My mother was an exceptional knitter!
She made beautiful clothes like Irish sweaters that were very fashionable when I was little.
She used to knit while my dad drove, which was kind of fun.
I often wondered why she loved knitting so much. Today, I think I finally found the answer.
According to several scientific studies, knitting is good for mental health.
The Washington Post newspaper reports on a 2013 study that involved 3,500 knitters.
The researchers asked them how they felt after knitting.
The results are without appeal! Over 80% of them said they felt much happier.
But don't think this is an activity reserved for women!
More and more men are taking up knitting to enjoy the health benefits of this activity too.
Harry Styles (singer of One Direction) loves to knit! Russel Crowe also who uses knitting to better channel his anger.
In Australia, there is a project called "Knitting of Neurones" or "Neural Knitworks" in English. The goal is of course to encourage people to knit. But not only...
The objective is also to make neuroscience known and to raise awareness of mental health problems.
Knitting workshops are organized. But the clothes are not the only resulting creations!
Knitters also create handmade neurons:1665 neurons were knitted by hand to build a giant brain.
In 2015, even more neurons were knitted. You can see the result of this work online.
And you can see more examples of woolen neurons on the official Neural Knitworks Facebook page.
As participants knit, crochet or sew, they listen to experts discuss mental health issues, such as addiction, dementia, depression or neuron function.
The human brain has approximately 80 billion neurons.
Learning new skills, social interaction and sports...all of these activities help develop neural connections.
It is these neural connections that keep the brain healthy and active.
This is what the participants in these "knitting" workshops learn. As they knit neurons into wool, neurons in their own brains form new neural connections.
To some extent, their creations mimic the process that is going on in their brains.
Their brain registers interesting new information while learning interesting facts about the brain and how it works.
I don't know about you, but I think this way of developing your brainpower is really clever!
Betsan Corkhill is a physiotherapist and has published the results of his scientific studies on his website.
She conducted a few experiments herself and found that knitting was really helpful in reducing panic and anxiety spikes.
“When we knit, we use a lot of our brain capacity to perform a coordinated series of movements.
However, the more the capacities of the brain are used to carry out a complex task, the less it is likely that the brain can have bad thoughts at the same time” explains Betsan Corkhill.
Ann Futterman-Collier, a researcher at the University of Northern Arizona in the United States, is very interested in this "textile therapy" namely sewing, knitting, weaving and lace.
For her, this form of therapy can play an important role in improving mood and eliminating depressive states.
To demonstrate this, Ann studied 60 women divided into 3 different groups:a writing group, a meditation group, and a textile group (sewing, knitting...).
The participants' heart rate, blood pressure and saliva production were recorded during the study.
The conclusions of this experiment are astonishing. Indeed, it was the women in the “textile” group who obtained the best results.
They were in a better mood and managed to reduce their negative thoughts much better than those of the writing and meditation group.
"This study showed that people who had the task of doing something concrete with their hands were more concentrated and therefore less stressed," concludes Dr. Futterman Collier.
Our brain produces a chemical called dopamine. This helps us to feel happy, to be more motivated, and also promotes concentration.
For example, one may experience a spike in dopamine after sex, after eating, exercising, sleeping, or after engaging in creative activities.
Some drugs can increase dopamine in our brain, but fortunately there are also plenty of other ways to produce it naturally!
Textile therapy and craft creation are the 2 most accessible and cheapest activities to take advantage of this natural dopamine.
Thanks to knitting, it is possible to create something and then be able to admire it. In addition, it allows you to receive compliments and congratulations when finished.
Although this is surely not the intended purpose, all this stimulates the production of dopamine, which has the effect of making us happier and more fulfilled.
It is essential for facing new challenges and bouncing back from difficult times in life.
In one of her books, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee recalls an important truth:"Sometimes people come up to me when I'm knitting and they're like, 'Oh, I wish I could knit too, but unfortunately I can't. I don't really have time to sit and waste my time with it." Wasting time? First, I only ever knit. I knit and think, I knit and listen, I knit and watch And what's more, when knitting you don't waste your time, because in the end you get either a useful object or a beautiful object to look at".
So if you still think knitting and sewing is for old ladies, it's time to change your mind!
