More and more people are discovering that the two disciplines are strangely complementary. But is there any reason?
Just under a decade ago, knitting got pretty exciting. Casting off its dowdy image, it became the hobby of choice for many, with East End pubs stuffed with pint-downing knitters churning out woolly grenades and craft groups such as Cast Off being chucked out of the Savoy for clicking their needles too loudly.
Things are more sedate these days. So sedate, in fact, that former rabble-rousers are just as likely to be found in the yoga studio as propping up the bar. "I realised, to my horror, that at the age of 33 I had used up a lifetime's quota of impact on my wrists, forearms and shoulder blades," explains Rachael Matthews, Cast Off's founder and now a knitting-shop owner. "As my skills developed, and my productivity increased, so my body started to complain. I started yoga five years ago to help counteract the effects."
She's certainly not the only knitting yogi out there. Tara Stiles, one of New York's most-wanted yoga teachers (and a somewhat controversial figure), is a yarn devotee, stitching up woolly gifts each week to dish out to her legion of fans on YouTube (at last count she had over 16m views). Next week she launches a range of yoga-inspired knitting kits for Swiss DIY fashion brand Wool and the Gang, a company that can boast just as many cool points, putting a fresh twist on an ancient tradition.
This is no random collaboration, Stiles assures me. Though many knitters turn to yoga to soothe strained backs and stiff wrists, the discipline has a more interesting relationship with knitting than simply as a remedy for over-worked crafters. "Knitting feels very meditative, like all the yoga stuff I do," she explains. "Because you're doing a similar pattern over and over, it becomes very calming. It has that effect that yoga and meditation have, that you stop thinking about all the things you have to do, and you're brought right into the moment."
It might be easy to scoff, but she's hardly the first person to acknowledge the meditative quality of crafting. Einstein is said to have knitted to clear his mind, while textile designer Kaffe Fassett thinks it's "the most therapeutic thing in the world". Juliet Bernard, editor-at-large of The Knitter and founder of Planet Handmade, raves about both. "They help to take me away from the daily stresses and strains," she explains. "I try to start each day with sun salutations and end it with some knitting."
You'll find no finer champion of the craft's healing abilities than Betsan Corkhill, founder of Stitchlinks, an organisation with the aim of learning more about the feel-good effects of knitting. She's worked tirelessly since 2005 to prove that it's a hobby worth picking up, and earlier this year the physiotherapist-turned-knitting-therapist co-authored a study published in the British Journal of Occupational Therapy. The results were impressive: 47% of survey respondents said that knitting "usually" or "definitely" helped them to think through problems, 37% reported that it helped them to forget them and 39% believed that it helped them organise their thoughts. A huge 61% felt it helped them concentrate, too.
To really get the gist of why yoga and knitting aren't such strange bedfellows, you need to understand a bit about what's going on behind the scenes. In the same way as yoga uses physical movements to affect a change in your state of mind, so too does knitting. "It's the rhythmic, repetitive movements that are important," Corkhill explains. Like a metronome, the rhythm of working the same stitch over and over again calms the heart rate and breathing, creating a feeling of stability and inner quiet. Much like executing a series of yogi asanas (poses) over and over again. And while you muse over how to execute a stitch – or a pose – those problems that threatened overwhelm you as you left the office can take a backseat.
That said, not everyone has the same experience. "People say knitting is more relaxing than yoga, but I completely disagree," says Miranda Easton, a magazine editor-turned-yoga teacher. A friend invited me to a knitting lesson recently for her birthday, but I was the dunce of the class. So stressful and not fun at all. Yoga, on the other hand, is like a moving meditation for me; the minute I roll out my mat I instantly feel calmer." Knitwear designer Jeanette Sloan takes a the opposite view: "I spent my first yoga class feeling really stressed about whether I was doing the poses correctly. On the other hand, the rhythm and repetition of knitting means it is amazingly relaxing."
Such discrepant views don't challenge the comparison – if anything, they show just how similar the pastimes truly are. Without mastering the basics of either, you really can't enjoy them to their full extent. It's only once you have got into a sort of flow – a term readily used by both sides to describe the feeling of being totally engaged with the process – that you can reap the full benefits.
And it seems both yoga and knitting fans are starting to recognise the benefit of the other. "A lot of people are seeing a similarity in lifestyle," says Stiles. "The girl who practices yoga every day is probably the same girl knitting." I know many more crafters taking up yoga in Britain too, including Jane Toft, editor-in-chief of The Simple Things, a magazine that celebrates the small things which give day to day life meaning. "I have seen a huge shift towards the desire to live a simpler life. Knitting and yoga are both activities that can induce mindfulness, they both leave you feeling more in touch with the real world. As more of us are sucked into a digital world, anything that can help us get back in touch with the here and now is bound to rise in popularity."
So what about you? Does purling help you unwind more than posing ever will? Or does the thought of swapping your yoga mat for a set of needles leave you feeling more anxious than assured? Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 day ago.
