Erika Knight - Keep Calm Cast on: Good Advice for Knitters

Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesnt hurt the untroubled spirit, either.

ELIZABETH ZIMMERMANN
WRITER AND KNITTER (19101999),
KNITTING WITHOUT TEARS, 1971

While the ball band will give the manufacturers recommended stitch and row count over a certain measurement, you must also always check your own tension over the stitch pattern to be used. If your tension varies by even one stitch or row from that given in the pattern, change your needle size up or down accordingly. Over a larger piece, any differences will be exaggerated.

Betsan Corkhill, a former physiotherapist, identified that maximum doses of medication for depression were relatively ineffective if issues of low-self esteem and anxiety were not addressed. Going on to work on craft magazines, Betsan was surprised by the volume of readers correspondence extolling the health benefits of knitting from reducing pain levels to alleviating suicidal thoughts. Inspired by this anecdotal evidence, Betsan founded Stitchlinks in 2005, an organisation dedicated to researching the therapeutic effects of knitting and stitching.

Knitting is a distinct virtue. Its reflective and repetitive. Whenever you are engaged in doing a purely repetitive thing, your mind can reflect upon life.

GEOFFREY FISHER (18871972)
ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

If you find the last stitch of your cast-off edge is loose, pointy and looks unsightly, this technique will ensure a neat finish. Cast off the stitches on your final row until just one last stitch remains on the left-hand needle. Place the tip of the right-hand needle into the row below the last stitch on the left-hand needle. Knit this stitch then pull the strand of yarn to tighten the loop. Fasten off the last stitch as usual.

Knit for someone else, such as a charity or a relief effort, and you will enjoy the feel-good factor gained from knowing you have helped someone else. Helpers high is the term coined by Robert Cialdini, Professor of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University, to describe the euphoria reported by frequent givers in his research.

Knitting Its like having a nice cup of tea with a big spoonful of honey, isnt it? My childhood was spent rugged up in woolly jumpers and handmade socks, building treehouses, picking blackberries and scooping tadpoles from ponds. When I wasnt building, picking or scooping, I was tucked up next to the fire, watching my Mum and my Nanna making those very socks and jumpers. Their needles clacked andthey chattered, we sipped tea and stared at the fire. It felt cosy and safe and happy and right. Knitting is a link back to those clacky, cosy days. Knitting is about the happy colourful nostalgia and my own personal history. Its a comfort, a meditation and a nod to the ladies I love the most.

PIP LINCOLNE
PROPRIETOR OF MEET ME AT MIKES,
WRITER, BLOGGER AND KNITTER

A good friend always says Every fault a fashion. By this she means, do not regard your mistakes as errors, instead turn them into creative learning experiences. This lesson has stood me in very good stead over my years and experiments as a knitter.

Stitchlinks aims to help everyone to live a positive life, not only those with a diagnosed medical condition. Using their chosen tools of knitting, stitching and crochet, the practise of a craft can benefit even those who are fit and healthy, enhancing their wellbeing and encouraging positive living.

Then she picked up her knitting and began to knit, slowly at first, since her fingers were stiff and rheumatic when she first awoke, but very soon her pace grew faster, and her fingers lost their painful stiffness. Another day, said Miss Marple to herself, greeting the fact with her usual gentle pleasure.

AGATHA CHRISTIE
WRITER (18901976),
AT BETRAMS HOTEL, 1965

The rhythmic repetitive action of knitting is beneficial in tangibly managing stress, pain and depression, and even strengthening the bodys immune system.

There are many different methods for sewing up a garment: choose the one that best suits your particular project, based on the content of the yarn used as well as the qualities of knitted fabric. It pays to think ahead. Consider the seaming method you plan to use before starting to knit. For example, you may want to add an extra stitch to each edge if they will be absorbed into the seams. Many knitters hand sew their seams with invisible stitch, running stitch or backstitch. Others machine stitch their work whilst some knitters prefer to crochet seams together.

To sew up your garment, use invisible stitch otherwise known as mattress stitch but in any contrast colour yarn. The contrast thread means you can see exactly where the stitches are placed, but the final effect of the invisible stitch means they will not show through on the finished garment.

I now knit to relieve work stress and create clothes that I feel proud wearing. I dont feel that empty bored feeling any more. I also dont snack at night any more and that has helped me lose a few pounds. I get a buzz from just reading a knitting magazine or feeling difficult textures in the shop. Im also part of a knitting group who, although I dont see them often, make me feel as though there are people out there as passionate if not more so about it than me, makes me feel part of a community.

MEMBER OF STITCHLINKS

It is also true of devoted knitters that they immediately feel a connection and camaraderie when meeting a fellow knitter. There is a sense of trust that opens a door into conversation and often leads to deep, long-lasting friendships.

NANCY THOMAS & ILANA RABINOWITZ
A PASSION FOR KNITTING, 2002