Health Benefits of Crocheting

Arts and crafts are more than just a fun pastime, they’re truly healing and restorative and are actually very therapeutic. In fact, the healing benefits of crocheting (and knitting) are numerous.
 
These health benefits of learning a new craft like crochet range from simply calming you down and easing your stress to potentially relieving depression and reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Learn our favorite 7 Surprising Health Benefits of Crocheting with this page of insights.

Crocheting doesn’t just help you if you’re the one who’s sick – it helps the caregivers around you, your friends and family that help you, love you and support you. It’s also a very good craft to pick up as a hobby for group therapy sessions, as you’re healing together in a group without having the focus completely on you.

There are so many benefits of crochet, so whether you’re stressed out and can’t sleep or are doing your part to help slow down Alzheimer’s, you’ll be doing yourself and your health a favor.

1. Crocheting helps with insomnia.

By focusing on something that’s easy, repetitive and soothing, like crochet projects, you can calm down your mind and body enough to let you fall asleep. So the next time you’re tossing and turning in the middle of the night, don’t get frustrated, just pick up a work in progress! 
 

2. Crocheting reduces stress and anxiety.

When you’re feeling stressed or anxious in your daily life, take some time for yourself, pick up some yarn and your hook (or your needles), and spend some time being creative.

By crocheting and allowing yourself to be creative, you’re taking your mind off of whatever’s been nagging you. By focusing on the repetitive motions of individual stitches and counting rows, your mind is able to be more relaxed and free from anxious ideas and thoughts. 
 

3. Crocheting helps ease or relieve depression.

When we do something we like, our brains release dopamine, a chemical that affects our emotions and functions like a natural anti-depressant. Scientists now believe that crafts, such as crocheting, can help stimulate that dopamine release to allow us to feel happier and better about ourselves.
 

4. Crocheting reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s by 30-50%.

Crocheting can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by 30-50%. By engaging in cognitive exercises and stimulating your mind, you can slow down or even prevent memory loss. Whether you plan on challenging your memory by learning a new stitch or technique or simply by reading and working up a pattern, by getting a little crafty, you’ll be helping preserve your memories.
 

5. Crochet builds your self-esteem.

We all want to feel productive and useful, and by working up a project to give as a gift or sell at a craft fair, we can do just that. Though we don’t craft just for the compliments, a little bit of external validation by someone buying your finished item or your gift recipient wearing that crochet hat you made all winter long can truly give us the self-esteem boosts we need.

Embrace your inner heroine by crocheting something to help your confidence.

6. Crocheting acts as a form of group therapy.

For those who seek therapy benefits in group settings, crocheting can be supremely beneficial. By placing the focus off of the patient and only the crochet project itself, it provides all of the previously mentioned health benefits of crocheting plus a sense of community and togetherness.

By working in a craft, those in a group can immediately have some way of relating to the other group members, and it may help function as an ice breaker for more serious conversations. Even if you aren’t actively seeking therapy, you can benefit from the sense of community that crocheting can bring.
 

7. Crocheting puts you in control.

Whether you feel helpless as a caregiver watching someone struggle or you’re the one struggling with your own illness or problems, crocheting is a way to put the control back into your own hands – literally. By choosing to craft, you are in full control of everything, from the type of project you’ll be making, the color and type of yarn and even the type of crochet hooks to work with, and that makes a difference in feeling like you have a say again.

When I gift what I've made to friends, relatives or my grandchildren, it gives so much satisfaction to see the joy on their faces.It makes me so happy.

Recently, I taught crochet to my grand-nieces, it made me happy that they're eager to learn after seeing what I've made. I taught them right from how to put the yarn around your fingers in stead of  rolling around your pointing finger ( I used ti roll around my finger, it used to hurt, if I'm crochet for a long period). My friend taught me how to take it between the little finer and ring finger, then get it  from behind middle finger over the pointing finger ! At first, it is a little difficult till one gets the knack of crocheting like this. I taught the 2 sisters, basic crochet stitches, how to increase, decrease, how to read the pattern and understand. I told them that my grandmother taught me how to crochet when I was a teen, but not as sc, dc and so on. The corresponding in Tamil. Later on, by looking at the books, I learned on my own. This was in late 1960s .

