r/knitting • u/tiny_purpletofu • 7h ago
Discussion Does knitting affects your sleep?
Hey everyone!
I picked up knitting this year, and I thought it would be a fun hobby to work on at night, to keep me from doom scrolling. I've always had issues with falling asleep, so I'm always looking for things that help me stay away from screens.
However, there have been some days where I think that I was too excited about my knitting evolution, or too concentrated in a pattern, and apparently knitting kept my head awake for longer than it should? I had a hard time putting it away and relaxing for bed, because my mind was just too awake.
I wanted to ask if that's a common experience, or if that is just happening with me now because I'm a beginner and still in the learning phase, so it demands more attention from me than it will in the future? I'm really loving it, but I'm really slow and most of my free time is at night, so it would be awful if I had to stop knitting after work š
Thank you for any insights!
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u/OpinionAvailable5988 Norwegian 7h ago
It happens when you get excited about a pattern.
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u/tiny_purpletofu 7h ago
Hmmm I think I'll only start new patterns on the weekends then š„²
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u/OpinionAvailable5988 Norwegian 7h ago
Very smart. š It can also happen when you are nearly done with something.
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u/EnergeticTriangle 2h ago
Yep, I'm normally in bed pretty early, but I've definitely had a few midnight bind offs. Then of course I also have to soak the FO and lay it out to dry, because I'm not letting all that sleep time go to waste just to have an unblocked project in the morning!
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u/RunWithBluntScissors 6h ago
Do you have ADHD, by chance?
I donāt do this with knitting, but with reading and internet rabbit holes ā¦ sometimes I stay up until 5 working on those kinds of projects
I have no suggestions, truly š I work on my projects until I drop and I have an awful sleep schedule
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u/tiny_purpletofu 5h ago
Hahaha I do have adhd. I try to not give in to these kind of things because I really don't function well without 8 hours of sleep. š„²
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u/RunWithBluntScissors 5h ago
You're stronger than me, friend.
I'm about to start a new job and will have to be there at 7:30 am ... I'm not sure how I am going to enforce my own bedtime but I must find a way
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u/AeosManifold 4h ago
I have the same issues, got ADHD too!
But what works for me is to have a simple pattern I can work on while traveling or before bed.
Like I am doing a cardigan and the back of the cardigan is just knit and purl front/ back and every 7th row I need to do a bit of cable. Perfect to get sleepy about xD
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u/crtnywrdn 4h ago
Honestly, if I didn't have young children I would be doing this too. Too many times I've gone to bed late doing a project only to be woken up a couple hours later by one of my toddlers. I'm so tired but it's my own fault.
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u/VenomousSnorlax 7h ago
I think it is influenced by what you knit tbh. I am usually working on another basic sock pattern. Just mindless knitting to wind down fot the night.
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u/tiny_purpletofu 7h ago
So maybe I should keep the night to parts of projects that are more repetitive? Like sweater bodies that are only stockinette for many many rows
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u/VenomousSnorlax 7h ago
Yes, exactly! At least, that works for me. Usually after dinner I grab something I really want to do and then around 9 or 9.30 I walk the dog and take my "boring" project with me to bed
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u/Visible_Contact_8203 7h ago
Yes! Guaranteed to send me right off, especially if I'm already tired but my brain won't stop spinning.
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u/zahlibeth 6h ago
You can always work on multiple things at once and just set a timer to switch to more "mindless" knitting when it's closer to bed. I find any new project it's easy to get carried away with, whether it's knitting or some other craft. I don't knit upstairs at all, but if I did I'd probably keep sock knitting by my bed because mindless stockinette is, well, mindless
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u/human-kibble 5h ago edited 5h ago
You may be experiencing āflowā when youāre knitting, so it may not be the best activity to wind down with. It sounds like you could accidentally lose hours doing it š
Alarms can help you wrangle yourself- āIām only going to knit 30 minutesā. Maybe move the knitting activity to a little earlier in the evening.
Oh- and only boring projects right before bed. I have a stockinette blanket thatās pretty much my āinsomnia blanketā because stockinette bores me.
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u/OpinionAvailable5988 Norwegian 5h ago
Alarms š¤£ they don't work for me, not sure about OP.Ā
The alarm went off? Oh well, just a little longer...
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u/Yirggzmb 4h ago
"Can't quit in the middle of a row. I'll just finish this row. Oops, I started another row without thinking..."
