sorts of issues vis-a-vis the supposed panacea of mindfulness in general. I use contempative pedagogy in my classes, and, like you with knitting, I have experienced myself the benefits of mindfulness in relation to depression and chronic pain and illness – it can be, and has been for me, lifesaving. But there is also a potential for isolation and victim-blaming in it, in the sense that mindfulness is often described and taught in ways that lay all responsibility for both illness and wellness on the individual, when both the definitions and causes of illness and wellness are located within a much broader canvas. This is especially true for marginalized groups (a whole essay in itself). Furthermore, there is often a sense that one should engage in mindfulness (as you describe for knitting) to “calm down”, “be less stressed”, etc – in other words, to feel fewer negative emotions, and to feel them less. This is actually a misreading of mindfulness, which teaches us how to be present for the bad as well as the good, but the spiritual bypassing that it encourages can be tremendously repressive – again, especially for women and people of color, who are taught not to express negative emotions in any case. When the healing tool that we offer reinforces those messages, it has the potential to do great damage instead of the help that it might offer, managed and discussed and described differently. Anyway, thank you for offering me an opening to think about the same sorts of issues with knitting!
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these are important points, Jocelyn, thankyou.
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I struggle with mindfulness tasks such as knitting because I get too much into my own head
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Sewing soothes the soul
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I can vouch that sewing soothes the soul. Any kind of crafting. The repetitive nature of it, so you get into a ‘flow’ state is wonderful. If you would like some ubercool yarn crafters to follow, you should seek out ‘Tiny Owl Knits’ and ‘Attic 24’ or stop by Ravelry. Enjoy!
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I have only recently signed up to your website .I love the images.I used to knit a lot,smaller projects now as problems with repetitive strain.It was great to read your thoughts on knitting and craft used as therapy.The arts have always been used as an aid to help people when unwell,in recovery and also for children.At primary school in the 50’s we had ago at many different art and craft activities.It was probably that and my cutting out and sticking that resulted in my attending Chelsea school of art where I specialised in sculpture.Having used various materials and processes my work now focuses mainly on collage ,so back to cutting out and sticking.
A few years ago I experienced a period of depression ,unable to do anything for a while which drew me to your thoughts.One of the first things I was able to do when still having to remain in a room on my own,as could not manage much more ,was cutting out pictures and drawing simple shapes.Art was used as part of some group therapy sessions which I attended.It probably depends on the degree of the illness whether someone is able to question what is being offered.The Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospital Trust offers a large arts programme, open to patients on the wards and out patients, some activities are open to all.I have attended Asian dance and singing workshops in West London.The response to creative activities like knitting and art can be disappointing if you are someone wishing to expand ideas and try something new .Having had led a few workshops on painting and printing in the past people can be very resistant.Letting go ,trying something new, maybe non-figurative can be a step too far.Knitting has come a long way and textile artists and students are exploring yarn and producing exciting work.I love the colours of the wool that you produce and the location looks wonderful.I live in the suburbs so it is a treat to see you clothes in great settings.Hope I have not gone on too much and thank you.Chris
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Like many, I learned to knit as a child, dropped it for years, and went back to it when my children were small. I could sit in the playroom with them and knit, and their conversation and interruptions were not bothering me, as they might have if I had been trying to read a book. Now my children are grown and I continue to knit. Through the years, I have learned a lot about fibers, stitches, shape and color, and I feel proud of the pieces I have made. Knitting takes time and skill and I fell enriched by what I can achieve and continue to learn. Knitting is also something that creates generational ties. I learned to knit from my grandmother and have taught my daughters to knit, so this handing down of knowledge is satisfying to me. Apart from this, on one hand, I think knitting still brings me back to those nursery days, the calm and happiness of sitting with them while they played. On the other hand, I just LOVE how they demand my knits and are proud to wear them. Too often I hear sad stories about fellow knitters whose knits are not appreciated by recipients. Even my boys occasionally complain that the girls get more knits than they do. Creating a knitted garment is a way of embracing them. Every stitch is like a tiny knot, a love statement, bringing us together. Knots are a symbol of love since antiquity. I believe love protects, so a knitted sweater is like a shield. The first summer I was married, I knit my husband a linen cardigan. Thrity years later, our daughter wears it, oversized and worn, but still in good shape and style. I am sure she feels embraced by her father and loved by me when she throws it on. This makes me happy,
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Thank you Kate for a very pertinent point! I also enjoy the comments by Margot. I think that “therapeutic “ is a word that is applied to many things without the understanding of what makes a task or activity therapeutic. Calming isn’t always therapeutic. If you look at the anecdotal evidence base for what people experience when they feel totally engaged in a creative task the range of experience is vast and many of the descriptions relate to much stronger and more complex aspects relating to empowerment and other less tangible and deeper cultural experiences relating to spirituality and belonging. i think the over use of the word therapeutic is similar to the overuse of the term “mindful”.
My experience of knitting is that I started it just before a very difficult time of bereavement when knitting served as a containing activity that allowed me to do something other than stare at a wall. It helped me to do something whilst processing the awful things I was seeing each day.
However knitting has changed in nature for me since that time. I have narcolepsy so I need stimulating activities rather than calming as calming activities inevitably lead to unwanted sleep attacks. I find that knitting is stimulating and I look forward to my evening time to knit.
My experience of working on a mental health ward was that there was a total lack of understanding of how to engage people in tasks they will enjoy or benefit from. I often heard people told to “go to pottery and make an ashtray!!” I can’t tell you how hard I worked on trying to get staff to understand!! If someone told me that I needed to do a jigsaw because it was therapeutic I think I might’ve lamped them – it’s not therapeutic if you hate it or are coerced into doing it!!! Equally I have seen men knitting and weaving in group projects with such passion and enjoyment that it challenged my thinking.
Thank you for your thoughts Kate – as always they are thought provoking and create debate!! I love that!
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Your article was wonderful and very right on. Knitting can be relaxing and fulfilling. I am a caregiver for my husband who has Alzheimers. My knitting fills in the time and gives me a sense of purpose. It also allows me to meet fellow knitter,who without realizing it have become my wonderful support group. Not sue where I would be if I did not have knitting to keep my hands and mind active. Thank you for all your articles about knitting and mental challenges.
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I am a retired Mental health Occupational therapist who trained in the early seventies . OT treatment in mental health then was much more than just coercing People into basket making it was much more than that it was about exploring things that were important to the individuals through music art and crafts.It was also a way of expressing oneself when ideas and words were to difficult to form .
Now OT is very different and emphasis is more on indepedant living .Workshops and crafts are no longer in existence is many hospitals now
Before I retired a year ago I suffered mental health problem and found myself having no confidence in myself as a person or as an OT ,staring blankly at 4 walls for hours on end ,knowing what I should be doing after all that was my job why couldn’t I do it ?
Havng reached the depths of despair nothing really mattered it was then that I thought about my childhood and how I enjoyed my mum showing me how to knit and the bond it developed between us .She knitted jumpers skirts suits you name it she knitted it!
It was after this light bulb moment I decided to take up knitting again . At first i knitted small projects ,little Aran jumpers and hats beanies ad tourries . This kept me from ruminating about my inability to function properly as a sane person or what I should be doing or what I should be feeling .I began to feel more confident as I finished each of these small projects and it was very gratifying.
I then began to knit fairisle Tams and beanies mostly from your book Kate sometimes modifying the colour choices to what I had available and I became so engrossed in the creative elements of knitting choosing colours and modifying patterns choices oh the joy and the satisfaction of actually creating something original and beautiful was exciting .
Knitting can be both exciting, adventurous and creative but it can also be restful and calming too neither is better than the other . It all depends on the needs of the individual at that time and of course the severity and extent of their mental illness
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thankyou for sharing your experiences, Avril. I have a great deal of respect for OTs (not least because my mum was one!)
