Uploaded October 2023 | Updated September 2026, 45 minutes ago
You Know That Knitting Is Good for You. Now You Can Explain Why.
Everyone's knitting story is different, but we all have a sense that knitting is good for us. Knitting really did save my life (read the full story here) when I developed an eating disorder after college. I lost all interest in my hobbies and forgot that I liked to knit. I ended up in an eating disorder treatment center and lucky for me, the "craft lady" who came on Thursdays brought some needles and yarn.
"A Basket of Yarn Is a Basket of Potential" - Betsan Corkhill
For a knitter, the possibilities that a basket of yarn holds are what gives you hope for tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. They turn your thoughts towards creativity, producing something, turning yarn into a project. They turn your thoughts positively towards tomorrow and the joys it will bring. Perhaps this explains why knitters "therapeutically" add to their stash, even when they have enough yarn to last for yarns?
Betsan Corkhill, the universally recognized expert on the therapeutic benefits of knitting, surveyed over 3,500 knitters from 31 countries to understand how knitting can be so healing. She wrote Knit for Health & Wellness: How to knit a flexible mind & more... In this 90-second clip, she breaks down the power that knitting has to affect and turn around even the most powerful negative thoughts.
How Knitting Can Make You Mentally More Resilient Within Days
Suicidal thoughts - negative, depressing thoughts - are ruminative in nature and take place in the subconscious. They repeat and pile up on each other, magnifying each other until the thinker is buried under a repetitive stream of negative thoughts. These pathways become more and more entrenched the longer this continues.
Why Knitting is Literally More Effective Than Drugs In Rewiring the Brain
In this clip, Betsan explains how knitting is more powerful than drugs in reaching into the subconscious and rewiring entrenched negative neural pathways. Knitting replaced ruminative, negative thoughts with more positive thoughts of tomorrow. Knitting gives people pleasure today and hope for the future.
On the Surface, Knitting Is Seen as Fun, Relaxing, and Creative. In Reality It Penetrates to the Depths of the Subconscious.
“Knitting seems to break into those ruminative thoughts” - Betsan Corkhill.
For me, knitting absolutely did turn my life around and pointed my thoughts in a positive direction instead of focusing on weight and weight loss. I rediscovered my love of knitting and my knack for teaching at the same time, helping the other girls in the center with their cast-ons and bind-offs and making a pair of flap-top mittens until I quickly realized I was ready to face the outside world again. A job in a yarn store soon followed, and then a 13-year career as a knitting video instructor and always-learning entrepreneur.
Today I find myself in the beginning stages of a major life upheaval. I've also started my first knitting project in as long as I can remember (in Mexico it's just too hot to knit). This 90-second video clip re-inspired me to start knitting again and reconnect with its soothing, positive influence.
Having a Knitting Project Can Help, Even if You Can't Knit Every Day
Doesn't it help to know, in the back of your mind, that you have your knitting with you should things get dull? Isn't it like a security blanket, there for you if and when you need it? I think so.
These Two Sneaky Habits Can Make Knitting a Negative
We knitters love to see knitting as universally positive or a cure-all, and clips like this are sometimes just what we need to hear to reinforce our beliefs that knitting is 100% positive. But watch out for two bad habits that might make your knitting less enjoyable.
Knitting Until Your Hands Hurt
I've received literally hundreds of comments on my How to Relieve Knitting Hand Pain With One Simple Trick blog post (my most popular blog post on KnitFreedom by far) with people telling me they've spent months knitting late into the night, captivated by this wonderful new hobby, only to find themselves in debilitating pain. Read the rest of the article here: new.knitfreedom.com/blog/betsan-corkhill
Please leave me a comment and let me know how interesting this was for you, on a scale of 1-10. What was the most interesting thing about this for you? Thank you!
Thank you so much for your feedback and see you next Wednesday with another eye-opening video clip.
Love,
Liat
Special thanks to Kristy Glass Knits for her in-depth interview with Betsan Corkhill. You can find the complete interview here: youtube.com/watch?v=ujY79nFUDVY
You Know That Knitting Is Good for You. Now You Can Explain Why.
Everyone's knitting story is different, but we all have a sense that knitting is good for us. Knitting really did save my life (read the full story here) when I developed an eating disorder after college. I lost all interest in my hobbies and forgot that I liked to knit. I ended up in an eating disorder treatment center and lucky for me, the "craft lady" who came on Thursdays brought some needles and yarn.
"A Basket of Yarn Is a Basket of Potential" - Betsan Corkhill
For a knitter, the possibilities that a basket of yarn holds are what gives you hope for tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. They turn your thoughts towards creativity, producing something, turning yarn into a project. They turn your thoughts positively towards tomorrow and the joys it will bring. Perhaps this explains why knitters "therapeutically" add to their stash, even when they have enough yarn to last for yarns?
Betsan Corkhill, the universally recognized expert on the therapeutic benefits of knitting, surveyed over 3,500 knitters from 31 countries to understand how knitting can be so healing. She wrote Knit for Health & Wellness: How to knit a flexible mind & more... In this 90-second clip, she breaks down the power that knitting has to affect and turn around even the most powerful negative thoughts.