Just under a decade ago, knitting got pretty exciting. Casting off its dowdy image, it became the hobby of choice for many, with East End pubs stuffed with pint-downing knitters churning out woolly grenades and craft groups such as Cast Off being chucked out of the Savoy for clicking their needles too loudly.
Things are more sedate these days. So sedate, in fact, that former rabble-rousers are just as likely to be found in the yoga studio as propping up the bar. "I realised, to my horror, that at the age of 33 I had used up a lifetime's quota of impact on my wrists, forearms and shoulder blades," explains Rachael Matthews, Cast Off's founder and now a knitting-shop owner. "As my skills developed, and my productivity increased, so my body started to complain. I started yoga five years ago to help counteract the effects."
She's certainly not the only knitting yogi out there. Tara Stiles, one of New York's most-wanted yoga teachers (and a somewhat controversial figure), is a yarn devotee, stitching up woolly gifts each week to dish out to her legion of fans on YouTube (at last count she had over 16m views). Next week she launches a range of yoga-inspired knitting kits for Swiss DIY fashion brand Wool and the Gang, a company that can boast just as many cool points, putting a fresh twist on an ancient tradition.
This is no random collaboration, Stiles assures me. Though many knitters turn to yoga to soothe strained backs and stiff wrists, the discipline has a more interesting relationship with knitting than simply as a remedy for over-worked crafters. "Knitting feels very meditative, like all the yoga stuff I do," she explains. "Because you're doing a similar pattern over and over, it becomes very calming. It has that effect that yoga and meditation have, that you stop thinking about all the things you have to do, and you're brought right into the moment."
It might be easy to scoff, but she's hardly the first person to acknowledge the meditative quality of crafting. Einstein is said to have knitted to clear his mind, while textile designer Kaffe Fassett thinks it's "the most therapeutic thing in the world". Juliet Bernard, editor-at-large of The Knitter and founder of Planet Handmade, raves about both. "They help to take me away from the daily stresses and strains," she explains. "I try to start each day with sun salutations and end it with some knitting."
You'll find no finer champion of the craft's healing abilities than Betsan Corkhill, founder of Stitchlinks, an organisation with the aim of learning more about the feel-good effects of knitting. She's worked tirelessly since 2005 to prove that it's a hobby worth picking up, and earlier this year the physiotherapist-turned-knitting-therapist co-authored a study published in the British Journal of Occupational Therapy. The results were impressive: 47% of survey respondents said that knitting "usually" or "definitely" helped them to think through problems, 37% reported that it helped them to forget them and 39% believed that it helped them organise their thoughts. A huge 61% felt it helped them concentrate, too.
To really get the gist of why yoga and knitting aren't such strange bedfellows, you need to understand a bit about what's going on behind the scenes. In the same way as yoga uses physical movements to affect a change in your state of mind, so too does knitting. "It's the rhythmic, repetitive movements that are important," Corkhill explains. Like a metronome, the rhythm of working the same stitch over and over again calms the heart rate and breathing, creating a feeling of stability and inner quiet. Much like executing a series of yogi asanas (poses) over and over again. And while you muse over how to execute a stitch – or a pose – those problems that threatened overwhelm you as you left the office can take a backseat.
That said, not everyone has the same experience. "People say knitting is more relaxing than yoga, but I completely disagree," says Miranda Easton, a magazine editor-turned-yoga teacher. A friend invited me to a knitting lesson recently for her birthday, but I was the dunce of the class. So stressful and not fun at all. Yoga, on the other hand, is like a moving meditation for me; the minute I roll out my mat I instantly feel calmer." Knitwear designer Jeanette Sloan takes a the opposite view: "I spent my first yoga class feeling really stressed about whether I was doing the poses correctly. On the other hand, the rhythm and repetition of knitting means it is amazingly relaxing."
Such discrepant views don't challenge the comparison – if anything, they show just how similar the pastimes truly are. Without mastering the basics of either, you really can't enjoy them to their full extent. It's only once you have got into a sort of flow – a term readily used by both sides to describe the feeling of being totally engaged with the process – that you can reap the full benefits.
And it seems both yoga and knitting fans are starting to recognise the benefit of the other. "A lot of people are seeing a similarity in lifestyle," says Stiles. "The girl who practices yoga every day is probably the same girl knitting." I know many more crafters taking up yoga in Britain too, including Jane Toft, editor-in-chief of The Simple Things, a magazine that celebrates the small things which give day to day life meaning. "I have seen a huge shift towards the desire to live a simpler life. Knitting and yoga are both activities that can induce mindfulness, they both leave you feeling more in touch with the real world. As more of us are sucked into a digital world, anything that can help us get back in touch with the here and now is bound to rise in popularity."
So what about you? Does purling help you unwind more than posing ever will? Or does the thought of swapping your yoga mat for a set of needles leave you feeling more anxious than assured? Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 day ago.