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What I find interesting is that I don’t often hear of people’s mental & emotional connection to their process knitting when it is a negative time in their lives. I have had a few projects I did not finish and ripped out, because my life struggle had made its way into that piece and soured into the stitches. I couldn’t finish it. I kept making mistakes on it. I physically felt stress, anxiety, or sorrow as I tried to work it, until I realized I needed to let it go. It’s not always calm, soothing, or distracting, is it?
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I can relate. I knit a sweater waiting in doctors offices during my cancer treatment. I wore it once, for half an hour, then gave it away to someone who didn’t know it was my cancer sweater. Too much emotion caught up in all of those stitches.
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I think there is so much discussion as knitting/craft as a relaxing outlet because we live in such a productive, results oriented world. In general, especially where I live, people (all people, not just those struggling with mental health issues) need help slowing down. Knitting helps us learn to appreciate the process and be in the moment. Coming from a family where mental health issues are prevalent (anxiety, depression), “being useful” is an incredible tool to combat thinking traps or stasis of anxiety anxiety depression. I don’t hear it as “calm down, dear” so much as “you can do something”. Additionally, a calming effect and creativity/mentally stimulation are not mutually exclusive. In fact, I often feel like one leads to another. I teach knitting and often see my most uptight knitters take that step from knitting-anxiety to knitting-calm when they make mistakes, color outside the lines and exert their own creative control. They may not experience knitting bliss in that moment, but it’s a knitting epiphany that gives them more freedom to create freely and relax completely. Your post is a lovely, thoughtful comment on so much of how the media presents craft as a tool for our times. I don’t think it’s one or the other, but that both are very true.
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these are really important points, Margot, thank you
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Interesting
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It is interesting to read all the comments and see how many different types of knitters and reasons for knitting there are! In the course of my editorial work, I enjoyed finding out about an unexpected knitter–William Darwin, the eldest son of Charles Darwin, author of “On the origin of species”. In 1876, William was thrown from his horse and went to recuperate at his parents’ home. His doctor evidently prescribed knitting, and his enjoyment is apparent from casual mentions in family letters. In one letter his mother told his sister, “It is delightful to see him this mg. sitting so comf at his knitting & I feel much more reassured about him—” Later on, when his health had improved enough to take a vacation in Scotland, his mother informed one of his brothers that he had been taken under the wing of some Scottish ladies, “One of them undertook to teach Wm a new stich in knitting & they all assembled round to watch the instructress encouraging him & calling him a clever creature.”
As always, a fascinating, thoughtful post. I’ve now started to read Desmarais’s thesis. Thank you Kate!
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Great read, Kate.
This question is related to some questions that I have been pondering here lately: am I a process knitter or a product knitter? In otherwords, do I knit for the distraction (calm yourself, dear, and pick up your knitting) or do I knit for the end result (socks for my husband’s cold feet)? What angers me though, is the binary set up of that question: either for the sock or for the knitting of it. Where does creativity fit into this question? Why must we categorize in black and white only? For instance, why is knitting considered to a lesser art, aka “craft” and therefore devalued or valued only as a means of distraction to calm the ladies? Darn reptilian part of our brain!
My ex-husband was not overly fond of my knitting, and demeaned it whenever he could. He did not like manual labor and thought that I was wasting myself and my expensive education on knitting and other “mindless” activities such as housework, which I love doing but wonder the same question of process or clean house?
Anyway, the man I have now has always worked with his hands. He has gently pushed me to regain my sense of value in what he deems to be creative, not a distraction. When someone comments at how beautiful a piece is that I am knitting on, and then asks if I sell any of my items, he will invariably jump in and tell them that they could never afford it due to the time and energy I have spent on knitting it up (he also believes that the materials I buy should be the best).
He has reminded me that what I do is a valuable expression of my mind, body, and spirit. Indeed, when my mother passed away last year on my birthday, I could not knit at all. The distress and pain kept me from taking up my knitting. I would have related the item that I had knitted to the pain I was feeling while I had been knitting it. But I missed the feel of yarn running through my fingers and the excitement of putting pattern with needles and yarn. So, I made charity items. It was not the same, however. It lacked something. I did knit patterns I had wanted to try with some nice yarn that a friend gave me for that purpose. But, I was neither distracted nor calmed. There was no tranquility in the process or the product
And so, I continue to contemplate the meaning of knitting. I confess that I am new to you and your writings, so you may have given this some thought, too. I will have to go back and see what you’ve written on your blog. Also, I am participating in the Knitting Season. I have been doing the writing assignments, which seem to me to be just as valuable as the knitting patterns themselves!
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This is such an important point! Just as often as I knit to be doing something familiar and relaxing, I am challenging myself to learn, grow, adapt, design, make choices, and share with others in the context of my knitting. And once again, these articles about knitting for stress relief seem to place an emphasis on knitting as simple and mindless activity, when we all know that there is so much more to it. And then there is the whole suggestion that one can self-diagnose a disorder and that stress can be “managed” by “getting a hobby.” Argh!
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‘“just relax and distract yourself” can ring as horribly patronising: as forms of mollification or containment that in no way address the magnitude of the problem.’
Here here! I was had this ‘advice’ regarding handling a bereavement, just hours after the event. I was so angry.
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Knitting to calm yourself? Yeah. Right. Just not that aran/lace/fancy colour work from those charts!
Having written which, I always take knitting with me when travelling. Not being able to drive, and not wanting to, I’m at the ‘mercies’ of public transport, thus I always have something to show for time spent travelling. Or, far too often, when waiting because the train operators in particular have cocked it up again. Although I sometimes have to restrain myself from using my knitting needles to poke various railway staff. Now if I could poke Chris Grayling . . .
I also like to knit while watching TV. Selectively. Most programmes aren’t that absorbing, so again I have something to show for time spent in front of ‘the box’.
And having spent a night in hospital when my husband had a heart attack, I found having the current sock project with me kept me awake and sane while they operated and I waited. Though I was only up to garter stitch when I got home!
But you’re right, Kate, not only is there the ‘calm down dear’ aspect of how certain people treat women, there is the association of knitting with (possibly silly) old women. Ok so I’m 62 now, but I’ve been knitting since I was 7. As I grew it became more necessary – I took after my Dad and ended up just over 6′ tall with very long arms and legs. It’s only in the past ten years or so that clothes manufacturers in general seem to have realised that women are often more than 5′ 6″ tall. Consequently I’ve been able to create unique garments for myself, family and friends – friends who appreciate the work put in. But that’s another area, ‘women’s work’ and the general undervaluing thereof. Not to mention the devaluing of knitwear (and cheap clothing in general.)
One final thing – when I’ve been ‘inside’ because of Mental Ill-Health issues, they invariably take my knitting needles away at ‘bed time’. This is often the time when I’d most appreciate having knitting to do for calming purposes, particularly when I can’t sleep. Looks like more work needs to be done.
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Very interesting post. Thank you very much.
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I can’t help thinking that this “relaxing” stuff is a way of dumbing knitting down. Nobody says that about origami! (or do they?)
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Knitting is so many things for me, I suppose its role adapts as my lifestyle changes. Now I mostly enjoy it for the creativity challenge, frequently adapting patterns in my own preference and designing ways of doing things differently. And I certainly make things I need. But it has also given me a false feeling of engagement or productivity, at times when other activities would be healthier. Sometimes it feels dysfunctional, and I recognize that I need to knit less. I see this as the ugly side of knitting, that I use it to escape from other things (or people). There are seasons when I do embrace this escapism quality of knitting. But especially as the weather improves, engaging in exercise, focusing on a relationship or working on a project makes me feel more “virtuous.” Putting time limits on my knitting helps, and it elevates my relationship with my knitting as a privilege rather than a stall tactic. I am eager to read the article you referenced! Thank you.