How Knitting Can Make You Mentally More Resilient Within Days
Suicidal thoughts - negative, depressing thoughts - are ruminative in nature and take place in the subconscious. They repeat and pile up on each other, magnifying each other until the thinker is buried under a repetitive stream of negative thoughts. These pathways become more and more entrenched the longer this continues.
Why Knitting is Literally More Effective Than Drugs In Rewiring the Brain
In this clip, Betsan explains how knitting is more powerful than drugs in reaching into the subconscious and rewiring entrenched negative neural pathways. Knitting replaced ruminative, negative thoughts with more positive thoughts of tomorrow. Knitting gives people pleasure today and hope for the future.
On the Surface, Knitting Is Seen as Fun, Relaxing, and Creative. In Reality It Penetrates to the Depths of the Subconscious.
“Knitting seems to break into those ruminative thoughts” - Betsan Corkhill.
For me, knitting absolutely did turn my life around and pointed my thoughts in a positive direction instead of focusing on weight and weight loss. I rediscovered my love of knitting and my knack for teaching at the same time, helping the other girls in the center with their cast-ons and bind-offs and making a pair of flap-top mittens until I quickly realized I was ready to face the outside world again. A job in a yarn store soon followed, and then a 13-year career as a knitting video instructor and always-learning entrepreneur.
Today I find myself in the beginning stages of a major life upheaval. I've also started my first knitting project in as long as I can remember (in Mexico it's just too hot to knit). This 90-second video clip re-inspired me to start knitting again and reconnect with its soothing, positive influence.
Having a Knitting Project Can Help, Even if You Can't Knit Every Day
Doesn't it help to know, in the back of your mind, that you have your knitting with you should things get dull? Isn't it like a security blanket, there for you if and when you need it? I think so.
These Two Sneaky Habits Can Make Knitting a Negative
We knitters love to see knitting as universally positive or a cure-all, and clips like this are sometimes just what we need to hear to reinforce our beliefs that knitting is 100% positive. But watch out for two bad habits that might make your knitting less enjoyable.
Knitting Until Your Hands Hurt
I've received literally hundreds of comments on my How to Relieve Knitting Hand Pain With One Simple Trick blog post (my most popular blog post on KnitFreedom by far) with people telling me they've spent months knitting late into the night, captivated by this wonderful new hobby, only to find themselves in debilitating pain. Read the rest of the article here: new.knitfreedom.com/blog/betsan-corkhill
Please leave me a comment and let me know how interesting this was for you, on a scale of 1-10. What was the most interesting thing about this for you? Thank you!
Thank you so much for your feedback and see you next Wednesday with another eye-opening video clip.
Love,
Liat
Special thanks to Kristy Glass Knits for her in-depth interview with Betsan Corkhill. You can find the complete interview here: youtube.com/watch?v=ujY79nFUDVY
![[KnitFreedom] Undo Knitting - Removing Knit and Purl Stitches One by One](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SUwAVZsf-KU/mqdefault.jpg "[KnitFreedom] Undo Knitting - Removing Knit and Purl Stitches One by One
https://www.knitfreedom.com/knitting-video/removing-knit-and-purl-stitches-one-by-one/
How to remove or take out knit and/or purl stitches one by one from your knitting. Fixing knitting mistakes, tinking, taking out stitches, removing mistakes in your knitting.")
![[KnitFreedom] - How To Darn Socks And Mend Holes In Knitting](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SXD3TdbpDbM/mqdefault.jpg "[KnitFreedom] - How To Darn Socks And Mend Holes In Knitting
https://www.knitfreedom.com/blog/how-to-darn-socks-and-fix-holes-in-knitting/
If this video saved you some stress feel free to support my channel and buy me a coffee:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/knitfreedom
To darn socks or mend a hole in knitting, first clean up the edges as best you can by trimming yarn ends that are sticking out. Use a crochet hook to re-knit any stitches that have fallen out.
Using a tapestry needle, weave a thin thread through the stitches vertically to create some structure. Then, cut as many pieces of yarn as you have rows missing.
Weave one end of yarn horizontally over and under through the thin threads. Then use a crochet hook to re-knit that row of stitches. Repeat for as many rows as are missing, starting at the bottom and working your way up.
Finally, use a tapestry needle and your yarn to graft the last row of stitches closed.")
![[KnitFreedom] | Two-at-a-Time | Troubleshooting - Avoid Tangles When Knitting Two-at-a-Time](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Tq8xO4B0WMM/mqdefault.jpg "[KnitFreedom] | Two-at-a-Time | Troubleshooting - Avoid Tangles When Knitting Two-at-a-Time
https://www.knitfreedom.com/knitting-video/keep-yarn-from-tangling-on-two-at-a-time-socks/
Learn more knitting tricks at https://www.knitfreedom.com/knitting-videos/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq8xO4B0WMM")