First, since amigurumi wasn't known, I used to make doilies, laces, flowers, leaves as applique and put them on a cushion cover. Then made baby sweaters, booties,  beanies, scarfs. Then when my granddaughter was born made lots of baby blankets. When my kids were small, I did make a clown not the way we now make amigurumi, it was made with dc and chain, with gaps in between  which I stuffed with cotton. The nice plump clown became skinny once I washed him !

It was after the birth of my grandson, for whom I had made sweaters, booties, beanies, baby blankets, my daughter-in-law said, amma, why don't you make animals. It was she who showed me the sites and bought for me the materials to make- polyfil and eyes !The first tiger- the national animal of India came like a starved tiger ! Then made small fish with the eyes. My son's friend had come with his small son. My daughter-in-law gave him the fish to play with. The first thing, he did was turned and turned and removed one eye, then the other ( which made me feel very sad). Luckily, he didn't put the eyes in his mouth. That is when I decided to make eyes with crochet, so my animals will not get blind !

Now, slowly, I've learned to make the animals, my grandson, gives me tests to use my brain a lot. I had practically made all animals including kangaroo with a pouch for its joey. He wanted Durvasa saint/ rishi. To be honest, I never knew who was this saint. So, asked my dil to send me the photo, so made the saint with white hair, white beard, holding a kamadalam ( a holy pot) in his hand.

Then he wanted Lord Krishna, I made Krishna with yellow dhoti and blue top and on the head, made a crown and made a small peacock feather. My dil said, amma, your grandson will not accept, as he has seen Krishna with black hair and peacock feather, so I had to redo it. Then he wanted Lord Vishnu with 4 hands, in each hand whatever the God holds ! Don't ask me now, how I managed to make the 4 hands and  join them. Made Lord Hanuman with a long tail and  carrying a mace. Recently he wanted an African wild dog, by looking at the photo made it for him. After finishing showed it to him via the video call, he told his dad- my son, the ears are small ! So, I had to re-do the ears.

My friend gave me a challenge, since I'm a great devotee of Lord Ganesha, why don't you make your favourite Ganesha. I made HIM, then when I showed her, she asked me where his HIS animal, the mouse. I made Ganesha standing on a pedestal, so made a mouse and attached to the pedestal.

All these gives me tremendous joy and best of all making my own bags in different colours and shapes !

Recently started making breast prosthetic, which was given to a few ladies in my city, who all feel very comfortable with it, as it is light and washable.

All these little things gives tremendous satisfaction of being useful to others. Being a cancer survivor with multiple surgeries and various health issues, including COPD, doing crochet, makes me forget all my aches and pains.

For my other blogs, I'm giving the links below, feel free to view and comment too.

https://cancersupportindia.blogspot.com. for all cancer and health related topics
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement

My small X-mas tree

 

                                                                                   

I had made this small X-mas tree years ago. I gifted this to my physiotherapist, getting to know that she is a Christian. She knows her work well, even though she is quite young. This endeared me to her, so wanted her to feel happy. When I showed it to her, I saw the happiness in her face and true appreciation of my hard work. Only thing, the star that I had put on top earlier got lost when we shifted residence. So, made the star attached it to a small plastic stick, told her to attach it to her tree and send me the photo. There, you can see the star on top !

 

For my other blogs, I'm giving the links below, feel free to view and comment too.

https://cancersupportindia.blogspot.com. for all cancer and health related topics
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement

 

How Many Crochet Stitches Are There?

To be honest, when I learned to crochet as a teenager, all I knew was single crochet, double crochet and treble crochet ! Then after 2-3 years, thanks to my pen pal from Canada, learned to do doilies,  a rectangle pattern with parts of birds, leaves, done separately and stitched on it. Also made a clown for my kids, it was in early 1980s, didn't know about polyfil then, stuffed with cotton the clown and poor clown lost shape once I washed it !

In later 1970s, learnt about some more stitches, to make flowers and leaves from a book that I bought during my first trip to USA ! I was basically crocheting baby sweaters then. Later learned to do booties, caps and so on. It was only in 2012, after our 1st grandson was born, I learned to do amigurumi, thanks to our daughter-in-law, who showed me sites and got me all the stuff to do it. From then on learned more stitches, got literally hooked on to amigurumi, have made most of the animals for my grandsons. Grand-daughter was unlucky as when she was a baby, didn't know about amigurumi, to compensate, now made graduation bear, whatever animals she wanted me to make now when she had come. Of course, got few more things to do for her, as she is planning to be vet !