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Thank you for sharing your heart.
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This was absolutely beautiful. My mother used to crochet and sow together little pillows when I was a little girl. When she taught me how to hold the needle she told me it was her solace on many days. It was only about a decade later that I understood a lot more about her persistent depression and her methods of self alleviation. She passed away last year and now I’m studying to be a therapist. I’ve learned so much about her after she passed. There’s a beauty in mindfulness, a true solace that gradually helps with pain.
Thanks for this.
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I enjoyed this post. Thank You. I do find it difficult sometimes to speak with non knitters about the value of hand work for me. The practice of knit and crochet have helped me through some very hard things. (I have some chronic physical and mental health problems, and we’ll, life happens.) For me, the process of using my hands and watching something become something else… fiber becomes yarn becomes useful thing… it’s encouraging. Touching fiber, seeing color, it’s nourishing somehow.
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About 12 years ago was dealing with a very stressful situation created by a co-worker and started knitting. In hindsight, it was an activity over which I had control and my finished projects were gratefully accepted by a local charity. So, I suppose I found an alternate source of positive feed back. I still knit but now it’s a creative outlet for me and I’m venturing beyond my comfort zone to more challenging patterns/techniques. Thank you for your thoughtful article and it’s great to have to back!
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One one hand, I find knitting comforting and relaxing because I work in IT and it seems every time I turn around some server is down or some network is not responding. So nice to have the thing in your hand and relatively within your control! Every technology produces its own maladies and what those are, we can tell, by looking at the therapeutic modes that arise in response. And for me, it’s turning away from bits and bytes and using my hands on materials I can touch.
On the other hand, I received similar patronizing and dismissive advice from an ear specialist, after I lost most of hearing in one ear, due to a virus, and was struggling to live with multi-layered tinnitus, for which they had no definitive treatment. Got the same kind of advice. Distract yourself! Try a relaxing hobby!
Try my knitting needle in the side your head! :)
Actually what worked eventually was meditation and especially time. And reading Handywoman too!
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I really appreciate your call for a vocabulary that helps brings specificity and perhaps even measurability to the ways in which knitting affects us. Admittedly, knitting is not always a positive for me. I usually have several projects going that meet different needs (filling a style or function gap in my ormy child’s wardrobe, a project that allows me to better focus when listening or watching, one that challenges me in new ways). Several projects at once also allows me to postpone the phase of knitting that triggers my anxiety – getting started. Choosing a pattern (though I have a virtual and physical library full of choices), choosing yarn (from the stash or potentially from the shop, which brings on new anxieties about money and choices), colors, etc. The getting started stage is awful for me and can result in simply falling back on simple patterns I have memorized and which can always be put to use (hats, mitts) in order to just get on with it and have a portable project so as not to get caught without one.
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I too can relate to the idea of knitting as a trigger of anxiety, which for me manifests itself in the form of a “competition” between a knitting project and any other project I am involved in at the same time. This usually results in a form of anxiety because I yearn to knit, but I also resist it, thinking that any time devoted to knitting will be time subtracted to what I should really be doing.
This has been particularly acute in the last year, as I was trying to complete an academic dissertation, began a long time ago and subsequently abandoned. In that context, knitting ws both a mindful respite (a diversion from the task of writing and researching) and a distracting endeavour.
Perhaps sensing a “competition” has something to do with the choice of what to knit, as it is admittedly more manageable to knit an accesory (a hat, a pair of mittens) than to embark on a adult-sized cardigan or sweater. However at the same time, being challenged at some level also plays a big part in the decision to embark in a knitting project, which became a source of anxiety, the anxiety of choosing.
Finally, I also believe that the fact that knitting is part of tradition that relegates manual labor to the realm of a hobby, invests it of a certain, diminishing connotation. Where I live (Italy), most knitters I know would not describe knitting as anythng more than a “hobby”, a diversion, a secondary type of activity and I think that all of this is deeply ingrained in our collective subconscious and it proves hard to shake off.
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I do think it’s odd that people often comment to me that my knitting must be very calming or relaxing, and then go on to say that they couldn’t learn it because it’s too stressful! Nobody can see how busy your mind can be while knitting, and it’s also odd how many articles I’ve read on the benefits of craft and knitting don’t pick up on how many of us feel compelled to stay up later than is healthy to work on a project, or the many times I’ve found myself thinking about to solve a tricky knitting problem when really I should be working. I love to create, but find that I do have to guard against my craft work’s tendencies to encourage the obsessive and acquisitive parts of me.
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People always look at my textile adventures and say things like I envy you your relaxing hobby 😑 only one very perceptive person told me that when she saw me working with my hands she felt as if she had witnessed a conversation between me and my mother/grandmother. I was taken aback because my mother was a very skilled textile worker but died very young and I often feel that all my crafts are just my way of trying to reconnect with her. Sometimes knitting, sewing et al can be very emotional.
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I very occasionally find knitting relaxing, but not all that often. It requires so much concentration that indeed I go into a sort of trance, but not anything near a meditative state. Today I finished a hat that had been on the shelf for over a year because the final step was to use Kitchner stitch and every time I attempted it, my count was off, probably for inadvertantly dropping 2 stitches instead of one from the far needle. It still isn’t perfect, but damn it, it’s done! Are those the words of a person in a relaxed state?
I learned to knit from my mother, but after decades of craftlessness returned to it in my mid-50’s. My reintroduction was a scarf in plain garter stitch, but I stayed up nearly all night to finish it. Since then I have boldly undertaken countless projects and finished perhaps a quarter of them. Not a great return on investment.
The mental health benefits I affirm include not judging myself for incomplete projects; joy derived from gifting my work (occasionally to a complete stranger); learning and then teaching a new technique; making new friends and sharing pleasure in the ‘creative process’; experiencing the elation of a successful project and dealing with the frustration of those that don’t turn out so well.
Most knitters are self-taught to a large degree. We read and interpret others ideas and patterns and put our own spin on every single piece after learning the nuances and immutable rules-of-the-road to get there. Sometimes we are right and sometimes we are wrong, but we persist and that determination propels me forward every day. Keep knitting everyone. It’s secret language and mysteries are ever always evolving and brings out the best in us.
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I now read all of your posts like this (those that refer somehow to the recovery process after your stroke) with a very different view than I used to. After my husband sustained a brain injury, he was definitely encouraged to try ‘creative’ outlets like drawing, painting, etc. He was, however, not forced into anything and part of what they were looking to achieve were; new interests as he isn’t currently allowed to do his main hobby due to the injury; a sense of routine; and the development of motor and mental skills. I think that the therapists’ ability to focus on what they were trying to achieve, rather than the means, is what helped here.
He now does archery (amongst other things) and finds it enjoyable and rewarding- I think also for the sense of community he no longer has from cycling (although he has still maintained many contacts within that community).
As an aside, for anyone who does archery, he managed a ‘Robin Hood’ a couple of days ago, after only a couple months of this new hobby.
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‘I think that the therapists’ ability to focus on what they were trying to achieve, rather than the means, is what helped’.
well said, Alison. Please pass on my very best wishes to your husband.
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Thank you, I will.
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Every time someone finds out I knit they say something like, Oh knitting must be/is so relaxing!, I think to myself, it is? What am I doing wrong? I have to pay attention to nearly every stitch. My shoulders are tight and tense and I am worried about dropping stitches or missing an increase or something. So for me these kind of generalizations about craft make me feel like I’m doing something wrong, like I’m not skilled enough or smart enough to be able to relax into it. Not to say that it isn’t comforting or satisfying to do – to have the stitches moving along the needles and achieve the finished object – but it’s not really relaxing.
