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