Meknitations: Think about 3 ways knitting has improved your life

There are many reasons people take up knitting and many of those reasons are the ways in which knitting improves your life.

Meknitations is a whole series of posts that encourage think about your knitting, the tools and materials you use and how it all affects you and your well being. After reading this post, scroll to the bottom to check out the other posts in this series.

I don’t think most people realize all the great benefits that can come from knitting. The more we knit, the more it becomes an integral part of our lives, the more we benefit from it.

As with so many blessings, we might not be as aware of the benefits of knitting that we experience. It becomes so normalized that we start taking knitting for granted.

Today, take a few minutes to really think about the ways that knitting has improved your life.

Before you read on, try to list at least three ways that knitting has improved your life. Write down these ways in your journal or on a piece of paper. You may even want to put that piece of paper somewhere that you see it regularly to remind you of these benefits.

If you are having difficulty coming up with benefits, I have listed a few below. Take a look at some of those benefits and see if they apply to you. If so, awesome, add them to your list. If not, think about ways that you can allow these benefits to come into your knitting.

How knitting improves life and mental health

Stress and anxiety relief is probably the biggest, obvious benefit to knitting. The calming repetitive motions have a calming effect. The creation of something beautiful from a ball of yarn has dopamine enhancing abilities. Several studies have shown a correlation between knitting and stress/anxiety relief and knitting is a common occupational therapy used in treating mental health issues.

Improved focus: Knitting, especially simple projects, can help with focus. I know many people (including myself) who can focus better when they are knitting. Much like a fidget toy can help some people focus, keeping hands occupied with knitting can allow the mind to focus better on what is happening in a class, meeting or elsewhere. And as an added bonus, knitting is a fidget toy that is way more creative and productive.

Increased happiness: Knitting brings countless knitters joy. The active rest of knitting, the creation of something beautiful, the beauty and feel of the yarn running through your fingers, the quiet clacking of needle against needle, the comfort of watching stitches form beneath your fingers can give a profound sense of happiness (if you allow it to).

Improved social interactions: Social interactions, in real life or virtually, can bring the benefits of being a part of something, inclusion, support, encouragement and purpose. even during the height of the epidemic, when social interactions were probably at their lowest in living memory, knitting brought people together. Online interactions in Facebook groups like A Close Knit Community gave people a sense of, well . . . community.

Sense of purpose: Creating, whether you are creating for yourself, for gifts, for charity or for other causes can bring a sense of purpose. We all need a purpose. We all need to matter. Knitting can bring us that.

Combats depression: Some people find that knitting helps control their depression.

Gives joy to others: Many knitters knit for others. Either as gifts or for charity. This brings joy to others as they receive your gift and understand how much love and effort went into making this just for them.

How knitting improves life and physical health

Reduction in blood pressure: Knitting has been found to reduce blood pressure.

Increased dexterity: Knitting can increase your dexterity and keep your hands more limber. There is evidence that knitting can even help with keeping arthritis at bay.

Reduction in chronic pain: Knitting has been linked to reduced chronic pain and improved well being. Even if this is just a result of a distraction from the chronic pain, that is

Slows the onset of dementia: There is evidence that knitting may delay the onset of dementia. While this is not something that you can definitively say is a specific benefit to you, it is worth noting at a possible benefit of knitting.

There are many benefits to knitting, and I am sure I missed many in this short article.

Take the time to ponder how knitting has improved your life.

Think about the benefits, write about the benefits, tell us about what knitting brings into your life in this post in A Close Knit Community.

Resources

While this is not a scientific look at the benefits of knitting by any means, I do want to reference some studies which support the claims I have made above for you (just in case you want to see the proof).

Brooks, L., Ta, K-H.N., Townsend, A.F., Backman, C. (2019) “I just love it”: Avid knitters describe health and well-being through occupation, Canadian journal of occupational therapy. 86(2):114-124.

Burholt, V., Scharf T. (2013) Poor health and loneliness in later life: the role of depressive symptoms, social resources, and rural environments. Journals of Gerontology. 69(2):311-324.

Corkhill, B. (2014) Knit for Health & Wellness: How to knit a flexible mind and more. FlatBear Publishing.

Meknitation: Think about 3 ways knitting has improved your life.

Meknitation – pronounced with a short “e”, rhymes with meditation.