Knitting and crocheting can be great ways to socialize, relieve stress and even improve dexterity.

For someone dealing with arthritis pain, needlework may seem like a terrible idea. Arthritis in hands makes precise, repetitive movements a challenge. However, knitters and crocheters can pick up their needles without worry. Hand-focused activities like needlework can still be a great way to socialize, relieve stress, and even improve dexterity.

Work out with yarn

People usually think of activities like knitting as hobbies, but they actually have a lot in common with working out. When you knit, you're using the muscles in your hands, wrists and arms. This will increase their strength and dexterity. The Arthritis Foundation recommends looking at needlework as if it's exercise, and suggests working in short bursts.

Stress relief

Psychology Today identifies ways that knitting and crocheting may relieve stress. The repetitive nature of knitting forces your mind to focus on what it's doing, and not on sources of stress. Giving your mind a break from thinking about worries can do wonders for your mental state. There are also other physical aspects of needlework that may help reduce stress. Knitting and crocheting require eye movement that's similar to a form of psychological treatment called eye movement detestation and reprocessing (EMDR). The idea behind EMDR is that these eye movements make it difficult for the brain to focus on negative or anxiety-inducing thoughts and memories. Moving your eyes side to side as you stitch may make it harder for your mind to be stressed.

Social knit-work

There's a strong culture of community in the craft world, and arthritis patients can take advantage of this. A wider social circle can mean you have a larger support network. Arthritis, like any chronic illness, can feel isolating. Even if you never talk about arthritis with your needlework friends, knitting or crocheting with others is a great way to know that you're not alone.

How to knit healthily

Be careful to prevent injury when knitting or crocheting with arthritis. Before you begin, warm up your hands and wrists. Craftsy.com has a list of exercises it recommends performing before any knitting session. Another way you can make sure needlework is helping, not hurting, is to use the right equipment. Wool yarn is more elastic, and will be easier to use. There are also ergonomic knitting and crocheting tools that may help reduce any stress needlework puts on your hands, wrists or arms.

For more on hand arthritis:

Maintaining Hand Mobility Despite Arthritis
Strengthen Your Hands with These Exercises
4 Hand-Dexterity Exercises for Arthritis Sufferers