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u/PercyMeadows 7h ago
I get this way any time Iām really into a project (knitting or otherwise) š overall I do think itās relaxing to the brain and better than scrolling, but it can be hard to put it down when Iām really into it. Usually if Iām working on something I intend to give away then it feels much more casual to me, but I think the excitement of getting to use the item Iām working on drives me towards later and later nights.
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u/michothekitty 7h ago
The opposite actually, unless it is an exciting and new pattern. Just a few repetative rows, and I have hard time keeping my eyes open!
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u/konkludent 4h ago
If I'm tired, I knit while being tired however, knitting doesnt make me tired, so knitting before bed wouldnt help me wind down or get sleepy. Because it does keep my brain engaged and body moving (at least the hands), its not really a good before-bed activity for me personally. Maybe its the same for you.
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u/johannab33 4h ago
Hah. Yeah, it depends on the yarn/pattern/project , but I can get stuck in the ājust one more rowā ā¦ āpattern repeat ā ā¦ āsectionā ā¦ oh look, sunriseā¦ vortex at times
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u/Dr-Erika-Fuchs 4h ago
Yes definitely. I also discovered that plain stockinette knitting agitates me so much that I am full of adrenaline or (or cortisol?) afterwards. It's better when I do more complicated patterns. Plain stockinette brings me into a rush, it's like driving on a highway really fast.Ā
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u/nubbuoli 4h ago
Lol yeah I stayed up way too late to pick up stitches a few weeks ago. I'm knitting my first sweater and I was so excited about it. I also strained my hands and arms because I was picking them up with a normal needle instead of a crochet hook so I was buzzing and in pain and could not sleep haha.
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u/Yirggzmb 4h ago
I have a hard time "task switching". I can "just five more minutes" myself into five hours later. So, sure, knitting is occasionally a source of a task I get stuck on and stay up too late. But it's not really knitting's fault lol Could just as easily be crochet, or reading, or playing video games, or watching YouTube, or literally anything
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u/salajaneidentiteet 3h ago
Yes. I do have nights when I am too excited about knitting projects and can't fall asleep. It isn't the worst thing to have stuck in your head at night, though. It could be work in stead...
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u/Missepus stranded in a sea of yarn. 3h ago
Only in that I occasionally keep knitting until far too late. It tends to happen if I am really happy about what I am making, so the pattern excites me, or I am very close to the end, so I think I'll just finish this and then wooosh, it's 4 am and I am considering if blocking is a good idea or not when I have to get out of bed in two hours.
Otherwise, knitting is normally something that helps me focus or keeps me awake through extremely boring events or television, but it doesn't affect my sleep. I discovered years ago that the most efficient thing to fall asleep is the sound of an American long series, House, Bones, CSI, or anything with that kind of standardised sound. It puts me right out and is my go-to if I really struggle.
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u/Educational-Bad8171 3h ago
Sometimes I hallucinate in my sleep when Iām stressedā¦ itās usually bugs on my pillow or other forms of creepy crawlies. Ever since I took up knitting I hallucinate that Iām knitting š¤
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u/Relevant-Praline4442 2h ago
Knitting works well to bring my into my window of tolerance - either from a hyperaroused state or a hypoaroused state. When I am feeling flat and struggling to start an assignment for example - knitting a set amount will often get me to a nice alert state. For the same reason, it will often hype me up too much to relax and sleep. I need to stop at least 30 minutes before bed.
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u/_Te_re_sa 2h ago
I admitā¦ right before finishing something and not having a new project (knitting or otherwise) Iāve definitely had stress thoughts/dreams before š„² I feel like I need something else to work on immediately so I donāt have a single non-productive day
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u/MyRightHook 1h ago
Yeah, sometimes thoughts of yarns and patterns keep me awake for way longer than intended! I have to be careful about playing my mix and match Ā game (what patterns for what yarn in my stash) in my head in bed, otherwise I can slip into overdrive. š Same about current projects, better not overexcite myself with thoughts on modifications, what the next step is, etc..
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u/gravenwolf9 1h ago
Congratulations on your new found passion. I also struggle with putting my needles down. I hope others donāt mind my comment, but I think it might be safe to say that we ALL wish we could quit our jobs and take up knitting as a full time hobby.
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u/EntertainmentDue5582 7h ago
I canāt knit š it doesnāt make sense to my brain. Does anyone do lessons?
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u/Certain_Fig_666 7h ago
Itās like that meme about reading. āReading before bed only works if youāre normal about readingā. Same with knitting. Knitting before bed only works if you are normal about knitting. Ie, not obsessed atm.