Mindful Knitting
I had a couple of thoughts related to knitting and neuroscience that I wanted to share. In summary:
I've concluded that not only is this an important distinction, but what is helpful knitting and what is soothing knitting is also different for each person and is directly related to their skill level and experience.
I'm a huge Daniel Kahneman fan. He received the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in the field of decision theory (unfortunately, his collaborator, Amos Tversky, has passed away prior to this award). Kahneman wrote this book in 2011 to explain all of it more completely to the rest of us:
Among other things - Kahneman and Tversky devised a mental model that they described as having two components: System 1 and System 2. System 1 is basically the fast path to our emotions and reactions - fight, flight, etc., whereas System 2 is the slower path to our logic and reason. An individual's ability to override their System 1 with System 2 thinking allows them to behave rationally and think things through. Think of System 1 as James T. Kirk, and System 2 as Spock. One by themselves makes no sense - you really need them both working together to create a desirable outcome.
I also think about System 1 as being a noisy attention-seeker. It's the part of my mind that races with all kinds of thoughts - don't forget to do the laundry, I'm hungry, what does the T stand for, SQUIRREL... Kahneman's advice for quieting System 1 is to distract it with some kind of activity, such as doodling. For me, this amounts to knitting. The (mostly) quiet motion of my hands definitely calms that System 1 and helps me to focus.
But I don't think this is the same as the activity that can improve cognitive function and possibly help to alleviate a minor mood disorder. In her book, neuroscientist Kelly Lambert describes evidence for the importance of creating through working with our hands:
But my experience has been that feeling fulfilled and creative doesn't necessarily result from what I'll describe as soothing knitting, which is how I spend most of my knitting time. This is fairly mindless knitting, maybe with some counting and tracking, but something that I can do while also doing something else - listening to music, watching TV or streaming, hanging out with friends, etc. So my System 1 is definitely held in check, but there is little hope for a mood boost.
Why this sudden revelation? Because I've just finished Lambert's book, I always think about Kahneman's work, and this:
Frozen Margarita Sock cast-on, requiring the written instructions, a YouTube video, and muscle memory of how exactly to work that Magic Loop. And this:
Two sets of counting - one for toe increases, and the other for the design feature that sits on top of the toe. I literally could do nothing else while I was figuring out and working through these two sets of activities. Too much thinking, all too unfamiliar, and all very satisfying once executed properly (even after a couple of do-overs):
Now for 10 rows of System 2 stockinette, until the next design feature!
What does this all mean? Well, for myself I just need to remember to consider the knitting project when I have a specific desired outcome. And maybe re-think the nature of the pile of languishing finishing work - I put it aside because it's not soothing, but could it be emotionally uplifting instead due to its need for mindfulness?
In other news - I saw a couple of birds of prey circling our field on my way out to run some errands. Pretty sure they were hawks, but I wasn't able to get a better or closer look. And representing the mammals, there was also a wee chipmunk dashing about just outside our dining room window (another rodent with good PR!).
Some types of knitting can be clinically helpful for managing minor mood disorders, whereas other types of knitting are merely soothing.
I've concluded that not only is this an important distinction, but what is helpful knitting and what is soothing knitting is also different for each person and is directly related to their skill level and experience.
I'm a huge Daniel Kahneman fan. He received the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in the field of decision theory (unfortunately, his collaborator, Amos Tversky, has passed away prior to this award). Kahneman wrote this book in 2011 to explain all of it more completely to the rest of us:
Among other things - Kahneman and Tversky devised a mental model that they described as having two components: System 1 and System 2. System 1 is basically the fast path to our emotions and reactions - fight, flight, etc., whereas System 2 is the slower path to our logic and reason. An individual's ability to override their System 1 with System 2 thinking allows them to behave rationally and think things through. Think of System 1 as James T. Kirk, and System 2 as Spock. One by themselves makes no sense - you really need them both working together to create a desirable outcome.
I also think about System 1 as being a noisy attention-seeker. It's the part of my mind that races with all kinds of thoughts - don't forget to do the laundry, I'm hungry, what does the T stand for, SQUIRREL... Kahneman's advice for quieting System 1 is to distract it with some kind of activity, such as doodling. For me, this amounts to knitting. The (mostly) quiet motion of my hands definitely calms that System 1 and helps me to focus.
But I don't think this is the same as the activity that can improve cognitive function and possibly help to alleviate a minor mood disorder. In her book, neuroscientist Kelly Lambert describes evidence for the importance of creating through working with our hands:
But my experience has been that feeling fulfilled and creative doesn't necessarily result from what I'll describe as soothing knitting, which is how I spend most of my knitting time. This is fairly mindless knitting, maybe with some counting and tracking, but something that I can do while also doing something else - listening to music, watching TV or streaming, hanging out with friends, etc. So my System 1 is definitely held in check, but there is little hope for a mood boost.
Why this sudden revelation? Because I've just finished Lambert's book, I always think about Kahneman's work, and this:
Frozen Margarita Sock cast-on, requiring the written instructions, a YouTube video, and muscle memory of how exactly to work that Magic Loop. And this:
Two sets of counting - one for toe increases, and the other for the design feature that sits on top of the toe. I literally could do nothing else while I was figuring out and working through these two sets of activities. Too much thinking, all too unfamiliar, and all very satisfying once executed properly (even after a couple of do-overs):
Now for 10 rows of System 2 stockinette, until the next design feature!
What does this all mean? Well, for myself I just need to remember to consider the knitting project when I have a specific desired outcome. And maybe re-think the nature of the pile of languishing finishing work - I put it aside because it's not soothing, but could it be emotionally uplifting instead due to its need for mindfulness?
In other news - I saw a couple of birds of prey circling our field on my way out to run some errands. Pretty sure they were hawks, but I wasn't able to get a better or closer look. And representing the mammals, there was also a wee chipmunk dashing about just outside our dining room window (another rodent with good PR!).
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