Projects to Knit for Your Mental Health

We missed sharing these projects in May, which was Mental Health Awareness Month, but any time is a great time to think about the health benefits of knitting, which include stress relief and a way to feel in control of something.

The Breathe for Four patterns by Molly Conroy give you a chance to choose your own knitting adventure on projects that are meant to be mindful. You can make it as a scarf, cowl or shawl, using any weight of yarn you like to make them any size you want.

The stitch pattern includes a breathing pattern (thus the name): knit 4, slip 4, purl 4 aligns with inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4. (Add another hold at the end and you’re box breathing, which is great for stress relief as well as improving concentration.)

Because this style of breathing requires focus and is a little different from normal breathing, the designer recommends starting with just five minutes at a time of knitting and breathing together. As you practice more you can do it for longer periods, but make sure you’re really paying attention to your breath and connecting it to the stitch pattern as you go.

Yes, you could just knit these projects and breathe normally, but it’s a fun experiment to try to make your knitting as mindful as it can possibly be. If you try it I want to know how it goes for you!

As shown the projects were worked with DK weight yarn, but you can use whatever you have on hand and adjust the stitch counts as needed to make it work for the size you want to make. Choose a really nice yarn you’ve been saving up for something special, because knitting while you breathe is going to make this project take a long time to finish!

You can get the patterns for free on Ravelry, or if you’d rather you can download them from Hands On Knitting Center’s website.

[Photo: Molly Conroy]

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Knitting squares, rectangles and triangles can get boring after a while, so why not throw in some different shapes, like hexagons?

I started thinking about hexagons because of Amy Gunderson’s Rainbow Remnants cowl (see it on Ravelry), which uses all your sock yarn leftovers to make hexagons worked from the center out and joined as you go so there’s no seaming. She also works over the yarn ends so you don’t have to weave in a million ends either.

This reminded me of the classic Beekeeper’s Quilt knitting pattern from Tiny Owl Knits, which has long been a bucket list project for me. It uses little “hexipuffs,” which are tiny hexagon shaped pillows that are stuffed to make your blanket extra cozy. This one also uses sock yarn but each motif is worked separately and then stitched together so there’s a ton of finishing work. But it would be amazing to have on the back of your couch!

Or you can make a blanket that’s one big hexagon, like this Hexagon Baby Blanket from Lion Brand Yarn. It’s worked in sections so you can change color with each piece or alternate self-striping colorways as shown if you like. Or make it a stash buster.

Hexagons of course remind me of quilts, because my parents have a couple of Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilts my great-grandmother made. If you like that classic look and want to make it in knitting, try the April Showers Bring May Flowers blanket from Needles and Balls. Each hexagon is worked separately so you can make your project as big as you like, using whatever yarn you have handy.

Or try the Knitted Hexagon Cushion, a free pattern from Greedy for Colour. These hexis are worked in strips so you could use the same pattern to make a bigger project if you wanted. As written it calls for DK weight yarn but you could experiment with other weights as well.

Fun shapes and stash busting knitting inspired by quilts? I think these projects might hit everything I love in a knitting project!

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