Research Archives - Creative Restoration

Knitting, wellbeing and mental health research – Journal Club roundup

by Dr Paula Redmond | Jun 24, 2026 | Knitting, Podcast, Research

One of the things we are really passionate about is exploring the research into the links between knitting, wellbeing and mental health. We know from our personal experience, clinical work and the Why I Knit conversations that knitting enriches our wellbeing and...

Can knitting reduce blood pressure? A knitting research mystery

by Dr Mia Hobbs | Dec 15, 2025 | Knitting, Research, Wellbeing

Many articles online claim that knitting can reduce blood pressure. For those of us who associate knitting with rest, focus and relaxation, this idea seems completely believable. I’ve even received messages from knitters who noticed lower readings during medical...

Journal Club: Knitting for anxiety and compassion fatigue

by Dr Paula Redmond | Oct 2, 2025 | Burnout, Knitting, Podcast, Research, Wellbeing

Anxiety and compassion fatigue are common experiences for nurses. Join Clinical Psychologists Dr Mia Hobbs and Dr Paula Redmond as we discuss two research papers investigating the impact of knitting on mental health for nurses. The research studies both describe the...

Journal Club: Crochet improves attention

by Dr Paula Redmond | May 29, 2025 | Crochet, Podcast, Research, Wellbeing

This month we are discussing a paper published in Scientific Reports (part of the prestigious Nature group of peer-reviewed scientific journals) about how crochet may improve attention. You can read the full paper here. This is a study by neurologists into how crochet...

Journal Club: Promoting health through yarncraft

by Dr Mia Hobbs | Mar 27, 2025 | Knitting, Podcast, Research, Wellbeing

This month Dr Paula Redmond and I discuss another research paper into knitting and mental health. The paper we discuss is: Joanna Nordstrand, A. Birgitta Gunnarsson & Greta HäggblomKronlöf (2024) Promoting health through yarncraft: Experiences of an online...

Journal Club: The Benefits of Knitting for Personal and Social Wellbeing in Adulthood

by Dr Paula Redmond | Feb 27, 2025 | Podcast, Research

This is our second bonus episode for anyone wanting to know or read more about the research into how knitting can benefit our mental well-being. Dr Mia Hobbs and Dr Paula Redmond will be reading one research paper a month and discussing it in our journal club podcast....