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I set myself the task of learning to knit lace by knitting six face cloths in six different patterns. It was physically challenging to concentrate so hard, rip out, reknit, etc., and it took warrior energy to complete one tiny face cloth, let alone all six. Only you all would get this.
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Food for thoughts as usual, thank you Kate
I am always amazed when people say “Oh did you make this? I am not patient enough to knit”.
For me it has nothing to do with patience, or calm. It’s about vibrant or subtle colours, luscious or dry yarn texture. That’s what brings me joy and good feelings. It’s about telling people I love them through hand made gift, something they can touch and feel, something I made choosing a pattern, a yarn, a colour, just for them. I guess there is some amount of creativity in this, even if I always knit someone’s pattern.
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Interesting!
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I really enjoyed this post and the possible lines for various discussions you brought up. I find creating and changing the knitted item to my liking very fulfilling and at times extremely challenging. I like to be challenged and enjoy the process of figuring these things out usually while not knitting I get the issue/problem solved. Knitting can be relaxing but man can problems in the design or my reading a pattern drive me crazy! When I say, “Don’t talk right now!” That is not relaxing or calming at all!
I think that when someone says go get a hobby or go do something it is out of desperation in hopes that something will help this person. (I should state I think this is how I feel when I suggest something along these lines to a person. If that makes sense.)
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I tried to comment yesterday but am not sure if there was a technical glitch..
I want to thank you for your cogent and enjoyable writing.
I am afraid that I identified with your statement about some capable knitters struggling with thinking of their knitting practice as creative, in spite of having knitted relatively continuously since I was a small child, i.e. for forty years! I think a mix of perfectionism and some ideal creative standard that I have never ever even defined for myself has prevented me from allowing myself to think of my knitting in this way. Only in the last year or so have I been able to loosen up and give myself more credit.
I enjoy reading the comments and perspectives of the others. When I sew or knit, I know what appeals to me is an active process of problem solving, particularly in the case of sewing. In both knitting and sewing, however, I will actively rip and revise and expect the results to work! I have never developed the language around the deeply satisfying feelings this process engenders, but I recognize that it exists.
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Oh, how I ❤️love ❤️ these posts that create a shift, revealing the truth and removing more of the conditioning that limits our experience. While I do find knitting mindful, I also find it more stimulating than relaxing. It is the joy, surprise and excitement of watching a creative vision unfold that moves me.
Than you Kate !
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I think you have hit the nail on the head here. As an artist and knitter who also is a Zen practitioner and yoga therapist/teacher, I find it insulting to ALL of those practices to see articles headlining knitting as the new yoga or whatever. Your insight into the gendered language around it is a good one, as well. In my experience, not all people with mental health issues benefit from meditation – in fact, some should stay away from it, at least for a time, because it can aggravate symptoms rather than pacify them. The “get a hobby dear and you will feel better” piece of it……I can’t even. Determining what will be helpful to someone struggling is highly individualized and could look like almost anything. For some, it is knitting. Full stop. If there is a larger point about a relationship between using our hands to create and the wellbeing of our minds and our spirits (and I do think there is something in that), then again I would say that could look almost anything: gardening, cooking, fixing cars, drawing, knitting, etc.. To me, it comes down more to inviting people to engage in something outside the realm of language, beyond words and narratives.
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Interesting Kate, really interesting. I won’t be told to do anything and I am not alone in that. One size does not fit all and as individuals we find what flows for us in any given moment. <3
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Very interesting blog and comments, but I would have thought people bring to knitting whatever they already have and are. I am fortunate and have no experience of mental health problems, but I have a tendency in all areas of life to take on too much, too enthusiastically and then get driven to ‘achieve’ all of them perfectly. I certainly bring this to knitting and have to check myself when I start setting myself ambitious targets about what I will complete and by when – and getting stressed when I don’t. Knitting for me is something to engage my creative brain while I’m doing something dull or allowing my mind to wander when walking or swimming, and a physical/mental challenge to create something, solve technical problems and get it ‘right’. I think that making things is a basic human need – from cooking and gardening to writing or inventing gadgets. But if knitting were my job, I am sure I would find it quite as stressful and mentally draining as my current profession. I would immediately be back in the world of targets and objectives and feedback and it would cease to be a pleasant creative challenge and become something to worry about and be judged against. Surely it must be a question of context and individual personalities? One person’s relaxing distraction is another person’s competitive nightmare.
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I hear you and agree, Ruth.
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For myself, the most relaxing, tuned out of the world “hobby” I have ever experienced was learning how to write icons. (They are written, not painted, in the proper terminology.) I learned to apply gesso, sand, etch then apply egg tempra in thin layers to create an icon. When I got used to the style, I transferred the knowledge to Celtic art, making small reproductions of work from the Book of Kells, etc. I haven’t done it in a while and hope to get back to it when I retire in a month. It’s just one of those things where I turn on some quiet music, start to paint and next thing 3 hours have past and I am completely relaxed.
I have picked up embroidery again for the same reason. I enjoyed it so much in my younger years. I have joined a national guild and am thinking about the local one but have to admit I get tense about running into people who believe there are “rules” about how things are done. For me they are a springboard for the work but can get in the way of creativity.
I have only become creative about knitting when I can see the math in it. I am NOT a math person but when I asked if there was an algorithm for turning a sock heel and a lovely 75 year old woman came up wth one, then it all made sense to me and socks were no longer an ordeal but something to play with. Applied math in knitting, for some reason, makes it easier for me. That’s why I like Fair Isle and colour patterns, I think, I count stitches by pattern repeats. It’s relatively easy to take some graph paper and make a design.
I see my young relatives struggling with tension in their lives. They have learned to knit and crochet but society seems to pressure them to believe that physical activity (running, sports) is the only way to peace and contentment. I hope to role model that they can spend time with their children while creating too. It’s no easier to be a woman today than it was 200 years ago.
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I think you and Sarah have hit the nail on the head in terms of the language of questionnaires. The people who write them seem to have no relationship with craft work or art work. There is a sense of patronization in them.
A friend who went through a horrific period of illness a decade ago was told many of the things you mentioned (get a hobby, etc), at a time when she was still reeling from being told she couldn’t go back to a job she loved (teaching), the loss of that income, the chronic pain and no solutions for it, etc. She had never been a hobby person. With a small income in a large expensive city, still paying a mortgage, how was she even to pay for the basics, let alone the lessons to learn anything. Then her psychiatrist told her if she wasn’t going tottery she would be dumped as a patient! How can a “hobby” be relaxing then?
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A most unfeminine and un-healing process for me, when I knit, I blaspheme, my rage rises and it becomes a masochistic challenge, where I sometimes fail or experience the joy of success. But, I find myself apologising in conversation for having such an interest: my shame at the craft’s reputation for being a weak, female passive past-time: Rumplestiltskin and all that signifies. This ignorance survives in psychiatry, where crafts and the creative process are viewed as healing for the emotionally challenged, lesser being. Mental illness still carries the stigma of feebleness and failure. Healing comes to a variety of patients in as many forms. I am disappointed that patients are still not assessed to discover what each individual would need for recovery, whether that is crafts or a wealth of other occupations including music, which happens to be my default when I’m in a dark place. I have actually been mocked and heard other knitters being mocked for knitting in that laddish, brutish way that women still endure in all walks of life from engineering to piloting. Getting more men involved in the craft is one thing that would develop a better understanding of the complexity and strength needed to create. Sadly, the world has not become enlightened in so many areas.
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Very interesting article Kate. I appreciate all your points and they got me thinking, especially since I have not been in a position where someone prescribed knitting or crafts. And nobody has told me to “shut up and get back to my knitting”. (Not sure what my response would be, to be honest.)
Knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving, felting were all necessities when I was growing up. The only way to get a sweater was to have one knitted from your own wool. Wool blankets, tablecloths, pillows were passed on as family heirlooms. Now I wonder if all women enjoyed working with their hands? Some of them probably thought it was another chore! Although all my relatives took great pride in their work and encouraged me to learn and continue the traditions.
My mom always made things without patterns and that is how I do things. I create all my own knitting patterns and find this immensely satisfying; I make exactly what I want to wear (or to give as a gift). The challenge of sorting out all the little details can be a lot of fun! Choosing yarn is a very important part because I want to spend my time with yarn that feels good and looks good. Occasionally I work with wool that still has its sheep smell and I am in heaven!! The actual knitting is meditative for me. Simple projects keep my hands busy while my mind works on solving problems (mathematical physics) and more complex projects take my entire attention, especially since the patterns are usually stored in my head :)
Thanks to the person who mentioned the New York times article about the math and physics of knitting – really fascinating research!
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definitely knitting can get me into the flow.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
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Knitting, for me, hits a sweet spot between being productive and being creative. My job and volunteer work requires a fair amount of problem solving, so I find it a relief–and, yes, relaxing–to have a hobby where I can choose how many decisions I want to make. Often, I choose not to decide: knit the pattern as written in a yarn similar to what was suggested, to end up with a predictable finished object. Obviously, I am still doing to physical work of knitting, but the required skills are more attention and perseverance, and less invention and synthesis. As always, very interesting to read you post and all of the replies and comments!
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I’m in a similar situation: sometimes my knitting is creative and sometimes it’s not. I hadn’t really looked on it as “choosing not to decide” but that is very apt.
I have problems with executive function and making decisions and getting started can be hard for me (also switching focus, but that’s another thing). Yet I can cast on a plain sock and knit away without thought. I have been known to refer to this kind of knitting as my fidget spinner.
There are times when I feel more creative but they tend to come during quieter periods when I have the mental capacity. I have a number of long-term WIPs that were put away around the time of a house move because I wasn’t up to making anything complex.
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Thank you for all those thoughts and if someone came to me with a ‘colouring book’ or a puzzle……..well, I don’t want to say what I would say!!! I am a process knitter, I do not like to reinvent the wheel and enjoy it mostly when I am knitting for someone else and not myself.
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Calm ? Relaxing ? Sure but also perplexing , frustrating and rage inducing
And joy when it goes right and tears when it goes wrong .
The wonder of the mathematical way that sings to my heart …from the yardage translated into stitches to the creation of shape and form .
There’s the I don’t think I can do this it’s too hard that slides into perseverance and then disbelief ( and relief) that it’s done . I actually did it ..whoop whoop happy dancing .
There’s immense pride ..look what I made .
Shame too at the unsavable mess , wrong yarn, wrong tension ..just wrong wrong wrong …rip it up and start again .
How soothing to just squish yarn , a therapy all on its own for me , just riffling through a store of treasures , so soft, so fine , bouncy , funky …an endless list of word association with pleasure .
At the wrong time I can knit myself into a rage brooding, sweaty hands and tight stitches and equally knit myself out of one with the rythym of needles giving me time to calm down and think rationally .
I have knitted when immensely sad , though oddly it was making patchwork quilts that brought me most solace after a death ( I still call it my death quilt but that makes me smile now as it is imbued with memory )
I have telly knitting , usually socks , that i knit without thought or looking at just an almost unconscious reflex of hand movements , often surprised by how my work has grown .
If I don’t knit for a while I get what I call ” knitting hands ” an irresistible urge to knit something , anything ….( I crochet ,sew, embroider and quilt too but not with the same intensity I keep for knitting )
I like lace knitting best and while writing this realised that I’d had my newly finished sheelagh shawl ( Sharon miller) in mind .
It was a real challenge and done in only five months ( the imminent arrival of a new baby grandson is a great motivator ) … Ha ha so there’s boasting another thing to add to the knitting encyclopedia .
Oops I didn’t mean to go on so much ….add passion ….you really struck a chord here … There are many many things I would give up before I gave up knitting …perhaps not books though but then I could read about knitting instead
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Recently I have been exploring mindfulness as a treatment for depression, and experimenting with my crafts and mindfulness. For mindfulness to be truly helpful for me, I need some times of engaging in complete stillness. Filling all my free time with crafting actually prevents me from facing my anxieties and breathing into them. That said, I have found engaging in my crafts mindfully to have some benefit. Spinning in particular I find to be very like breathing in its motions, and it takes enough concentration that I can allow my mind to relax and reflect. Knitting, however, I find to be intrinsically more tense. Knitting is less like breathing and more like a heartbeat, giving the awareness that my hands, like my heart, will keep ticking along “through all crises” as EZ would say. But it is not relaxing. And I know from friends that this is highly subjective, based on my particular relationship with my crafts.
The generalized statements of knitting being “calming” I suspect come from people who have never really been consumed by a creative process. Knitting, designing, spinning, are all very passionate processes for me, and it’s that creative drive that makes me work through the problems, which in turn are what make it life-giving.
The headlines about knitting being “relaxing” or fighting off Alzheimer’s I usually hear quoted by knitters as a sort of chortling excuse to engage with the consumerist side of knitting, which is the side I find personally to be least healthy.
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Interesting points and discussion. Whatever ones personal experience of knitting it shows again that it isn’t a general one, and we shouldn’t try to lump it all in with a ‘craft is good for mental health’ platitude which is angled towards a male perspective of ‘calm down dear’. Crafting can be highly stressful and anxiety causing. And doing physical activity such as walking / swimming / cycling can be good. I’m not sure what the evidence based research says. It’s different things at different times to different people and we should avoid easy generalisms.
Great post.
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Anyone who has thrown a lace project across the room in a fury of frustration knows that sometimes knitting can be anything *but* calming!
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I have had the opposite experience with my family doctor (who is a beginning knitter.) She looked at a brioche cowl I was knitting in a complex, two color pattern and told me she knew I wasn’t depressed because a depressed person couldn’t do that pattern! She was wrong (and I did get the help I needed.)
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I sympahise with your scrap-booking experience – when I was in a psych hospital with severe depression I was coerced into a paper marbling morning…….
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I have been thinking about this too. Broadening it out from knitting, any and all creative pursuits can give us what is called flow where we are completely absorbed in that activity in that moment. This may be relaxing and soothing, but it is also energising and revitalising. The creative element is key. We occupy an in between space, a transitional space in psychodynamic terms, where we are both and neither wholly in the external world and in our internal world. I share your discomfort with the ‘calming’ trope which can be attached to knitting (and other ‘hobbies’). It is patronising and also I think untrue. It may calm me in times of anxiety, but in a life-giving way not like a sedative!
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This really resonated with me, but not with regard to craft but with regard to reading as a distraction from depressions and anxiety. There is a school of though among medical professionals that when you are depressed you want to read self help books and books about other peoples experience, there is a complete lack of understanding that when I have been completely overwhelmed by my depression that I can’t even read a magazine or engage with TV, much less read a book – and then when I feel better I don’t want to revisit that by reading about it. it’s a if someone has decided this is a good idea therefore it must work for everyone – much like your thoughts about craft. As to knitting when I am unwell I would be incapable of lifting my needles, my brain ceases to function at anything but the most basic level, which is mostly getting to the bathroom, I don’t eat, drink, shower or dress – so how I could mange to knit escapes me. Where my knitting does help is in coping with the minor anxiety and niggles of life and work, to concentrate on a pattern, to think about what stitches I’m doing mean I don’t have the head space to run over and over unpleasant happenings and this helps me relax. Thank you for this very interesting post.
