A stitch in time: Yarn Therapy is unisex now as both men and women knit

Do you remember your grandmother or mother going clickety-click with their knitting needles? Or a sister crocheting beautiful flowers in multi colours to make doilies or embellish your frocks? It was, of course, before brand names in woollens invaded the market with ads showing men and women vacationing in some hill in colourful woollies. Well, things have turned full circle, it seems. Recent trends show that these crafts are making a comeback and people are getting hooked, literally, to crocheting, knitting and tatting.

Crafts like these also help in improving concentration and motor skills leading to cognitive benefits. Psychologists term it as a kind of ‘an emotional processing and self-satisfaction.’ In the process, it also gives an opportunity to explore one’s creative potential.

‘It works as a community support as well’, says Mira Sharma, head of a small knitting centre in Noida. Particularly if one lives alone or feels isolated due to some infirmity or disability.

Today, knitting and crocheting, tatting or macrame are not regarded as frivolous yarn activities indulged in by women but has been acknowledged as a therapy for men as well.

Community craft centres are mushrooming offline and online. In Delhi, ‘Craft Addict’, Vasant Kunj, has embroidery, crocheting, etc. as core activities.  In Chennai you have Sandy’s Knots and Needles in Kallikuppam which specialises in providing training services and creating customised crochet products.  In Mumbai, Crochetkari, located in Kanjurmarg East, specialises in crochet work.

Online coaching classes for crochet are also conducted from Srinagar, Mumbai, Jamnagar and Kolkata calling it an eco-friendly creative pursuit, and a sustainable option.

There is no gender ‘discrimination’ here; men are breaking the mould too. For children it is advised for improving their motor movements. Building social skills, helping in cognitive impairment, eye-hand coordination are other benefits for children.

Radha Matka, a homemaker, loves cashmere wool and instead of buying ready-mades, she scours street markets of South Delhi to find a good deal, and then reworks it to crochet knits.

Sure, for women these have been an organised activity for ages, whether it is kantha, crochet, tatting or knitting, where they can also unburden their personal problems and bond with their ‘yarn mates’. It allows healthy interaction as the fingers move deftly and is a viable activity for economic gain as well. The products get sold through welfare organisations and orphanages.

But for men the yarn sessions are new.

“When Srinagar was shut down, I used to watch my mother with knitting needles and my sister with crochet needles. The yarn balls spinning around them used to fascinate me. Curiosity and boredom made me explore it as well and soon I knew the pearl-and-knit language. My family called it a womanly chore and hence inappropriate for boys,” says Imran but he defied all odds.  Today he operates a small but successful business establishment in Srinagar selling his products.

“Everyone should have a hobby as an outlet. Even men like getting involved in productive pastimes like gardening, sewing, stitching, crocheting and knitting. I make caps and mufflers and give it to the poor kids in the neighbourhood and help them to learn knitting and crochet and equip them with skills,” says Gyanendra Mallik, an estate manager of a building complex in Jammu. The repetitive motions and silence work like meditation and create calmness and a sense of well-being, he feels.

Sahil Bacchera from Mumbai says that he was in his mid-twenties when he took to the needles. “It helped me through the pandemic and helped me to stay calm and busy. Also spending long hours at home did not create a problem.”

Another Mumbai based content-creator Rahul Jadav, 33, decided to teach himself crochet from YouTube while living alone. “A sense of satisfaction for creating something made it feel good. Do-it- yourself knitting kits have a big demand today. It is a good way to deal with anxiety and restlessness and promotes mindfulness.”

Joining craft classes or craft groups with activities like crocheting and knitting are popular today among men in the West too who like the opportunity to connect with others, and engage in a satisfying creative activity .

In Seattle, USA, there are cafes that hold a bi-weekly get-togethers over coffee with ‘yarn therapy’, says Sean Mill. “Meeting like-minded people not only is inspiring but also allows us to learn a new skill, terrific hand-eye coordination and great opportunity for socialising”.

In some places in India and abroad, prisons and rehab centres encourage ‘yarning’ as a group therapy to ward off lethargy and depression. Inmates make crochet toys, hats and other fanciful items for small children.

Psychologists feel that it helps them to relax and release their energy and gives them a sense of purpose, improves their self-worth, and enables them to walk taller.

A good way to knit happiness.