I’m so jealous of your progress! I started knitting last February and within a week got a repetitive wrist injury that didn’t get better with switching methods. I’ve been trying to heal it all year but it’s rebounded! All the while, I’m obsessively wondering when I can return. Your sentence about obsessively thinking about yarn so resonated with me. I still think about it, yet have no experience. For ref, I have pots, cfs and easily hurt my joints but apparently don’t have a hypermobility disorder according to doctors. My life story aside, I’ve noticed that the different methods of knitting feel different in my body. English feels like poetry and flows while continental feels oppressive, like I’m a machine or somehow fighting the movement of my soul. Portuguese is lovely, and the one I want to return to because it contains poetry and dance, like English, but was easier on my hands. Anyway, I love where your thoughts are headed on this. Looking forward to more
That sucks, it’s so frustrating to have to stop for a long time! I love what you’re saying about the different styles, my favorite so far is Portuguese because it feels the best for my hands too, and I like how putting the yarn around my neck makes me feel like my whole body is part of it.
I’ve never been able to grasp knitting/crochet but machine sewing, cross-stitch, embroidery? Absolutely. I’ve finally gotten to the point I can hold a conversation while doing any of those and I feel amazing about that.
I started learning to sew last year too!! But then my machine broke 😩sort of hoping if I leave it alone long enough I will turn it back on one day and it will have fixed itself… 🤞
Depending on the model, sometimes that’s it! But as someone with four vintage sewing machines… your best bet is usually dusting it, checking the tension, then adding a teeny (so teeny!) bit of sewing machine oil in parts the model will allow (sadly the places are not universal or consistent amongst brands). But do that on a day you don’t intend on using it, just give yourself some time to say hello again and listen to it.
It also made me think (sans knitting needles, I'm afraid)...
Ancestrally, any cognitive problem-solving likely also involved physical activity.
Hunting and foraging have both mental and physical components. Even social conversation (a cognitive activity) likely took place alongside other physical chores, for the sake of efficiency.
Maybe our brains evolved such that cognition *needs* complementary motor action – a way to balance nervous system inputs.
And you've naturally found a way to restore that balance and quieten some of the unnecessary mental inputs.
I love this so much! I’ve been thinking some things along the same lines but of course didn’t have the wherewithal to actually do the research, lol. I’ve also been thinking about … something about the objects that get made too, something about the production of actual useful materials, bringing the means of production back into our hands and home—a similar impulse for me as folks who want to grow their own food, build their own homes, etc.
Yes! I didn’t go into it bc I’m trying to ~edit~ lol but there’s a link at the end to a paper I came across while researching about the arts and crafts movement of the 19th century and how it was a socialist response to industrialization and machine-made goods. Totally see an echo of that happening now re: AI
Lovely piece, thanks. I also use it as a way of slowing the mind, escaping the phone, sinking into a meditative state. I'll never be great at it ( see my post on "shitty crafts" for confirmation). But I love it; like doing the Rosary, but with that added immediate and tangible result that we bloody capitalist subjects are so addicted towards. Sharing here that DC, SC, DC, SC, has been with me this past year and has been very satisfying. Makes a cool pattern, easy to do with half the mind on focus, half on a slow train of thought about something else. I suppose knit one, pearl one, must do the same for my two-sticked siblings in craft.
Love the brain explanation for why I love knitting and beading. Multitasking impossible. Conversation welcomed. Silence and alone just as yummy when needed. And having “third place” ? I had to look it up. Used to be church, or bowling, or sports gathering. A place to belong. Lovely. Thank you. 🧶Cynthia
about this you should read about the soviet philosopher and psychologist evald ilyenkov, watch the “talking hands” documentary on YouTube, they developed the concept of thinging long before it started to become relevant in the west https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WFuQVZhCiAA&pp=ygUodGFsa2luZyBoYW5kcyBldmFsZCBpbHllbmtvdiBkb2N1bWVudGFyeQ%3D%3D
Absolutely loved reading this & looking forward to deep diving into the concept more, thank you so much for writing this!
