Writing a mystery begins with an idea, with the creation of a possible outline. Knitting a sweater begins with an idea, with the creation of a possible pattern. Considering all options, I start by getting my material together:
Books, maps, websites, and other information about the background I want to use and about the crime I’m planning yarn, knitting needles, measuring tape, a tapestry needle to weave in loose ends, a pattern, or my own sketch You see? It’s pretty much the same.
I learned touch typing in my teens, so I can write fast, faster than I phrase my sentences and without having to look at the keyboard. I learned to knit when I was seven, so I can knit easy patterns without having to look at the stitches. Unfortunately, I cannot do both at the same time, although – isn’t plotting and writing a novel more or less the same as knitting a sweater? My words are my stitches and the sentences form cables or openwork or fair isle patterns depending on the genre.
Let’s have a look at the development of my mystery. Of course, I need a crime at the centre of the storyline. As far as I’m concerned, this is not always a homicide. There are so many other crimes that I like using for variety: theft, extortion, stalking, abduction, robbery… and in real life all of those are much more common than murder. In the following example, however, I’m using the most common plot device of this genre: a murder.
Before starting on my manuscript I determine who will be the victim and who will be the murderer. Why did this person kill? I need a strong motive, probably rooted in the past of both.
How was it done? Openly? Secretly? By strangling, stabbing, poisoning…
Where? This is important for the act of murder and for the discovery of the body.
And the when is important, too, as I might need to create alibis for some of my characters.
First, I cast on my stitches, i.e. I start to write my first scene that sets the tone and the perspective of the book. A lot of writers start with the golden thread – the discovery of a body. As my mysteries are rather cosy, I prefer the cast-on in green and add the other colours later. When the golden thread joins the piece, it may not get lost again, stitches must never be dropped. But, of course, a lot of this colour remains at the back of the knitting and cannot be seen in its entirety at a first glance.
I knit the gold together carefully with the different shades of blue and some red, a little bit of green in between and blue again, which, of course, is the main colour. The reader will want to find out what happened and why together with the detective inspector or private investigator – or even before them.
Stitch by stitch the story grows and I can make it as simple or as complex as I like. Sometimes I need to increase or decrease one of the scenes and sometimes my pattern, my plot plans may go awry.
In the last mystery I wrote, I found out rather at the end that the man I had chosen to be the murderer was harmless! Unfortunately (or fortunately?), this might happen when one writes character-driven stories and the characters come alive. Then they do what they like and no longer comply with the original plot. So I had to look again at all the stitches I had knitted and purled and study the pattern. Was there another thread that could lead to the real murderer? Yesss! I found one. If the knitting is complex enough, there is always a way to change the pattern slightly and finish with a gratifying bind-off.
Of course, you can do your knitting without words, using wool, cotton, silk or other fibres. It’s the perfect pastime when watching crime movies or series, listening to audiobooks or when you need some ‘plain thinking’.
Knitting has the same effect on the brain as taking a walk: one step after the other helps you think and concentrate, knitting one stitch after the other does the same. It works as a bilateral stimulation, much like EMDR therapy. Thus it helps with depression and anxiety and aids the neurodivergent brain reset.Think of all the positive feelings and hormones like endorphin that are released when working with beautiful colours and materials. Finishing a piece of clothing that no one else in the world has makes you proud and creates a dopamine rush similar to a finished novel.
Studies show that knitting reduces the risk of dementia and improves the motor function of people with diseases such as Parkinson's.
You will never be bored again when you take up knitting. No need to scroll your smartphone display, no need to smoke yet another cigarette or get upset while waiting. You can even meet like-minded people, maybe join a knitting group where you might get to know people you would never have met in your life without yarn and needles.
Yes, I'm an addict. Knitting is my Yoga and writing is my Qi Gong. And I probably should have put a trigger warning at the beginning of this article that knitting is contagious. Highly infectious, as some of my friends and colleagues can confirm. But I haven't.
If you feel stressed now because you have no yarn at home and it is Sunday or late at night, take it from me: There are great shops, knitting instructions and tutorial videos on the internet to browse. And you'll probably find some paper and a pencil in one of your drawers to write a short crime story until the parcel with your new treasure arrives. Help is near.
Since knitting is so relaxing that it usually gives me great new ideas for new books, I leave you here and now and hurry off to the pink balaclava (merino and alpaca) I promised to make for my daughter.
Gitta Edelmann is a passionate knitter and an author of mysteries for adults and children. She also likes crochet, darning socks and writing romance, historical fiction and fantasy. Occasionally, she works as a translator or editor. She is a member of PEN, the Murderous Sisters and other writers’ associations in Germany and of the Mystery People.
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