How knitting can weave calm and joy into your life

Sporting star Tom Daley inspired the nation to dust off their old knitting needles after he was spotted stitching between dives at the Paris Olympics last year. His new Channel 4 show - Game of Wool: Britain's Best Knitter - has helped reignite this wave of creative enthusiasm. If you are looking to start knitting again or take on your first ever stitches, here's what the hobby can do for your wellbeing...

- By CAMILLA FOSTER

Sporting star Tom Daley inspired the nation to dust off their old knitting needles after he was spotted stitching between dives at the Paris Olympics last year.

His new Channel 4 show - Game of Wool: Britain's Best Knitter - has helped reignite this wave of creative enthusiasm.

If you are looking to start knitting again or take on your first ever stitches, here's what the hobby can do for your wellbeing...

BOOSTS MOOD

"Before I started knitting I was in a depressed state," says Shelby Fuller, founder of London-based knitwear brand Elizabeth An'Marie, who started teaching herself how to knit in 2014.

"However, when I started to teach myself how to knit I remember one of my friends asked me how I was and for the first time in a while I could actually say yeah, I'm OK. The whole downcast feeling I had was gone, and I feel like knitting did help with that."

PROMOTES MINDFULNESS