There’s more to gain from granny crafts than just a new hobby, according to University of Delaware Center for Counseling and Student Development associate clinician Brooke Kohler.
Granny crafts include fiber arts like crocheting, knitting and embroidery. And a lot of young people started picking up granny crafts at the start of the pandemic.
“There's just so many metaphors about life that we can draw from knitting,” Kohler said. “So if something doesn't go exactly according to plan, how are we going to respond to it? Or what do we notice in ourselves? If I get a really tangled up ball of yarn, that might be my knitting for the day.”
Kohler said she recommends people interested in crafting just pick up some knitting needles or quilting fabric and try it out. She added if they don’t like one, it’s okay to move on and try another craft.
Crafting in groups can also have positive effects, like decreased feelings on loneliness and stress.
“Folks getting to come together and maybe not be as isolated – we've seen a lot of research that speaks to it helping with things like friendship or decreasing loneliness and really getting to learn from each other, but also problem solve along the way,” Kohler said. “So there might be some moments when learning a certain type of stitch or pattern is challenging and they might engage with each other.”
Delaware has several knitting and fiber arts groups – including a Meetup group and a Yarn Group at the First Unitarian Church of Wilmington.
Crafting can also have immediate, short-term benefits for adults, like reduced symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. Kohler adds they can also help with emotional regulation, especially in moments of frustration or discomfort.
“If we're literally doing something, like using our hands to knit or crochet, we're doing something different. So we're still able to respond in a way, like we're still interacting with something. But it's not using that same kind of attention span that we might be experiencing through screen time.”
As a slower-paced hobby, knitting and other crafts can help people’s brains focus on one thing and promote feelings of calm and stress relief.
Kohler added knitting and other fiber arts can also be helpful as a wind-down activity in the evening and before going to bed.