Our elder grandson, likes to really use my brain, made me to a Lord Krishna, Balram, Dhurvasa rishi, then Lord Vishnu with 4 hands, African wild dog, all these made by looking at the photos !

I'm really amazed by seeing the beautiful creations of so many talented people in the sites, my life is too short to learn all that, though the mind says keep trying. What I loved most for myself is making many bags in different colours with pouch outside to put the cellphone, water bottle and so on. Gifted quite a few bags, scarves to our friends and relatives. It is such a joy when people appreciate your effort.

Now, when I tell the list of the stitches we've to learn, you'll be amazed, I'll give you the link for you all to go through.  There are 155 stitches mentioned here, good luck to all, Happy crocheting.

https://www.allfreecrochet.com/Basics/How-Many-Crochet-Stitches-Are-There

For my other blogs, I'm giving the links below, feel free to view and comment too.

https://cancersupportindia.blogspot.com. for all cancer and health related topics
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement

 

Do's and Don'ts of Crochet

1. DO familiarize yourself with the basics.

Take some time to learn about what you need to crochet (just a ball of yarn and a corresponding hook) and how to hold a crochet hook. There's a standard "correct" way to hold a hook, but everyone has their own variation. Experiment and find the position that's the most comfortable for you.

2. DO take time to learn about yarn.

Depending on the project you're making, you might prefer lace-weight yarn instead of worsted weight, or you might want pearl cotton instead of a wool blend. 

 
Additonally, "I suggest "Don't" mix fibers unless you know how they will behave together. For example, do not mix wool yarn with acrylic yarn as the wool will shrink/felt at a different rate/amount than acrylic. Also "Don't" mix different brands of yarn unless you know how both brands behave after being washed. Not all brands are spun the same and will sometimes behave differently in the washer (pilling, puffing up, fading, etc)."

  

3. DO know how to choose your hook wisely.

Crochet hooks correspond with different yarn weights, so what you'll need depends on what you want to make. As you might expect, chunkier yarn needs bigger hooks, and lacier yarn needs the smallest ones. There's also the question of crochet hook type - do you prefer plastic hooks or bamboo? Or maybe you like working with aluminum.

4. DO learn the standard crochet abbreviations.

When you're reading a crochet pattern for the first time, you might be confused by all of the abbreviations. Take the time to know the basic ones, or keep a list handy, like the ones below, to use as a reference guide. Click here for the full downloadable chart of abbreviations.

5. DO learn the basic stitches.

No matter how complicated the finished pattern might look, it can most likely be broken down into the most basic of crochet stitches: the chain stitch, single crochet, double and half double crochet and treble crochet. Everything else is placement and technique.

6. DON'T get cocky.

Once you know how to crochet the basic stitches, don't immediately jump into an intricate lace pattern. Like in all things, you have to walk before you run. Work up a few smaller, simple projects (think scarves or hats) with basic stitches before moving onto more stylistic crochet stitches and designs. 

7. DON'T start a pattern before practicing a new stitch.

Practice makes perfect - this is true for all things. Read through how to work a stitch, watch a few videos to visualize it and work up a swatch to make sure you understand how to crochet it. Check out our beginner videos to help you master your next stitch!

8. DO read the pattern through before attempting it.

"One thing I have learned over the years is to read the whole pattern and read the comments if there are any. Not just part of it or look at the picture and jump into the project. There are times I think "oh this one will come out great in no time". Only to find out that the pattern has errors or I don't understand how to do a few rows. Then I'll read the comments to see if anyone made the item and make sure it came out right. The worse thing to do is spend the money on yarn and spend time doing it project and not have it work." - Cheryl Y.

"No matter the project I tend to jump in without all of the needed information and from time to time I regret it. I did the same with crochet but it was so long ago now I couldn't even begin to tell you about all the fluster I had when I first started. Now when I do begin a new project I will read everything first so as to eliminate all of the surprises." - Delphine B.

