New inspiration

As I wrote in my last post I participated in the knitting class taught by Britt-Marie Christoffersson. Katie asked how it was, and well, it was awesome! It was great inspiration and it made me want to try and think about knitting in a slightly new way. I'd like to experiment more with knitting than I do at the moment. During the class we all tried out different stitch patterns, which Britt-Marie had used in the exhibition. Here's how my swatches turned out. I didn't pay that much attention to the color combo - I wanted to just knit as much as I could while having Britt-Marie around helping out.






















I think that these swatches have helped guiding me in the direction of more experimentation and exploration. Now that would be fun!

Swatches on Parade

Last weekend I went to an exhibition - a knitting exhibition. It was the Swedish knitter Britt-Marie Christoffersson who displayed her experiments in knitting. The main elements are what we would call swatches, all in the same size (40 x 40 cm), and it made up a beautiful coherence even though they were all very different. There were also a few knitted sweaters. With the exhibition she intends to contribute to a development of the craft, as she finds it somehow stagnated. It was so inspiring and I loved the way she used colors and shapes.

More photos on Flickr

She was also teaching a knitting class (which I participated in) during the weekend so I caught her with my camera. She was such a nice and friendly lady.

Knitting prevents stress, depression, pain and dementia

As knitters we tend to believe this but until now it has only been a claim. At the moment it is being further investigated and scientists are about to show us that it is not just the actual occupation that causes the positive effect.

Yesterday I read a small paragraph in the local university newspaper. It shortly introduced a research project about the therapeutic benefits of knitting and other needlework, which is currently up and running. A bit of googling lead me to other articles about this exciting project. Anecdotal evidence has been collected since 2005 by ex senior physiotherapist Betsan Corkhill, who launched the project together with scientists from various universities. One of the claims is that knitting activates the same areas in the brain as meditation because of the rhythmic repetitive movements. These kinds of movements has shown to prevent pain and depression.

Apparently, knitting also leads to improved communication. Personally I reckon that as a fact due to my experiences from the different knitting groups I participate in now and then. Another interesting view on the benefits of knitting is the effect of color and texture, which Corkhill counts as important influences on our lives. People who suffer from depression is said to live in a world of gray. So bring on the colors and stave off depression!

For further reading check out these articles. Betsan Corkhill also created the site stitchlinks and she has a blog too.

Happy knitting!