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Thank you for this post, I found myself in agreement and would like to add some observances. One is that by telling somebody to craft or coercing them into craft, means their issues or feelings or problems — don’t have to be discussed or dealt with. You can’t tell a depressed person to knit a hat, especially if knitting isn’t their thing. If somebody is recuperating from any sort of complaint, doing nothing until boredom strikes, is usually a better point for them to discover what it is they’d like to do – if anything at all. At some time in making things, one gets to difficulties that must be overcome: the pattern is hard, one miscounted and one’s plaid pattern is a mess, one has to pull it out and so forth. That’s far off from calming any crafter down! And lastly, the thing I can’t stand in any sort of craft, is that knitting circle where it’s clear there will be gossip and rancour swallowed down with the cake and tea.
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These are interesting points – thank you
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I have been following your posts on knitting and mental health with great interest. I do find knitting calming but I also find it stimulating, challenging and sometimes stress inducing. One of the best aspects of my favorite craft is its endless variety. Some projects are soothing streams of stockinette, while others make me pull on little used skills of math or artistry. The nice thing is I can pull what I need at the moment from the projects inching towards me from my room’s perimeter. Obviously knitting can’t supplant competent medical treatment, but for me it makes a dandy supplement.
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I find that if I am worrying or anxious about something, I don’t knit. I tend to have to do something more physically active (run or walk) to calm my mind. Either that or blast through some chores so I feel a sense of accomplishment. I think I don’t get the same sense of accomplishment from knitting not because I don’t value the effort and skills involved, but because I see knitting as an indulgent hobby, rather than work. Interesting!
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I feel the same, but nevertheless, knitting makes me happy, and it makes me proud to wear clothes that I made myself, both knitting and sewing.
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Generally, sewing and knitting raise my overall Level of wellbeing, but when I’m anxious or upset, I need to be in the Forest, that calms me down and helps me sort my emotions.
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I do love wearing my knitted items..though I think I have a tendency to rush through the knitting in order to finish, rather then enjoying the process
I do enjoy seeing the knitted item grow, though…when I am not rushing!
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Knitting is calming and therapeutic when I need it for that, like when I’m on a plane or waiting for someone at a hospital, and is relaxing in the evening after work. But mostly, the creative part makes knitting invigorating and energizing. When I’m tired or feeling dull-brained, looking through pattern books, Ravelry or yarn store shelves is like an electric charge as my brain starts spinning with ideas, and carries through the whole process of watching something evolve on my needles. Matching fiber, colors and pattern together in a successful outcome is like painting for me and gives me a thrill every time. This is what drives me to knit and I get equally energized when I try to encourage friends and expand their horizon. Needlepoint used to be another creative outlet for me until I developed nerve problems in my hand. I miss seeing the image appear from fiber.
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When I follow a pattern, I usually feel relaxed or stressed depending on if I like the pattern or not. I find knitting with small needles, like 2,5 or 3 more soothing than knitting with larger needles. When I create from my own head, I feel alive.
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Yesterday I had an anxiety inducing medical appointment and my blood pressure was extremely high. The young woman taking the reading told me, “You need to relax and calm down.” as if being told that would be in any way useful. I did speak up and tell her so, but that attitude is alive and well in the USA. I do bring my knitting to Dr appoints, mostly bec my hand quilting is less portable. I find knitting calming, but then I am not a good or very creatively inspired knitter, once the yarn is chosen and the design is written.
Coloring books! Scrapbooking—poor you.
lizzy at gone to the beach
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Has anyone noticed that when the subject of old people and dementia is broached on TV news, the hands of an elderly lady knitting is often used to accompany the piece? Such people are the least likely to end up in an old people’s home. That’s the assumption I’m banking on anyway!
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Dearest Kate,
I just want to say that I am so glad that you are back to your writing about these issues. My family is riddled with mental health issues and I find your writing about it to be so welcoming and accessible. THANK YOU… Lori
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I always tell folks the reason I love to knit is that once you’ve mastered the basics it’s as easy or as challenging as you want it to be. There’s something for every mood I’m in and I keep multiple projects going so there’s always something I can do. It’s not about “relaxing” as much as it’s about focusing on a problem and finding a solution that doesn’t impact my life in any negative way (beyond occasional frustration). When my thoughts are weighty, it’s a nice way to feel some momentum.
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It’s like what my other half says about tea – it warms you up in the Winter and cools you down in the Summer. If you like knitting, it’s whatever you want it to be.
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I completely agree- I have projects for different purposes- simple things for car journeys etc, and more complex things when I want more of a challenge.
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Knitting is surely all the things mentioned above, but for me it is a singular form of work without drudgery. I can make something that has tangible value and thoroughly enjoy doing it.
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Knitting for me starts of as a 3D puzzle solving activity… as I read the pattern I start to visualise all the different steps, the techniques and shapes. It isn’t until I get a visual grip on how the project will come to life that I pick up my needles.
Seeing the actual knit progress as I had imagined from the pattern gives me immense fulfillment and makes altering it to my own taste much easier. And that thought opens up a million possibilities which is exciting beyond believ.
But I often also knit very easy projects, knit stitches with no pattern to speak of (like vanilla socks). It is a relaxing activity, not so much for the brain cause I feel my brain races on and on as my hands work, but for the actual nervous tendancy that lingers in my hands. Without knitting my fingernails cease to exist, biten of as a nervous rushed feeling that I have carried all my life seems to make my blood stream quicker and somehow needs to be channeled into something. Vanilla socks beat chewed of fingernails any day….
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What an absolutely wonderful exploration of knitting and craft and their “real” benefits as “mentally stimulating, intriguing, engaging, and creative.” vs. “calming mindless distraction”. (Although the CMD is occasionally welcome). I think we can make knitting anything we wish to. For me it is the feel of the yarn, the colors and how it works up, whether it be plain garter stitch or lace, one color or many, stranded, openwork or Aran, rectangular, circular, pie, triangle – there are so many paths to follow – total creativity. Thank you Kate for defending and supporting knitting and craft and explaining it so well!!! Its a subject that needed to be approached, explored and discussed.
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This is so interesting. I find knitting challenging, and stimulating. Very simple knitting, like the big, old blanket I work on in front of the TV is relaxing, but I do prefer my knitting like my sewing, to be somewhat hard work and I also have a problem with craft (any craft) being an exercise in pacification. Taking up your point about the scrapbooking, when my mum was recovering from her stroke, adult colouring books were prescribed to get her ‘mind working again’. They never made it to the house and instead she undertook a lovely, complex knitting project and has not looked back.
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Dear Kate, this topic is so interesting and I have a lot to say. I’ve been knitting since I was 6 (my mum showed me the basics, cast on, cast off, knit and purl) and never followed any instruction until a few years ago. And I still follow only in the beginning and always make a lot of changes and then knit it several times to get it perfect. I “invented” my first cardigen when I was 12 years old. I always saw knitting as a highly creative activity and never felt it as something relaxing. It was fun to work out colour work, increases and decreases – without any instructions, I just followed try and error. When I started a new piece I never was sure if it would come out the way I wanted (never heard of swatching) and was always super eager to see it finished and to put it on. This meant, once I had started I wasn’t able to put it down. Many nights were spent knitting. When I knit I feel quite agitated, in a happy slightly driven way, not calm at all. Yarn makes me happy, I buy too much. At the moment, in the middle of 3 projects, I had to stop knitting because my shoulder is super inflamed. I tend to hurt my back, my neck, my arms and shoulders with knitting. This is very hard and I feel the addiction a lot, I even bought new yarn (cowslip, haha). I had to put away all the project bags to not being tempted. And I feel betrayed by my body. I only knit when I feel good. When depressed I don’t knit. Knitting is creativity, I like to call it “super-slow-painting”. I think, in the end, knitting can be an addiction and I’m not sure if it actually helps with mental health. Well, at least not for me. Loved to read your article :-)
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I don’t know about the ‘we’ of the online knitting community, but when I talk with friends who knit, we often talk about how wonderful (or frustrating) a given yarn or set of needles is, or how good it feels on our hands or on our skin. We also commiserate about how difficult it is to give ourselves permission to stop ‘doing’ for work and family and just dive off into a project or learning a new technique (not to mention how hard it is to make something that isn’t ‘useful’).
