Knit a Lemon to Relieve Tax Day Stress

Tax day in the United States is a pretty stressful day for some people, and the Craft Yarn Council is encouraging people to take time for some stress relief by knitting and crocheting lemons.

In particular, knitting and crocheting lemons that will be distributed outside the James A. Farley Post Office Building in Manhattan on April 18 (later than usual thanks to a holiday in D.C.) to remind people to make lemons into lemonade and spread the word about the health benefits of knitting and crochet.

Confirmed by numerous studies and reports and personal stories from knitters and crocheters around the world, and highlighted in national and international press — including a recent New York Times article titled “The Health Benefits of Knitting” and stories on Yahoo!, CNN, Daily Mail and more — the stress-busting crafts are known to reduce blood pressure, decrease anxiety and stress, boost mood, increase mindfulness, elicit the relaxation response and much more. These health benefits are what triggered the non-profit Craft Yarn Council to start a health initiative and spread awareness about the positive effects these crafts bring through its Stitch Away Stress campaign and host the NYC Lemon Drop Campaign for Stress Awareness on Tax Day.

“Upon discovering all the studies out there that prove these crafts reduce stress and boost mood and hearing so many personal stories from knitters and crocheters on the topic, we felt it was important to draw more attention to the subject and help more people who are stressed out find a way to relax and feel happier,” said Craft Yarn Council Co-Executive Director, Mary Colucci. “Since April is National Stress Awareness Month and Tax Day is historically one of the most stressful days of the year for Americans, April 18 seemed like the perfect day to stitch away stress.”

Tags attached to the lemons will direct recipients to the website www.stitchawaystress.com where they can go to learn how to knit and crochet, download the free lemon stress ball pattern to make one themselves, explore all the health benefits of knitting and crochet and more. Those waiting in line may have the chance to learn a stitch or two from the knitters and crocheters handing out the lemons as well.

The knit and crochet lemons were designed by Twinkie Chan and are super cute. Even if you don’t live in New York, you can stitch some lemons and drop them at your local post office on tax day to spread the word about the stress-busting properties of yarn craft. What a sweet idea.

[Photo via Craft Yarn Council.]

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I feel like when it comes to things that people are afraid to knit, socks probably top the list. I’ve heard people say they would never knit socks because they look too hard, but really you just need to know a few basic things (and trust the pattern even though it sounds wrong the first time you do it) to master socks.

Denise DeSantis aims to take the worry out of knitting socks with No Fear Sock Knitting. Based on a class on her YouTube channel, it includes all the basic information you need to make sock knitting feel easier, along with eight patterns for both top down and toe up socks.

The book generally covers types of needles and yarn you might use to knit socks, as well as other supplies you will need. It looks at the parts of the sock, different knitting needle configurations used to knit socks, how to read a pattern (including abbreviations and terms you might find in sock patterns), discussion of ease, how to measure your foot and choosing the correct size to knit.

It includes two options each for casting on cuff down and toe up socks, as well as four options for cuff treatment. It explores the heel flap and turn method for top down and toe up socks, as well as short row heels using a shadow wrap (worked with a leg from the stitch below) and a square heel. There’s a discussion of avoiding holes and fixing other problems in heels.

Likewise with toes there are several options, including a wedge toe, round toe and anatomical toe (different on each foot) for both cuff down and toe up socks. There are also tutorials for grafting and Jeny’s surprisingly stretchy bind off, depending on which direction you’re going. There’s also a tips section that covers things like avoiding ladders, changing colors. matching stripes and more.

After all that preparation, there are eight patterns to choose from: short socks worked from the top down that are a perfect first-sock sock, a basic ankle-length toe-up sock, a DK weight sock worked from the top down with different length options, a “vanilla” sock with a short row heel worked top down, an ankle sock with a garter stitch cuff, one with a leg worked in alternating colors with a contrasting heel and toe, a sock worked in a helical stripe pattern and a striped sock with a garter stitch heel.

Three of the patterns are rated at skill level two on a scale of three, while the rest are level one. They’re all pretty straightforward, they just use different techniques you might not have tried before. Since only one is made to be toe up, there are also tips for converting the other patterns to toe up if you’d rather work that way. Each pattern includes three size options.

This book is a nice introduction to sock knitting, with lots of techniques to reference and simple patterns to take the fear out of the process. I’m not sure these are patterns you’ll come back to time and again but they are a good place to start if you’ve never knit socks before.

About the book: 128 pages, paperback, 8 patterns. Published 2025 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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