You might think of knitting as something your grandmother used to do. Or an activity millennials are embracing as part of a larger DIY/anti-consumerism trend. But people at midlife are also learning (or re-learning) needle crafts. Not only are they enjoying making things with yarn. They’re experiencing health benefits of knitting, crocheting and other needlework activities.
All types of needlework have potential to benefit your mood and cognition as you age. But the resurging popularity of knitting has led to more scientific research on how it improves your well-being. This post will focus on knitting, which is a hobby I’ve rediscovered in recent years. But you might also consider how a similar creative pursuit could offer comparable benefits to you in midlife.
Creative pursuits benefit your health
The Connection Between Art, Healing and Public Health: A Review of the Literature summarizes how creative pursuits benefit your health. Researchers reviewed articles between 1995 and 2007 about “creative arts or expressive activities.” They focused on studies that measured links between creativity and health outcomes.
Interestingly, although they combed through databases to find relevant studies between 1970 and 1995, they found almost none. Anecdotal reports of the connection between creativity and healing have existed for centuries. But it seems that only in the past 25 years have scientists tried to quantify relationships between the two.
Categories of activities reviewed
This landmark review focuses on four types of creative activities:
- Music engagement. The most studied aspect of creative expression’s connection with healing. Encompasses listening to music as well as making music.
- Visual arts therapy. Engaging in drawing, painting and other visual art activities. Theory is that such media permit emotional expression subjects can’t put into words.
- Movement-based creative expression. Movement, dance and similar activities, including tai-chi.
- Expressive writing. Writing and journaling about traumatic experiences or emotions. Theory is that writing is a way to release negative feelings and promote healing.
Specific health benefits of creative activity
Studies in every category demonstrate links between creative expression and health. Benefits include:
- Reduced anxiety and depression
- Improved cardiovascular health
- Reduction in chronic pain
- Improved perception of quality of life
Most studies focus on patients undergoing treatment for cancer or a chronic condition. However, the connection they show between art and health suggests wider applicability.
Health benefits of knitting: improved mood
An online survey of over 3500 knitters shows significant mood benefits to “frequent knitters,” or those who knit more than three times a week. Frequent knitters are calmer, happier and more able to handle stress than those who knit less often.
Also of note, survey participants who knit in a group report being happier than those who knit alone. Reflecting on study results, author Betsan Corkhill, a UK-based knitting therapist, points out the potential meditative impact of a repetitive activity like knitting. This meditative state, she says, happens as a “natural side effect of knitting.”
Meditation experts are quick to state that knitting is not the same as meditation. As a practitioner of both, I would have to agree. However, the calming effect of knitting’s steady motion and repeating patterns can soothe your mind and help you release tension in a similar way to meditating. So if you don’t like meditation, give knitting a try!
Health benefits of knitting: state of flow
As discussed in an earlier post, finding activities where you experience “flow” in the sense described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi* leads to greater life satisfaction. The rhythmic and repetitive activity of knitting combines with sensory pleasure in feeling the yarn’s texture. You add to these sensations a feeling of accomplishment when you see your work take shape. Together, the activity can result in an experience of flow.
Flow is even more available to you if you move beyond the “knit one, purl one” skill level. Challenge yourself with more complicated patterns to continue experiencing flow as your knitting ability grows.
Health benefits of knitting: ward off cognitive decline
A study of over 1300 adults ages 70-89 gave evidence for cognitive benefits of activities like knitting. Researchers surveyed participants about activities they engaged in late in life. Most participants were cognitively normal at the time of the survey. Results published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences show that people who engage in crafts like knitting or crocheting have lower levels of mild cognitive impairment.
It might be more likely that cognitively healthy adults would pursue an activity like knitting, while those with cognitive impairment would avoid it. This could explain survey results to some degree. However, the study reports less cognitive impairment among crafters than among people who read newspapers/magazines or play music – activities that are often associated with maintaining mental sharpness.
Researchers hypothesize that crafting activities develop neural pathways that help preserve cognitive health as one ages.
A 2014 study at the University of Texas at Dallas confirms these findings. It shows that more complicated activities, like quilting and digital photography, improve memory function in older adults more than less challenging activities do. Knitting that requires you to follow a pattern and vary your stitches would fit into this category of “complicated activities.”
Health benefits of knitting: manage chronic pain
In a small study presented to the British Pain Society, researchers performed an online survey of 60 adults with chronic pain who were knitters. They also observed an in-person knitters’ group of 15 adults who met weekly at a pain management clinic.
Knitters responding to the online survey report a greater sense of purpose, meaning and control as a result of their hobby. And those who take part in a knitters’ group report less isolation and a greater sense of belonging.
Researchers categorize the benefits expressed into “esteem,” “rhythmic movement,” and “stimulation” categories. They connect each category to pain management. For example, rhythmic repetitive movements have been shown to promote serotonin release.
They conclude that “knitting and knitting groups have the potential to be a multidimensional, accessible, cost-effective intervention in the management of chronic pain.” Thus knitting compares to meditation as a possible way to find non-pharmaceutical pain relief.
How can you get started with knitting?
