How to Knit for Your Family's Mental Health

When doing handwork, the benefits are numerous. Not only do you create a unique one of a kind useful item, but you create the optimal environment for open dialogue and show your child real work in progress.

I picked up the habit of hand work when I was in my teens. It is almost addicting to be able to create something with your hands. Once I started (I started with dolls) I never wanted to have my hands be still when watching a movie or riding in the car! I even hand pieced a baby quilt when I was a junior in high school during the time between when I got to school and when school started. Now I'm on to knitting, which is a little more portable than quilting.

Some other examples of hand work are whittling, tying flies (for fishing), crocheting, cross stitch (my momma does this), felting, and appliqué.

This technique is used in art therapy on a professional level, and it can be incorporated into your home as well. It is easier to talk within the family, even about serious topics, when your hands are occupied, the pressure is off and the lack of direct eye contact enables people to open up more and be receptive to new ideas. When you are otherwise involved in something that allows talking at the same time, people are no longer worried about wasting your time and are able to slow down.

It's valuable for children to see that you are *doing* something productive and seeing how things are made. When children see parents working on the computer or writing out checks to pay bills, there isn't any tangible product being made, so it is hard for them to comprehend that as being real work. When children lack seeing people around them create things, they are uninspired to be creative themselves and choose passive activities such as computer games or TV over imagination-building exercises such as playing with blocks or doing crafts. Children learn from example, so we need to set the example of keeping productive in a cheerful way so that they can learn that it is fun to work.

When you start doing handwork often, it is likely that your child will want to do it along side of you. There are many books geared to help parents teach their children how to knit, quilt, sew, or do other types of hand work. When your child shows interest, take the time to show him how, but don't pressure him to do something that he doesn't want to. Given time, he or she will find something to do and will enjoy it more if it isn't pressured by you.