Let's get knit on!

And so it begins...

So, as recent readers may have seen, this year I have decided to make some new years’ resolutions, and I’m thrilled to report that at least 14 days into the month, I am keeping to them, with one in particular at the forefront of my 2016 challenge…. that of learning to knit. Now, I don’t know what it is with things sometimes manifesting themselves just at the right time, but a mere day after publicly declaring my intention to knit, I was sent a link by my mother who had stumbled across a local knitting class! Get in! So last night, get in I did, and with my nana’s vintage needles in hand, off I trotted to my class get my knit on.

Whereas knitting has previously been seen as a pastime for nanas and… well mostly nanas really, knitting has taken on a new edge in recent years. It has been expanding into a new, younger audience with 'stitch n bitch' nights opening up all over the country, and some have even named this growing trend the 'new yoga'. This was certainly reflected in my class because while there was not a yoga mat in sight, nor was there a nana to be seen! My class was made up of 4 women, much of a similar age as myself, and a lovely Canadian teacher younger than us all.

Project Scarf: Day 2

So, apart from the irresistible lure of a woolly new wardrobe, just what is it about knitting that is attracting a new, younger audience? For one, it turns out that knitting is good for you. Knitting is among one of several hobbies suggested to create what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes as 'flow': ‘a few moments in time when you are so completely absorbed by an activity that nothing else seems to matter.’ Occupational therapist Victoria Schindler says that the effects of what Csikszentmihalyi describes as ‘flow’ are similar to those of meditation & mindfulness, practices which have been shown to reduce stress. It is, according to Csikszentmihalyi, the secret to happiness. 

The happiness theory certainly seems to hold up according to a study published in the British Journal of OccupationalTherapy, where more than half of those surveyed reported that knitting left them feeling "very happy." Furthermore, a huge 61% of survey respondents felt it helped them concentrate, 47% said that knitting "usually" or "definitely" helped them to think through problems and 37% reported that it helped them to forget them! Finally, 39% believed that it helped them organise their thoughts.

Well said Bertie!

I’m sure thought organization is certainly something Albert Einstein was a practitioner of, and wouldn’t you know it, he was a knitter too? According to the author of the study, he knitted between projects to "calm his mind and clear his thinking". Well I say, if Einstein can do it, so can I. While he’s got a handle on E=MC2, I’ll look after the knit one, purl ones. And although I may not have quite achieved ‘the flow’ just yet, mostly cos I’m too busy knotting my fingers and inexplicably growing the width of my knitting by 8 stitches & a rather large hole, I’m certainly well on my way to 'flowing' my way through 2016 and I’m sure my nana will be proud. 

Me & my Nana

New Year, new me??

So it’s official, it’s the New Year.  The Christmas decorations are down (well mostly, that reindeer can stay up another year), the mince pies have been replaced in the seasonal aisle (in my local supermarket with a the intriguing mashup of half price earphones and kitchen implements), and we’re firmly into that dreaded month of long nights & no money that is January. What joy!

It is also, as we are grimly reminded by every newspaper lifestyle section or blog, that is time for the New Year Resolution. Whoohooo! (note the sarcastic tone). Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been a fan of The Resolution… apart from maybe that one resolution that President Bartlet vetoed in series 5 in order to send the federal government into shutdown. A great episode, but enough of my West Wing obsession. Previously I have never stuck to plans, never made goals for fear of not achieving them, I have scorned the New Year Resolution with a will & determination not dissimilar to that of President Bartlet (ok, I’ll stop now). But this year it might, just might, be time for a change…. If only I knew what to pick.

In a spurt of non festive cheer on New Year's Eve, Google released their most searched for ‘How To’s’ of 2015. The number one query was ‘how to get rid of stress’, and as I don’t think that applies to me more than any other Londoner battling their way through rush hour wearing a facial expression akin to Genghis Khan on a particularly deathy day, I don’t think it’s going to make my top three.  Ditto numbers 2 (‘How To Make Kale Chips’ - FFS everyone, they’re on sale in Sainburys, stop clogging up Google with your superfood queries), 5, 6, 8 & 9 (how to cook lentils, cabbage, collard greens & broccoli – damnit people, just buy a friggin cookbook!). Number 10 appeals to me (how to crochet a beanie) if only for the crafty factor, but I’ve never looked good in a beanie, so that’s out the window too.

Thus I am at a loss. Google has failed me. Instead, I fear I must turn to myself. What do I want from 2016? Well, as regular readers/friends/anyone who has met me will be well aware, a dog is high on my priority list. A regular furry little friend, complete with hairy brows and droopy moustache, as well as a name still to be decided. Also, as detailed in a previous blog, I’ve gotten back out there in the dating world with some marginal degree of success (no one ask me to define 'marginal' please). So that’s one resolution if not ticked, then at least scrubbed at a bit with a pencil. And at the risk of sounding like a Nana, I would like to learn to knit. Knitters look so happy with their nimble fingers, and clacky needles, and it would give me the chance to complete my Christmas 2014 gift of a Knit Your Own Dog kit I currently have out purely as decoration. I’d also like to kick some ass at Fantasy Football, if only for the ‘I know nothing about football and am still kicking the boys various asses’ factor.

  

Are these all achievable? Who knows? Let me report back in a year’s time, but the fact is that naming one’s goals and resolutions does, in a very Dr Who style way, give credence to them. It is the first step on manifesting them into real life, actual achievements. So wish me luck peoples, and god speed. Because every step I take in achieving my goals, is one step closer to that dog chewed & fur festooned, badly knitted fantasy football scarf that you’ll be getting for Christmas 2016. And frankly, who could argue with that?