I am a doodler- many annoyed managers etc have been left in my wake from doing this in meetings.
I’m so jealous of your progress! I started knitting last February and within a week got a repetitive wrist injury that didn’t get better with switching methods. I’ve been trying to heal it all year but it’s rebounded! All the while, I’m obsessively wondering when I can return. Your sentence about obsessively thinking about yarn so resonated with me. I still think about it, yet have no experience. For ref, I have pots, cfs and easily hurt my joints but apparently don’t have a hypermobility disorder according to doctors. My life story aside, I’ve noticed that the different methods of knitting feel different in my body. English feels like poetry and flows while continental feels oppressive, like I’m a machine or somehow fighting the movement of my soul. Portuguese is lovely, and the one I want to return to because it contains poetry and dance, like English, but was easier on my hands. Anyway, I love where your thoughts are headed on this. Looking forward to more
That sucks, it’s so frustrating to have to stop for a long time! I love what you’re saying about the different styles, my favorite so far is Portuguese because it feels the best for my hands too, and I like how putting the yarn around my neck makes me feel like my whole body is part of it.
Loved this. Knitting gives me something to do when I am sitting still that stops me from picking my skin!
I’ve never been able to grasp knitting/crochet but machine sewing, cross-stitch, embroidery? Absolutely. I’ve finally gotten to the point I can hold a conversation while doing any of those and I feel amazing about that.
I started learning to sew last year too!! But then my machine broke 😩sort of hoping if I leave it alone long enough I will turn it back on one day and it will have fixed itself… 🤞
Depending on the model, sometimes that’s it! But as someone with four vintage sewing machines… your best bet is usually dusting it, checking the tension, then adding a teeny (so teeny!) bit of sewing machine oil in parts the model will allow (sadly the places are not universal or consistent amongst brands). But do that on a day you don’t intend on using it, just give yourself some time to say hello again and listen to it.
This tracks. My way too fast brain needs to talk about knitting and then to do some actual knitting.
I don’t get how doodling or knitting/crocheting could be seen as rude. That’s ‘rudeness’ as enforcing normative behaviour.
I can barely sit through a meeting without crocheting.
Loved this article thanks!
Great article. I love your creations.
It also made me think (sans knitting needles, I'm afraid)...
Ancestrally, any cognitive problem-solving likely also involved physical activity.
Hunting and foraging have both mental and physical components. Even social conversation (a cognitive activity) likely took place alongside other physical chores, for the sake of efficiency.
Maybe our brains evolved such that cognition *needs* complementary motor action – a way to balance nervous system inputs.
And you've naturally found a way to restore that balance and quieten some of the unnecessary mental inputs.
I love this so much! I’ve been thinking some things along the same lines but of course didn’t have the wherewithal to actually do the research, lol. I’ve also been thinking about … something about the objects that get made too, something about the production of actual useful materials, bringing the means of production back into our hands and home—a similar impulse for me as folks who want to grow their own food, build their own homes, etc.
Yes! I didn’t go into it bc I’m trying to ~edit~ lol but there’s a link at the end to a paper I came across while researching about the arts and crafts movement of the 19th century and how it was a socialist response to industrialization and machine-made goods. Totally see an echo of that happening now re: AI
Lovely piece, thanks. I also use it as a way of slowing the mind, escaping the phone, sinking into a meditative state. I'll never be great at it ( see my post on "shitty crafts" for confirmation). But I love it; like doing the Rosary, but with that added immediate and tangible result that we bloody capitalist subjects are so addicted towards. Sharing here that DC, SC, DC, SC, has been with me this past year and has been very satisfying. Makes a cool pattern, easy to do with half the mind on focus, half on a slow train of thought about something else. I suppose knit one, pearl one, must do the same for my two-sticked siblings in craft.
Love the brain explanation for why I love knitting and beading. Multitasking impossible. Conversation welcomed. Silence and alone just as yummy when needed. And having “third place” ? I had to look it up. Used to be church, or bowling, or sports gathering. A place to belong. Lovely. Thank you. 🧶Cynthia