9. DON'T give up.

Crocheting can be tricky for a number of reasons: your yarn is too small, your yarn is too bulky, you crocheted too tightly, you keep dropping stitches, your hand hurts from holding your hook, etc. No matter the excuse you're trying to make, don't give up! Just keep practicing - you'll learn how to hold your hook in the best way (or you'll buy a more ergonomic crochet hook), and how to work with the chunkiest and thinnest yarns. You'll also get a better handle on how to work in each and every stitch and not skip or drop any AND how to keep a consistent gauge. Trust me. 

10. DO know how to care for your finished pieces.

Once you're done with your project, you'll want to treat it well so it lasts and lasts. Depending on the type of yarn you used, you'll need to take care of it differently. Certain yarn can be machine washed and dried while others are far more delicate and can only be hand washed. 

11. DO take the time to weave in all your ends.

Weaving in your ends gives your final piece a more finished and polished look - you'll be glad you did!

"Do not use any knots in your crochet, better to leave an end to weave in after you are finished your project." - Sewroute

Weaving in your ends is extremely important in the overall quality and hold of your new crochet project over time.

For my other blogs, I'm giving the links below, feel free to view and comment too.

https://cancersupportindia.blogspot.com. for all cancer and health related topics
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement

Why is My Crochet Curling?

Reasons Why Crochet CurlsIf you're working on a project and you're noticing the edges start curling, it's difficult to feel confident and want to keep chugging along. If you're asking, why is my crochet curling?, you are not alone!

It happens but determining why may not be the simplest. There are actually quite a few reasons as to why your crocheting will curl. It could be the nature of the yarn you are using, your hook size, or your tension to name a few.

Below, I will go over the most common reasons your crochet corners are curling up while you work or once you've finished a crochet piece. Once I go over the reasons, it's time to problem-solve to get that crochet straight.

Determine which of the solutions will solve your problem and fix your current piece and so that you can avoid this issue for future projects!

Tension Too Tight

When your tension is too tight it will not only cause your hands to hurt and cramp up quickly, it causes issues with the project you are crocheting. You may end up using more yarn than necessary and your project will curl because the stitches are too tight and that will prevent your project from lying flat. If you continue to have issues with tension you can try to go up a hook size. This will help in giving the stitches more space to lay flat. A good way to combat this from get-go is to make a gauge swatch. A lot of crocheters will tend to skip this when following a pattern, but, if you are a crocheter who always ends up with a project that is way off the finished size it would save you a lot of time, grief and yarn.

Can You Fix A Curled Project?

All is not lost though if your project is curling once completed. You can block your project. With blocking you use water to shape your project to give it a more finished look and in doing so you can get the measurements of your finished project to match those of the pattern used.

Blocking Can Fix Your Project

To get your project wet you can give it a light mist with a spray bottle, immerse the entire thing in a tub of water or use the steam setting on your iron. There is one other method that I prefer to do though. I wash the item in my front load washer on the gentle cycle and give it an extra spin or two to ensure any extra water has been wrung out but that the item is still damp enough to block. Next, I lay the item on a flat surface (as you would do with any of the methods to get your project wet) and stretch it to my desired dimensions and let it air dry.

A Small Hook And Tight Tension

Below is a swatch that I made using medium weight yarn. The suggested hook size for the yarn was an H/8 5.00mm, to make sure my swatch would curl I used an F/5-3.75mm hook size and crocheted with a tighter tension than I normally use.

After working on a few rows, my project began to curl…

And once I completed a small rectangle you can see that it curled considerably on both ends.

After blocking though I had a perfectly flat rectangle.

Larger Hook and Normal Tension

Alternatively, I used the suggested hook size and my normal tension for the rectangle below, and while my rectangle did curl slightly in the corner when I started, by the time I was done it had flattened itself out.

That’s something to touch on as well. There are projects that may curl in the beginning but will flatten out as you continue to work on them. The additional rows help to straighten the item out.

And here are the two rectangles I crocheted. I followed the same pattern for both, but, used a different hook size and tension and the result was quite different.

 

For my other blogs, I'm giving the links below, feel free to view and comment too.

https://cancersupportindia.blogspot.com. for all cancer and health related topics
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement