Knit and Crochet Your Way to Health and Happiness

You know that feeling you sometimes get when you've just woken up? Your mind is perfectly empty. You are at perfect peace. All is well with the world. Well, that's what it's like being engrossed in your knitting. You are in the zone, in the present, not worrying about the future or fretting about the past, not thinking much at all. And it's one of the best feelings there is.

If you've ever settled down to enjoy a lovely, chilled knitting session, you'll already have a handle on how wonderful the process of knitting and crochet feels. Did you know that knitting can genuinely benefit your health and mood? Knit for Peace has created a report on the many health benefits of knitting, exploring evidence-based research as well as the results of a survey that quizzed a thousand keen Knit for Peace knitters. It looks like our favourite pastime is much more than mere fun.

Hypnotic, repetitive, rhythmic knitting

Knitting is almost hypnotic. You carefully count your stitches, you calmly repeat the same actions again and again, and the item you're creating grows rhythmically. You zone out, using your muscle memory instead of your conscious mind. That rhythmic, repetitive motion has the same benefits as actual meditation or self-hypnosis. It's a powerful form of mindfulness, and mindfulness is big news these days. Mindful people are widely thought to be calmer and happier thanks to a calm focus on the present moment, and an acknowledgement and acceptance of their feelings, thoughts and physical sensations. It can be a life-changer.

Everybody's doing it!

No wonder knitting is more popular than ever. Hop on the Brighton to London commuter train and you'll find a men's knitting group doing their thing. Look up 'knitting groups' on Google and pages and pages of them pop up. Check out Knit for Peace, which began life as a way for victims of war and strife in Africa to generate money then spread like wildfire to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Afghanistan.

According to Knitters for Peace there are more than 20,000 knitters in Britain. Most are retired, but the fast-growing trends for making and mending, re-purposing and reviving traditional crafts means younger generations are joining in. More or less everyone who gives it a go finds knitting enhances their pleasure in life and improves their well-being. Knit for Peace's report on the Health Benefits of Knitting supports these facts.

The many brilliant health benefits of knitting

Knitting stimulates almost all of your brain at once. It lights up like a Christmas tree. The frontal lobe, the bit of your brain that processes rewards, attention and planning, is kept happy. Your parietal lobe, the place that deals with sensory information and spatial navigation, is occupied. The occipital lobe, the processor of visual information, is involved and the temporal lobe where your memories are stored and language interpreted is kept busy. Your cerebellum, the area that coordinates and times movement, is happy and active. You can see why knitting helps people with Parkinson's disease by improving their motor functions and fine motor skills as well as distracting them from pain.

It's clear that knitting lowers the blood pressure and provides a real sense of well-being. It works against depression, slows the onset of dementia, and you can carry on knitting through thick and thin, into extreme old age, as long as you still have the use of your hands and eyes. Over 60s find knitting for other people makes them feel part of their community, useful and not so socially isolated. Knitting and crocheting can lower your heart rate, reduce your blood pressure and cut levels of the stress hormone cortisol. And, even better than meditation, the beautiful and useful things you make also serve to improve your self-esteem, giving you a well-deserved sense of pride in your creations. Last but by no means least, working with wool makes for healthier joints. Exercising your finger joints keeps them in good condition, building up the cartilage effectively without strain.

Join the knitting revolution

If you love the look of our sumptuous wools and would like to make knitting part of your life, there's bound to be a knitting group near you. If you would rather go it alone, you'll also feel the very real benefits knitting brings to your physical and emotional life. Go on, tap into that amazing knitting magic