Two weeks ago, was jigsaw puzzles and this week is knitting. You must wonder if I have finally lost it. I guess you should never knock it until you have tried it.
This morning, I was watching the morning news breakfast show, and they did a crossover to an international beanie festival. If you don’t know what a beanie is, I will explain. It is simply a knitted cap. It is popular during the colder months of the year. Most people typically think of it as being something that is knitted by a grandma for their children or grandchildren.
Apparently knitting was a bit of a buzz during the COVID-19 lockdown. Those endless months of being cooped up inside, the practice of knitting things, not just beanies, was used to help people occupy themselves.
Actually, a study was done on an online community of knitters. They experienced many benefits from knitting, including stress relief, relaxation and a sense of creativity. In the case of the knitters who engaged in the practice for long periods, they found an improvement in cognitive functioning.
I never really thought about this practice. I always worried about making mistakes and becoming frustrated from hours and hours of work to only find that I knitted the cardigan too short, or added an extra arm to my creation. But apparently there was no real need to worry about it. I should have just given it a go. Well, maybe I will.
There are more reported benefits from knitting. It seems that it acts as a kind of therapy. You can do it in groups and share your creations. It helps you to be sociable. It also has a certain rhythm to it that acts as a form of meditation. It has also been reported that it may help people prevent dementia.
Apparently, it can also help with self-esteem. I guess there is nothing like creating something amazing from just a ball of wool. In my case, I was worried that I could never create anything amazing, but I am prepared to take on the challenge. I am not ready to do it at the bus stop, or on the subway. I will be a closet knitter until I am ready to come out of the closet.
storysolutionstherapy@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/CounsellorTrent/
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.4276/030802213X13603244419077
https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2018/knitting-health-benefits-fd.html
