Looking to start a new hobby, relax, and meet new people at the same time? Designer Laura Mincher shares how she learned to de-stress and make new friends at a new knitting class.
Laura’s lovely blanket in situ at her home.
One of the best ways to de-stress at the end of a busy week is to immerse myself into a mindful, relaxing activity. In my case I was lucky enough to join a Sew Confident arm knitting class, in Dundee.
“Arm knitting?”, you might ask? I was the same – until then, I never heard of arm knitting before. In my imagination, I was picturing us having to use giant knitting needles, but it turned out that our arms were the ‘needles’ for the night!
Going as someone with hardly any knitting experience and quite poor hand co-ordination, I was a bit skeptical at the thought of finishing a full blanket in the space of two hours.
It was the perfect way to learn some new skills, meet lovely people and have a wonderful blanket at the end of it!
Upon arrival, we were welcomed with a friendly smile from Sandra – our tutor, as well as tea, all sorts of biscuits and a table filled with colourful, inviting yarn to pick from. When you book the class in advance you have the option to pick which colour you’d like as well – and there are so many beautiful shades to choose from.
Once everyone made their choice, we sat down and began by making introductions and familiarising ourselves with the length of our yarn and started the knitting.
Getting started with the arm knitting.
The great thing about the class was how friendly, relaxed, and supportive it felt. Sandra explained every bit of the process with so much patience, guiding us each step of the way and making time for individual support, too. I thought it would be a great place to start because the class is for beginners. It was easy and straightforward to keep up the pace with everyone and following Sandra’s tips made it pretty much impossible not to finish.
Not only did I manage to accomplish finishing a 30”x50” chunky blanket to keep me cosy this winter, but also learned some basic knitting skills.
Currently, I have three balls of yarn sitting on my office couch waiting to be arm knitted. I couldn’t recommend this class more – it was the perfect way to learn some new skills, meet lovely people and have at the end of it a wonderful blanket, as well as the ability to now knit them for all your friends and family (No spoilers – but that’s my Christmas gifts sorted).
Can’t make it to one of Sew Confident’s classes? Try the Arm Knitting class online for £25!