One of the things that I love most about knitting is the challenging, problem solving aspects. I also spin and find that much more ‘mindful and relaxing’ because there’s just one thing to focus on. When I knit stranded colourwork or lace I often find it stressful rather than relaxing because I make mistakes that then have to be accepted or fixed.
The odd thing is that I still choose these types of projects anyway! Why? Because I find it fascinating to see how the colours interact or the textures develop, because it works to shift my brain away from worrying the bone of ‘tasks that I need to do’ and into the realm of curiosity and discovery. For me, knitting is a three-way dialogue between my hands, the tools/materials, and the pattern (or concept) I’m working with—sometimes we all get along swimmingly, but often enough there is a bit of arguing and compromises have to be made. Still, if it were always easy and perfect and relaxing, I don’t think I’d keep doing it.
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You’re so right: knitting can be calming but it can also be difficult, demanding and frustrating. I refer to knitting as my “worry beads” because it is something I can do (and enjoy doing) when times are stressful. But if “calming” were all that is needed, washing the floor would be just as good. Knitting is one of the places where my creativity resides. It is trying out what colours and patterns do together, how shape and drape combine, what works and what doesn’t. It is making the best possible fist of it. It is the delight of learning a new technique or a better way of doing what I did before. And this absorbing, skilful and creative art is dismissed as “just knitting” .
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I really like your notion of the three-way dialogue, Bonnie. Thank you
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I think that the simple bland statement of kniiting/craft being relaxing and therapeutic is not overly problematic for me. Just as long as it isn’t seen exclusively as such as you have pointed out so clearly, but of course the more it is presented only in that way in main steam society the more it will be considered only as some sort of pacifier.
I can’t knit simple stuff without an audiobook because my mind wanders too much, and dwells on problems, but I find the combination of a good book and easy knitting the perfect escape from the stress of a work day because it doesn’t allow room forany other encroaching thoughts. The complicated knitting stuff feeds a different need altogether but that is for weekends when I can fully concentrate and enjoy the figuring out process.
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Of course at times knitting relaxes me, but I more often find it helps me to focus….texture, color, design, how I hold my needles for certain manipulations. My creative mind is allowed to run in the background free and happy. I am a process knitter, I really don’t care that much if if a project takes me years to do (unless it is a gift for someone). But when I am allowing myself to knit “my” way I end up writing notes to myself about inspirations that pop up in the background of my mind.
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I love this essay and – as a person who manages chronic pain and mental health issues – I have to say that I find the most “healing” in my creative endeavours (I sew, knit, spin, write, cook, bake, make skin care) because they connect me with a deeply creative well. I am not just healed by the repetitive action of making stitches. I am engaged from tip to tail by the technique, the materials, the narrowing of choices to make something amorphous into something concrete. This has saved my ass on more occasions than I can count. But it’s also made me an artist and provided me with a kind of legitimacy I don’t feel in any other domain. Please keep writing on this topic.
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Although I find pleasure in the colours and textures of knitting, and like having something productive to do with my hands, I’ve discovered that straightforward knitting doesn’t distract me sufficiently to have real mental health benefits. Adapting/designing does, as does knitting a complex colour-work yoke, but that’s a small fraction of total knitting time.
Learning a new language, on the other hand, is guaranteed to occupy my mind fully.
Or my recent habit of reading Estonian novels in French translation alongside the boring bits of knitting …
(A good test: it needs to be something that can’t be done while also on Twitter.)
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When I’m well, I use knitting to distract me. Before reading your post, I would have said it would calm me down and help me relax but you made me think and this isn’t what knitting does for me. I remember one particular situation when a friend and I wanted to take public transport and we had to walk further and further because all the stops were closed. When we finally reached our destination, my friend needed to eat while I had to knit a few rounds on my sock. The result was to calm me down but the knitting itself helped to give me something else to think about and a feeling of control.
When I’m not well, I don’t knit anymore. It’s a sure sign that something is very wrong with me. This happend only twice in my life. I can knit a lot of things without having to consciously think about it and I can read, watch something, talk on the phone, listen to music or an audiobook while knitting. But knitting keeps me in the present nonetheless (so I knitted during particularily boring lectures at university :-) ) and in those two instances I didn’t want to experience that present.
In short, benefits of knitting for me are among others: distracting me from my thoughts, giving me a feeling of control, keeping me alert and in the present and helping me to focus.
Looking at those benefits, it occurs to me that those are quite “active” things while “relaxing”, “soothing”, “calming me down” would feel more “passive” (if those are the right words). My end result might well be that I’m more relaxed but that’s because I relaxed and not because knitting did that to me if that makes any sense at all
mhm, thanks for making me think! And I’m not done with it either :-)
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Dear Kate,
Thank you for sharing a thought-provoking and expansive view to explore the topic of knitting and mental health. In light of that, here is an article from the May 21st issue of The New York Times on knitting, physics and the properties of stitches. Knitting is way more complex than “tak de sock”, of course.
May you go from strength to strength on your knit journey and thank you so very much for bringing us all along for the ride. We are certainly the beneficiaries of your life journey, wherever it may take you!
Lisa
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I also read the New York Times article. It seems there is more to this than meets the eye. Another interesting short read.
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I’d like to ask Mary if being desperate to get through knitting is symptomatic of your general approach to life? It is always when I am focused on this aspect that I make mistakes too. I am doing a shawl just now and the pattern only becomes intuitive now that I can see it after the first time. Then a mental state arises somewhere between mindless and focused that only happens when you relax and stop forcing things.
(For me, the most stressful part is wondering if, even after swatching and measuring, the finished sweater will end up the right size 😳)
Creativity is an interesting one. I learned to knit in an era when you bought the pattern, you bought the wool to go with it, you followed the pattern, you did not deviate. Since I came back to knitting after many years away, the explosion in the possibilities that knitting now offers has been a real education. In fact, I wish there were more opportunities to learn “how to make a jumper to fit you” in somewhat the same way that dressmaking is taught.
I went through a period where work was desperately stressful and all encompassing. It took so much of my energy that seeing friends was even a chore. It was then I discovered quilting and knitting. I found it soothing to plan and the creative part of my brain was satisfied with the planning of projects. But there is another part of the brain that needs, as Kate mentions above, the “material”: the squishability, the tactile qualities of fabric and wools, the smell, the colours, the mix of colours, the sheer presence of what you work with, the joy of working with something ACTUALLY IN YOUR HANDS, the satisfaction of seeing something take shape. I think these are human needs that, in our modern industrial society, go unsatisfied.
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My husband once commented to me that he couldn’t understand why I said I “enjoyed” knitting so much, as he was witnessing me curse and rip out my stitches. Immediately I responded, without thinking, don’t you “enjoy golf. And isn’t there too, much cursing about missed shots. And it’s still enjoyable.”
For me, knitting is about the making. Of course I could purchase the article for less. But choosing the yarn and pattern and making the necessary accommodations; thinking of how and where the yarn was produced; picking a colour that exactly suits me or the wearer; adding little touches to personalize an item; knitting in the love for the person for which we are knitting (even if it’s for ourselves!); it all requires creativity with no little amount of stress involved to get things “just right”.
