Why Knitting?

As the weather cools, our brand-new Knitting Club is certainly heating up!

To be honest, it started because I happen to be a new knitter and I'm really enjoying it. But it turns out there's some strong evidence to support why we should encourage knitting in schools.

Sonnier et al. (2023) conducted a study on the impacts of knitting on students and concluded that knitting creates a flow state similar to focused meditation. This fosters a sense of calm and improves concentration. The researchers even suggest that it can place young people in a more favourable cognitive state for academic learning.

There's also evidence that knitting can significantly improve student wellbeing. It's an activity that fosters creativity and provides an opportunity for visual task completion, which gives participants a wonderful sense of satisfaction (Howard et al., 2022). Hermann (2023) also found that it helped with emotional regulation and that participants gained a sense of happiness from being part of a task-oriented group.

It's been fantastic to see so many students joining us on Mondays at lunchtime in the library. All skill levels are warmly welcomed, and it's the perfect way for students to relax and get creative during lunch.

If they're able, it's really helpful if students can bring their own super chunky wool and 15mm needles if they're beginners. Don't worry if they don't have them though; we have a limited supply in the library that they can use.

We're thrilled with the growing numbers and would love to see even more students join us. Come on down and join the fun- we can't wait to see what amazing creations they'll stitch up!