It’s incredibly easy to get going with knitting these days. Although there are fewer local yarn shops than there used to be, vast resources are available online. You can learn to knit from scratch or refresh your memory on how to cast on and do basic stitches. Then, if you’re interested, you can expand your knitting repertoire to more advanced techniques.
Local resources
If you have a yarn shop nearby, or even a big retail craft store, see if they have classes for beginners. It’s more fun to learn alongside others. You’ll also benefit from teachers’ individual advice about the type of yarn, needles and other materials you’ll need.
Some yarn shops offer drop-in sessions where you can gather with others to knit. They’re a good place to get help from more experienced knitters. Another way to enjoy social interaction while knitting is to explore knitting meet-ups in your area. It may take a little while to connect with a group that works for you, but this can be a fun way to make new friends as well as take up a new hobby.
Online resources
The internet offers an overwhelming assortment of sites where you can learn how to knit, buy yarn and other supplies, exchange patterns, connect with other knitters, get help and show off your finished creations. There also are tons of bloggers who post tips, tutorials and photos. Here are a few of my favorite sites:
The Ravelry social media site is particularly fun. You can connect with groups here, too. For example, the US has over 12,000 groups and 1.3MM members. The UK has nearly 2000 groups with 170,000 members, Antarctica has 5 groups with 1800 members. Who knew?
What if you don’t want to end up with a bunch of knit scarves?
You can realize the enjoyment and health benefits of knitting without having to give your friends homemade scarves or hats on every birthday. Sure, you can find plenty of patterns for scarves, hats, socks, gloves, sweaters, blankets and so forth. But you can also knit dishcloths, Christmas ornaments, toys and three-dimensional artwork. You’re limited only by your own creativity and/or the ideas you can find on the web.
Health benefits of knitting for charity
There’s a terrific solution to the “problem” of getting so into knitting that you end up with too many handmade garments. Find a way to connect your hobby to a good cause. There are opportunities galore use your knitting needles in service of others.
For example, you can knit preemie caps, afghans for homeless people, stuffed animals or security blankets for children with severe illnesses. You can also make “nests” for injured birds, or sweaters for rescued dogs or cats.
There are numerous organizations and bloggers who list opportunities to knit for charity. Do an online search to find something matching your interests. As an example, check out these options listed on AllFreeKnitting and Mental Floss.
You usually don’t have to live in the same area as the charity knitting group. Most organizations are happy for you to ship finished projects to them.
Ravelry has 28 groups (and counting) across the globe who do charity knitting. Browsing opportunities online may give you an idea for starting a group in your own town. Doing this would help you combine volunteering, social interaction and a fun craft all at the same time!
My example volunteer knitting project: chemo caps
I tend to enjoy short knitting projects, like caps, gloves and scarves. If a project takes too long, I get bored and don’t want to work on it.
But after re-engaging with the hobby a few years ago, I decided I liked making caps best. A cap is quick to knit –something I can do over a few nights while I’m watching TV. There are lots of free patterns available online. And once I got better at it, I started to make up my own patterns. This has turned out to be really fun for me.
The problem is, I live in California and don’t have many occasions when I need a cap.
So I started making chemo caps. Soft caps (cotton or acrylic, not wool) that people who lose their hair when undergoing chemotherapy can wear to stay warm. And maybe even have some fun while they’re fighting cancer.
I asked around and learned that the cancer treatment center at my health clinic provides donated chemo caps free of charge to people who can use them. I also found a connection through a local yarn shop. It turns out there are many chemo cap groups you can find online, too.
I enjoy knitting different caps, and I also like the idea of helping someone else — even in a small way. I wish I could connect personally with the folks who end up wearing caps I’ve knitted. But health centers have to maintain confidentiality. I’m not even sure they’d let me attach a little tag with good wishes to a cap I’m donating. But maybe I’ll try that with my next batch.
Knit for pleasure, service and good health
Not everyone will find knitting enjoyable or relaxing. And some might get “hooked” on crocheting. You might prefer sewing, needlepoint, quilting or another craft that challenges the mind as well as stimulates the senses.
If it turns out that if you enjoy needle crafts, you’re in good company: 31.5MM people in the US (13% of adults) engage in “fiber arts,” which include knitting. According to the Craft Yarn Council, 55% of knitters and crocheters in 2014 were ages 45-64. Knitting and crocheting are popular activities at midlife.
You can knit by yourself, or make it a social activity. Or both. Most knitting projects are portable. You can take your hobby along with you to fill waiting time. It might prove more satisfying than scrolling through social media on your phone.
You can knit to help someone else and even make new friends in the process. Besides the feel-good nature of volunteering your time, you’re also boosting your mood, lowering your stress and building self-confidence. You’ll preserve mental sharpness and maybe even reduce chronic pain and attain that elusive state of flow.
So start clicking those needles: you’ll reap health benefits of knitting while starting or restarting a hobby at midlife. And send me photos of your creations. I’d love to post some on my blog!
Images via: Shutterstock, Pixabay, AHR
More interesting data on knitting:
- Knitting v. crocheting: it’s all in the numbers by Vickie Howell
- 47 Interesting Facts about Knitting, from FactRetriever
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