Picking up a hobby or two can significantly boost your health and well-being, especially as you get older.
Doing things that align with your values and preferences can help combat the loneliness seniors are more vulnerable to over time. With researchers finding that feelings of isolation can be as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, the benefits of a good hobby can go a long way to uplifting your overall health. That makes knitting one of the best activities you can try as an older adult.
This calm, low-impact pastime is a great way to relax, keep the mind sharp, and even make connections with others. At the same time, knitting is ideal for your physical well-being because it hones your hand-eye coordination and gives your fingers some gentle exercise. All these benefits can be particularly useful for seniors looking to manage long-term conditions like dementia and arthritis.
However, one factor that can significantly keep senior knitters from enjoying the perks of this hobby is an ageing eyesight. Fortunately, that doesn’t need to stop you from knitting! Here’s more on the age-related vision issues that can impact how much you enjoy this hobby—and how you can address them.
Age-related vision issues and older knitters
By far, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the UK. It primarily impacts your central eyesight, leaving you with only your peripheral vision. As an older knitter, another common condition you may have is presbyopia or age-related long-sightedness. It develops as your eyes get older, become stiffer and less flexible, and ultimately lose their ability to focus on nearby objects. Because presbyopia is part of the natural ageing process, it’s found in virtually everyone aged 40 and older. Other serious eye diseases you should look out for come about due to pre-existing health conditions.
Hypertension, for example, is a significant risk factor for glaucoma. This is another blindness-causing condition and occurs when high levels of pressure in the eye damage the optic nerve. Older adults have a higher risk of developing glaucoma because this nerve weakens with age. Diabetes can also lead to vision loss. Diabetic retinopathy is a group of diseases that damages blood vessels in the retina. Data from the UK Biobank finds that age is a significant risk factor for diabetes—especially the more common type 2 diabetes. If you’re one of the 1.5 million older Brits diagnosed with it, your likelihood of developing diabetic retinopathy increases because it often occurs in individuals who’ve had diabetes for a number of years.
All these age-related vision issues can significantly impact you as an older knitter. It’ll be more challenging to complete patterns with just your peripheral vision, for example, or see what you’re doing with blurred eyesight. Aside from gradually causing vision loss, diseases like glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy can also cause eye pain that can deter you from knitting altogether. To address these issues and prevent them from significantly diminishing your knitting abilities, try the following.
Eye care tips to knit for longer
Book regular eye exams
Comprehensive eye exams are your first defence against age-related eye diseases because many of them don’t exhibit symptoms early on. Glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, for example, can’t be spotted with a basic eye test because the optic nerve and retina are located at the back of the eye. That’s why healthcare experts recommend that older adults get full eye assessments at least once a year for early detection, prevention and treatment to keep these conditions from worsening.
The NHS offers eye exams for free to those over 60—as well as those aged 40 and up who exhibit a higher risk of developing age-related vision issues. If you’re worried about getting stuck on a waitlist, head to an optical chain like Boots. With more than 600,000 Brits currently waiting to receive eye care services from the NHS, Labour is making eye exams for glaucoma and other blindness-causing diseases available through them. Take advantage of that accessibility to keep your eyes healthy enough for knitting.
Use the right eyewear
Leveraging protective and corrective eyewear can be crucial for preventing various age-related vision issues—and, if you already have a diagnosis, correct them so you can see what you’re knitting more clearly. Overexposure to the sun’s UV rays, for example, is linked to the development of AMD and can boost its progression over time. As such, wearing sunglasses year-round is crucial for prevention. Models like the FRESHWATER and SENNON from Specsavers will be the most effective for your needs. These carry a ‘UV 400’ rating, which ensures comprehensive UV protection slightly higher than what’s required by British Standards.
Meanwhile, older knitters who are presbyopes will need eyewear that can improve their near vision. The most common kind is progressive reading glasses. As seen on Foster Grant, frames like the IRONMAN and Troy can be especially useful because they can accommodate full magnification lenses, which can help you better view your knitting projects despite having presbyopia. These readers also come as sunglasses, which can be useful for both UV protection and vision correction if you prefer knitting outdoors.
Illuminate your knitting space
Knitting in low-light conditions can make it harder to see, straining your vision and worsening the eye pain caused by many age-related vision issues. If you already experience one of these conditions, you might also have nyctalopia. Also known as night blindness, this side effect makes it even more challenging to see in poor lighting. However, it can also cause additional blurriness and make it harder to see colour, which can be especially inconvenient if you’re trying to distinguish between yarns of different hues required by a particular pattern.
To prevent that, ensure you always knit in a well-lit space. If you have a dedicated knitting area at home, make use of overhead lighting fixtures. Want to more directly focus light on your work? Try rechargeable, hands-free neck lamps from brands like Unilite. These are flexible and lightweight, meaning you can turn them any which way and wear them for as long as you want without further straining your neck. Of course, don’t forget your sunglasses when you want to knit under the sun!
Knit more easy patterns
Embarking on particularly complex projects that require smaller stitches can similarly strain your eyes. If you already have any of the aforementioned age-related vision issues, you’ll also want to help your eyes work smarter, not harder. Doing so will help minimise the pain these conditions may cause you. That’s why it can be ideal to stick to easier patterns as an older knitter.
Simpler knitting projects are easier to see, which can relieve eye strain especially if you have conditions like presbyopia. Because of that, you may also find it easier to direct your needles—something you can’t experience while working on more complicated projects, which require sharper vision and more refined movements just to make every stitch. Don’t worry: embarking on projects based on their simplicity won’t limit how many patterns you can try and how nice they’ll turn out. As exemplified by our knit shawl pattern, you can still create attractive and functional items despite using easier patterns.