Hand Knitting - Psychological and Meditative Aspects

Psychological and Meditative Aspects

The oral histories of many knitters have been collected, and suggest that hand-knitting is often associated with compassion. "I knit love into every stitch" is a common refrain.

Knitting especially large or fine garments such as sweaters can require months of work and, as gifts, may have a strong emotional aspect. The so-called sweater curse expresses the experience that a significant other will break up with the knitter immediately after receiving a costly hand-knit gift such as a sweater. A significant minority of knitters claim to have experienced the sweater curse; a recent poll indicated that 15% of active knitters say they have experienced the sweater curse firsthand, and 41% consider it a possibility that should be taken seriously. Although sometimes labeled a "superstition", the sweater curse is not treated in knitting literature as anything paranormal.

Hand-knitting is generally relaxing and repetitive, Some practitioners have noted that these factors, combined with its compassionate nature, make hand-knitting well-suited for meditational or spiritual practice.

Read more about this topic:  Hand Knitting

Famous quotes containing the words meditative and/or aspects:

    Without the meditative background that is criticism, works become isolated gestures, ahistorical accidents, soon forgotten.
    Milan Kundera (b. 1929)

    It is always a sign of an unproductive time when it concerns itself with petty and technical aspects [in philology], and likewise it is a sign of an unproductive person to pursue such trifles.
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)