Episode Details

This month we are discussing a paper published in Scientific Reports (part of the prestigious Nature group of peer-reviewed scientific journals) about the impact of crochet on attention.

You can read the full paper here.

This is a study by neurologists into how crochet impacts on attentional networks. It combines brain imaging with an interesting experimental design. It is a complex read, involving a lot of neuro-speak but we've tried to summarise it in a way that hopefully makes it easy to understand the methods and findings. We have also created a blog to help illustrate the methods and design used, which you can find here.

Citation: Rossi Sebastiano, D., Muscio, C., Duran, D. et al. Crochet increases attention through a requiring motor skill learning. Sci Rep 15, 4141 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-88777-9

-------------

🧶 Come and join our new community on Patreon! Perks include early access to podcasts, weekly behind the scenes videos and a monthly online knitting circle. This will enable us to connect more meaningfully with you all, grow the podcast and share more resources about knitting, creativity and wellbeing.

🧶 If you'd like to learn more about how to use knitting for your self-care, check out our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time.

🧶Catch up on our on-demand webinars:

The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting

Unravelling Burnout where we look at how we can use knitting as a tool to prevent burnout

Knitting for Attention and Focus. We explore how knitting and crochet can support concentration, attention and mindful awareness, particularly for people who struggle with restlessness, distractibility or overwhelm.

Here's how to stay in touch:

💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter

📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmond

Mentioned in this episode:

Join our community on Patreon!

We'd love you to join us on Patreon - you can support the podcast while accessing perks such as early access to new episodes, our weekly behind the scenes videos and join our monthly online knitting circle.