More Reasons to Pick up Your Needles

We probably all know a lot of reasons why knitting is great for us. It’s good for our mental health, for sure. It can also be good for our physical health when we reach for the needles instead of the chip bag or a cigarette.

One of these benefits of knitting posts seems to come out every few months, but they’re worth reading if you feel the need to justify the time spent on your hobby to someone else (or even to yourself).

This one, which oddly enough comes from a British telecom company, says knitting can help you stay calm, ward off dementia and make you happier.

I hate that one of their benefits is to be cool like celebrities (especially since I don’t think Ryan Gosling actually knits), but the rest of these are pretty good. Have you seen any health benefits since picking up your needles?

[Photo via Handmade Ryan Gosling.]

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Many times when I write these posts I will say something like “you can use any yarn you want” or “this would be a great stash-busting project.” That’s just how my mind works. And my stash, too, since I probably have sweater quantity of two or three yarns at most, but tons of singles and odd balls and leftovers.

Blankets are generally a really good way to use up those bits, but in this case, I think you’re going to want to plan it out a bit better.

Looking at photos of the Color Study Blanket from Purl Soho, it looks like it’s made with two yarns held together, and that block in the center is worked with one of each color from the adjoining sides to make a mixed up color.

But that’s not actually how it’s done. This is three separate colors (four, really, with the neutrals in the corners) chosen form a yarn with an expansive palette so they play off each other. The project calls for a worsted weight superwash wool, which is a great choice for a blanket that’s both warm and washable.

This pattern was originally designed by Laura Ferguson and was updated by Hiromi Glover. It is worked in one piece in garter stitch intarsia, which is a great way to learn the intarsia technique if you don’t already know it. It comes in crib or throw sizes.

Despite the introduction to this post, I am going to go ahead and say that, yes, of course you could do this blanket with scraps or odd balls or even just choose five colors that don’t blend together so easily. But I really do love the look of the color play, and I think it would be worth your time to find colors that play well together to get a similar effect.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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