8 Top Reasons Why Crocheting and Knitting Are Good for Your Brain
Looking for the top reasons why crocheting and knitting are good for your brain? Here’s why the internet is becoming obsessed with these hobbies.
17/06/2022
Gone are the days when knitting and crocheting were considered something only grannies do. Anyone who has ever knitted knows precisely how addictive it is. Once you get hooked, nothing will bring you more happiness than a needle and a ball of yarn.
Did you know that crocheting and knitting are good for your brain? It’s incredible that you can stimulate your brain to become healthier by creating something beautiful.
Knitting or crocheting are excellent choices if you are thinking of picking up a creative hobby. Here are eight top reasons why you should consider taking up these two hobbies.
1. Reduces Anxiety
Crocheting and knitting can work wonders in reducing anxiety. When your thoughts are causing you discomfort and inducing anxiety, both these hobbies can help you.
For both these skills, you use your hands. Your hand movements need to be bilateral and coordinated. To ensure that your hand movements are precise, your brain needs to work extra hard.
Repetitive movements help you calm yourself when you are stressed or traumatized. It can help people with PTSD to stay engaged and distracted.
When we knit, we are exposed to various colors and textures. This helps enhance our senses by giving us pleasing visual and tactile feedback to our minds. By stimulating our senses, it helps us relax.
Repetitive movements of knitting and crocheting help release more serotonin. This hormone elevates our mood and makes us calm. Once you know how to knit or crochet, it can reduce the release of cortisol.
2. Elevates Depression
Most people who suffer from depression face anxiety as well. With knitting and crocheting, your anxiety goes down. So, if your depression is tied to your anxiety, these hobbies can also help tone it down.
Those who have depression talk about feeling empty or hollow inside. If you feel like you have nothing, knitting can help give you something constant to hold on to. When things are rough, having something stable of your own can stop you from drowning in nothingness.
People often think that knitting or crocheting is too difficult to learn. If you are looking for an easy way to help you with your depression.
Wondering what is easier? In the knitting vs crocheting debate, the latter is often considered the easier hobby. The easier option may vary from person to person, as some people have a greater affinity toward knitting.
3. Makes You Better at Math!
Imagine getting better at math while crocheting a comfy blanket! When knitting or crocheting a piece, you must plan ahead. This constant measurement and planning for hours can make you better at math.
One particular aspect of mathematics is mental math, which is introduced to children early in learning. They have to learn how to do math in their head without using pencil and paper.
When you learn to crochet or knit, you must do a lot of mental math. So, if a child learns to do these at an early age, they will have enhanced mental math skills. The more they practice, the better they will get at it.
4. Improves Memory
Knitting and crocheting can help improve your
memory. This is because both the skills require
you to use your brain constantly.
You have to
do multiple tasks at once. Not only do you have
to remember what color comes next but also how
many rows of patterns you will need to continue
with your craft.
Since knitting relies on the memory center of our brain and keeps it active. You drive and challenge your memory cells to work harder, which keeps them sharp. Constantly visualizing your project and creating patterns accordingly creates new neuropathways.
This is another way how yarn crafting can make you better at math. Many aspects of math require you to memorize theories and formulas. With improved memory, you will find retaining those aspects of math easier.
5. Helps Reverse Dementia
Knitting and crocheting are great ways to exercise your brain. This is why people who do this have sharper memory for longer. It improves brain health and protects it from degenerative brain diseases. People who practice these hobbies reduce the risk of memory loss by 75%.
Some studies have shown how knitting and crocheting can soothe people with dementia and age-related memory loss. Elderly people who knit will experience a reduction of mild cognitive impairment. Yarn craft can also improve the memory of people who suffer from severe memory loss.
Knitting and crocheting train your brain to think, remember and rationalize. This exercise activates your brain and fires up your neurons, kickstarting your brain cells. So, yarn crafts are a great way to protect your brain's health.
6. Makes You Feel Better About Yourself
When working on a knit winter throw blanket, start by planning. You work through the steps until you finish it. This not only gives you something to invest your time and energy in but once it’s done, you get a great sense of accomplishment.
Seeing your hard work and planning coming to life can make you feel great about yourself. The fact that you could make something so beautiful improves your self-esteem. The serotonin boost improves your mood and also makes you feel happy.
7. Enhances Focus
Knitting and crocheting take a lot of patience and focus. You must know exactly what you are doing and keep your attention on the task. Concentrating hard on your yarn craft improves your capacity to focus.
Some people find it naturally difficult to focus on things. This kind of hyperactivity can be tamed and controlled with yarn craft. By focusing on knitting, you can retrain yourself to focus. Using the needles also works like a fidget toy, as they keep your hands busy.
If you constantly suffer from brain fog and find it difficult to concentrate, crocheting and knitting are great ways to improve your capacity. Such all-consuming activities can help you learn how to become better at focusing.
8. Aids in Meditation
Did you know that yarn craft is extremely meditative? Many studies have shown how beneficial meditation is for our mind and body. What makes knitting and crocheting so meditative is how you can completely immerse yourself in them.
Our body likes patterns. Not only does it improve your motor skills, but it puts you in a pattern. By breathing in a pattern, and moving your hands in a natural rhythm, you are put in a state of relaxation.
Most people go into a lull state, where they don't think. Especially when they become good at yarn craft, it comes to them naturally. You won't have to think as much; just continue with the activity calmly.
If you let the motion of your needle and your breathing flow together, it will put you in a deep meditative state. This will clear your mind, relax your body, and put you in a state of ease.
Some people struggle with meditation, so yarn craft can be an easier way to meditate without fighting hard to concentrate.
Final Thoughts
We hope these top reasons why knitting and
crocheting are good for your brains give you
more zeal to continue with the yarn craft. Now
that you know that knitting can help improve
your memory and prevent dementia, you can use it
to retrain your brain.
Use yarn craft to help
you relax and meditate. It will help you
destress, reduce anxiety and fight off
depression. You will get a sense of
accomplishment and even get better at math!