I encourage everyone to knit. The joy of the accomplishment. Even the mistakes can be worthwhile – how often in life are we afforded a “do-over”? And don’t we always learn from our mistakes?
Knitting is stressful, creative, meditative and so much more.
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Sewing and knitting give me a safe space that I can escape to and lose myself in the creative process and temporarily forget my everyday stresses and concerns. However it is certainly not stress free, especially if projects do not go to plan. The lovely feeling of achievement when I finish something I am proud of stays with me for a long time and gives my self esteem a great boost. I do not necessarily find the making process relaxing though.
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For me, knitting is an intellectual exercise. Much as when I was a child and would be so caught up in a good book that I wouldn’t hear the teacher in class, with knitting, particularly a new pattern or technique, or lace or color work that requires focus, it is so absorbing that it focuses my mind and stops it from racing through all the other noise of the day. I can get completely caught up in the work. On the flip side, if I am working on something easy, but listening to a lecture or watching TV, knitting allows me to, in a strange way, focus on what I’m hearing – again, preventing my mind from racing off in a million different directions. So it is the focus, the centering, of knitting that is beneficial to me. It can, at times, be relaxing and calming – but the focus also comes when it is challenging, frustrating, or exciting too. And in fact, I prefer the latter and tend to get bored if it is too easy.
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You’ve probably read about the concept of flow, put forth in Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s 1990 book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. This is what I think about all the time when I’m knitting: it’s a state of deep concentration, where I know what I want to do and have the skills to do it.
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Ann, I was just thinking this same thing- maybe we need to be looking at the mental health benefits of the “flow state” rather than the calming aspects of craft. What exactly is it about crafting that is calming? It’s not just busyness, in my experience. It’s immersion in the moment, and full engagement of the senses, mind, and intentions.
Work has been done that shows exercise has similar benefits, and the thinking is it’s about the body chemistry that occurs with exercise. But what if it’s about the “flow state” there as well (at least in part)?
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I have chronic health problems which frequently leave me bed bound and mostly house bound. Knitting for me provides so many things. The anticipation of the arrival of the postman with new yarn, the squishy feeling of the yarn, the arranging of the yarn in my work bag, pleasure in the feel and colours. The actual process of knitting is only part of the pleasure ( and frustrations!) of the craft for me. If I have to frog something and do it again at least it’s a process that I can control and rectify – a thing that’s all too scarce in the other parts of my life. All in all I knit because I love the whole process and the end product is almost always gifted to someone or given to charity to sell or raffle.
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You are my Hero. Thank you for sharing your vulnerability and your brilliance. The scale of your bravery and struggle is a poignant perspective for us all. All my love and admiration, Kate, I can think of few who are more deserving.
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You are my Hero. Thank you for sharing your vulnerability and your brilliance. The scale of your bravery and struggle is a poignant perspective for us all. All my love and admiration, Kate, I can think of few who are more deserving of it.
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I knit in order to challenge myself. I want to see what is possible with my own two hands. I, too, dislike the idea of knitting as “relaxing.” Thank you for voicing this important point of view.
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As a sufferer of depression, knitting is very therapeutic. Part of my depression is not feeling a purpose or sense of accomplishment as I am also a stay at home mom of two toddlers and its hard to have instant gratification. So I knit/crochet and it really helps to feel better. picking out a pattern, yarn, getting excited about a new project etc….nice post!
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My relationship with knitting has changed over the years as has my relationship with most aspects of life. I’ve knitted on and off for a good many years but for the last ten years-ish it has become increasingly important. Initially I used to follow garment patterns as written according to bust size and was often disappointed with the result leading to thinking I hadn’t knitted it ‘properly’ or there was something wrong with my body. When I began to read more widely and first encountered Amy Herzog’s work I was amazed to think that I could alter patterns to fit my body. This has been revelatory and very exciting. I do find knitting calming at times and feel a bit ‘lopsided’ if I don’t knit every day. I also am excited and thrilled to discover patterns, designers and new ways of doing things in knitting. That’s all before I start on the actual yarn. I find the world of knitting thrilling, creative, an intellectual workout at times and quite wonderful. I also really like its, for me, purposefulness (not sure that’s a word). Any road up I’d better stop or this post will go on all day which it easily could do.
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I find myself thinking about tomorrow and what I might do with some particularly engaging yarn/ imagery/ patterning or other idea when I’m awake in the night (or when I’m doing something I don’t find uses my mind v much like swimming lengths in a pool). It’s exciting and challenging, and sometimes I solve problems in ways that please me enormously.
I’m sure the same is true of people with different creative preferences whatever they are.
For me the specific thing about knitting and other small safe handcrafts is the ability to take them to a group and (like when driving a car) be able to converse without difficult eye contact. Also helps me cope with scary films (difficult lace ideally).
Thanks. I will read the Desmarais thesis if I can get it!
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I am retired now, but when I was working there was a direct correlation between my knitting creativity and creativity at work.
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Hello – I found this post very interesting. At one point in my life I met a woman who told me that she was always on the alert if her bi-polar daughter starting knitting in earnest, her daughter was a beautiful knitter. I never found out what the connection was, the mother seemed concerned, not happy about the knitting. I myself am careful to pick patterns that are not outside of my skill level. I knit for the joy of making something by myself, mostly for others. I am always anxious to have something to do with my hands on long drives, even 20 minutes is enough to work on a sock – of course I am not driving:) I have made peace with ripping out a number of rows of knitting. I have experienced, especially when I was first a knitter, stress, not relaxation, when knitting. Thank you for your reflection.
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perhaps the knitting was a legible sign for the mum of things swinging in a potentially dangerous direction for the daughter. Knitting is never, in itself, a warning sign for my bipolar, but having too many, and pursuing too many, ideas *about* my knitting definitely can be.
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Interesting! Are you familiar with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s work on psychology of flow? He developed his theory of flow based, in part, on watching artists work – their utter absorption in their work. I’m looking at an overview article that turned up when I googled flow (because I could not remember how to spell C’s name): “What is Flow in Psychology?” If you haven’t seen this, I think you’d find it relevant.
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yes, its really important work.
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Yes! ‘Craft’ is so often denigrated. Yet as a person who pursued a societally-‘sanctioned’ creative profession (architecture), I have nothing but respect — and often awe — for people who pursue their vision via applied craft, whatever the medium.
And just look at the work of someone like Elisabetta Matsumoto, and her exploration of the physical properties of the knit stitch. (Written up in The NY Times on May 17, ‘Knitting as Coding’) Hardly busy work, and clearly both creative and intellectual.
I think that pursuing whatever brings us mental stimulation/joy (for me these go hand-in-hand) is important for our mental health. But one can’t force this pursuit, nor choose the path.
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I suffer from C-PTSD and knitting is my life saviour. It helps focus the mind and keeps the hands busy. I’d be lost without knitting. It un-ravels my mind
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Strangely enough the number of times when I find knitting to be truly relaxing are rather few in number. Usually I find myself desperate to get further on with the particular piece in question so that I put myself under pressure to knit so many rows or reach a particular point in the knitting instructions. Perhaps I am more interested in the finished article than the actual knitting process! Should something go wrong – unfortunately not an infrequent occurrence – then the effect is definitely not relaxing. It may be distracting but not in a beneficial way. I wonder if I am the only one who doesn’t find knitting to be particularly relaxing?
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Only the simplest knitting is relaxing for me – poor instructions or anything remotely “tricky” causes stress. I want the finished product, so am willing to learn something new to get there, but it is not always fun.
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I also don’t find knitting relaxing. I spin as well and associate spinning more with the feeling of relaxation and calmness. Knitting for me is more about creativity and making the garment in my imagination. Sometimes that can be enormously
satisfying and other times incredible frustrating but always engaging.
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