No strings attached

Knitting becomes a healthy addiction for teen smokers looking to kick the habit

By Grace Hood, Special to the Rocky

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Matt McClain / The Rocky

Yarn flies through the air behind Karla Garcia, 16, center, at Lester R. Arnold High School in Commerce City. Garcia and, from left, Jeraldin Galtegos, 19, Nataly Salas, 18, Crystal Rosario, 16, Graciela Rocha, 15, and Amber Espinoza, 18, are learning knitting to help them stop smoking.

When it comes to kicking the smoking habit, students at Lester R. Arnold High School have taken a novel approach to taming their vice this semester: knitting.

"It's something to relax, and it takes my mind off the little problems in life," says 16-year-old Karla Garcia, a senior who learned knitting through her school's Not on Tobacco program sponsored by the American Lung Association.

Garcia used to smoke one to three cigarettes a day. Now when she gets the urge, she pulls out her knitting needles.

Women, and increasingly men, use the soothing tempo of knitting as a way to aid weight loss, smoking cessation, arthritis and depression. The repetitive act of knitting provides a stress outlet, keeps the hands busy and helps many knitters transition to a calmer, meditative state.

These health benefits are a great complement to the smoking-cessation process, says Eliza Lanman, tobacco control program manager for the American Lung Association of Colorado.

"I think that the knitting piece is important because it fills a void that is there when you quit smoking, and it replaces it with something that is creative, relaxing and also distracting," she says.

Overall, smoking is on the decline in Colorado. The number of high school students who smoke dropped from 18.2 percent in 2001 to 14.6 percent in 2006, according to the Tobacco Program Evaluation Group at the University of Colorado at Denver.

But the fact that fewer individuals are lighting up doesn't make quitting any easier. It can take multiple attempts for individuals to kick the habit because people need a support system that offers social cohesion, Lanman says.

For Garcia, the exams and school work required to graduate this semester will create added pressure, challenging her goal to kick the habit.

But this time when she gets the urge, she knows what to do.

"When I have too much homework, I take a break and just knit," she says.

Get out and knit with these local groups for adults

* Stitch and Bitch Gathering. Meets from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, Fancy Tiger, 1 S. Broadway, 303-733-3855.

* Knit for the Homeless. Meets from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. Panera Bread, 240 Milwaukee St., knitforthehomeless.com.

* Stitch Therapy. Meets from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursdays, Posh Yarn Boutique, 4020 Tennyson St., 720-855-0485.

* Drunken Knitting. Meets from 6 to 9 p.m. on the third Wednesday of every month, Goosetown Tavern, 3242 E. Colfax Ave. Call Denver Downtown Stitch 'n Bitch at 720-936-5377 for more information.