“Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either.” - Elizabeth Zimmerman
Seed stitch, Knit stitch, crochet, ball, garter stitch, do all these words speak to you without speaking to you? If not, that's completely normal, you haven't started knitting yet! When you are a beginner, learning to knit is a real manual challenge, where the objective is to grab balls of wool or other yarn, a needle, and your hand to make scarves or any other creation of your choice.
Yes, but between the knitting patterns and the reality of making your own new seater, there are many different steps you need to take, especially as a beginner and which all require strength and richness of the discipline. Don't we say that what counts is not the end, but how you get there? This is precisely what makes the power of knitting and crochet so wonderful!
Especially during the pandemic, many have taken needle in hand and ventured out to start a new hobby. And it must be said that between ball of wool and bamboo stitch, the discipline is still very popular, and for good reason. Learning to knit is not just about making a hat, it's also about enjoying the benefits of knitting needles, trying your hand at something new and putting your creative skills to use!
Here are all the (good) reasons to start knitting, for beginners and some tips on how to use that new needle to create something of your own!
Take up Knitting to De-Stress
Knitting a shawl reduces stress, really? Yes, really! Knits are our best friends when we want to get rid of too many worries and anxieties in our daily lives. Often times, it can seem like there is a definite right and wrong way to craft - however, enjoyment is the only right way to have a hobby!
By immersing oneself in this type of creative leisure that knitting embodies, one allows one's mind to fall back on something other than daily worries, to focus on the making of new socks or the need of mending old mittens. A kind of yoga, or mindfulness meditation, since the challenge here is to concentrate on what you are doing, while evacuating what is happening around you.
In a fast-paced, hectic world where appointments are rushed and stress increases, knitting and circular needles are there to help us relieve stress and slow down. According to the Journal of Occupational Therapy, 81% of knitters report feeling happier after a knitting session. When you take time out of your day to use your creative energy to relax, it can give you peace of mind in he long run.
Relaxing with knitting yarn? It's that easy!
Stimulate Concentration with Knitting
In the same perspective, making a knitted scarf and putting up stitches also allows you to fix your mind on one and only thing: the knitting gesture. A real gymnastics of the mind, which allows to solidify the concentration on the number of stitches, on the pattern, or on the knitting stitch you are making. Right from the start, you need to focus on selecting the appropriate needle size, on the cast of a loop, making the correct loop at the correct time and more.
It seems anecdotal at first, but crocheting, knitting, sewing, all these activities call upon parts of the brain where memory comes into play, as well as the connections between neurons, to the point of fighting Alzheimer's disease, it is said! Just try to knit while holding a conversation - it's really quite hard!
The great part about it is you don't need to buy a ton of expensive materials to try it out. In the UK, find all the sewing courses you need to get started.
Disconnect by Knitting
Focusing, taking time out from anxiety, these are the benefits of knitting a scarf. But between mohair and fancy kits, doesn't it sound like a kind of digital detox? That's precisely one of the many other benefits of knitting: disconnecting.
If only for the time of an embroidery or a single loop or stitch, knitting allows you to take your eyes off the screens and social networks, in order to better find yourself. Because when you're a little involved, it goes without saying that you always want to make the best of your work. And to make add a beautiful twist, you have to concentrate!
And in an era where everyone has their eyes glued to their computer or their phone, such a creative hobby can shake up our habits, and give our daily life a little breath of air, a welcome breath, in order to develop other organs than the eyes...
Taking online sewing classes is also a great way to develop your creativity.
Strengthen Creativity by Learning to Knit
Any haberdashery salesperson will tell you, with all the beginner accessories out there, knowing how to knit, just like taking sewing classes, is learning how to develop your creativity. Knitting is a creative hobby that, let's face it, lives up to its name!
Of course, it is possible to rely on a knitting model, as a kit, but it is also possible to make baby booties according to your imagination when you have already have the knitting basics down. Logically, this reinforces a certain idea of creativity, as well as supporting our artistic sense.
And it turns out that knitting reinforces the esteem that we can have for ourselves by seeing the result. The love of a job well done also includes knitting patterns and stitches!
Start Knitting to Make Gifts
Yes, learning to knit is also having in mind that you can design the piece you want, from scarf to slippers, but also and above all: for whom you want!
A true manual talent, which should be appreciated at its true value, since it opens the doors to the homemade gift. And whoever says home-made, says: made with more heart. For a neighbor, a friend, a niece, a nephew, it is possible to knit an embroidered blanket, or to offer a little extra attention.
This is also the main strength of learning to knit: to be able to add an extra string to your bow, and take the time to show love to your loved ones. But that's not all, far from it. From stitches to balls of yarn to rice stitch, knitting yarn has many other advantages.
Make Your Own Clothes by Knitting
Using a beginner's tutorial or by improvising a turn of the neck, knitting stitches allows you to make your own clothes and accessories. A real asset, which gives the opportunity, when you can't find the cashmere sweater of your dreams in a shop, to make your own, according to your own standards.
Who has never dreamed of a pure red wool sweater? A soft blanket? Of mittens perfectly adapted to your hands? By making them yourself, it is possible!
Yes, learning to knit is not only a way to develop creativity or to stimulate concentration: it allows you to combine all these faculties to produce a handmade object. And what could be more satisfying than to see, after so much effort (and pleasure!), the fruit of one's work?
Find sewing classes near me here on Superprof.
Learn to Knit: be Proud of Yourself
Whether we have used tutorials or our simple merino wool and imagination, knitting is an activity that produces a lot of results. In a public place as well as at the end of a project, it allows to reinforce a certain pride, because we all know it: not everyone is able to produce a striped wool beret!
Any knitter's wardrobe will become a haven of creativity and artistic connection. A cardigan, a hoodie, so many pieces that can be made with effort and patience. Because knitting is also that: to make a garment little by little and piece by piece requires a ton of patience.
At the beginning, any knitter will know how to make a washcloth or a scarf, and at the end, how to make a more complicated cardigan. Learning to knit is to know how to improve step by step and, at the end, to be proud of yourself.
There is no bad reason to start knitting. From complete beginners who don't know how to cast yarn to seasoned experts who know the size of a needle used simply by looking at a piece of clothing. Concrete or more implicit, the benefits are not lacking, and that's why knitting is so popular!
Grab your knitting patterns and get started!
Find sewing classes near me here on Superprof.
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