We understand that you are a physical therapist by profession. Tell us about your fiber background.
I learned to knit in college, but I didn’t become what I call a “serious knitter”—someone who knits daily—until I was postpartum with my first child. I found that knitting every day helped to ground me mentally and emotionally and provided an outlet for me to still
find myself in my new role as a mother. Since then, knitting has become a way to keep my hands busy when my mind is racing, to play with color and be creative, and to feel satisfaction and pride in myself when I finish a garment. I also began spinning in the past year and have found spinning to be even more of an escape from the chaos of raising small children.
Andrea Lui, The Knitting PT. Photo by Priscilla M. Choi Photography
What prompted you to start helping crafters care for their bodies?
I first became aware of the maker community on Instagram in 2020. I had been knitting and crocheting for years, but it was always a solo activity. I began to see posts where people would write about their hands going numb or wrists hurting, asking for advice. A lot of the advice from other makers was awful, like “suck it up” or “welcome to the club.” Others would share that their physicians had told them to just stop their crafting. An important part of my job as a physical therapist is to help my patients continue to maintain their quality of living and to help them return to the
activities or hobbies that they love. Seeing the wide variation in advice, ranging from “stop doing it” to “suffer through the pain,” was horrifying when I know there is a middle ground. I’m a huge advocate of using video to educate, so I began making reels of different stretches, exercises, and posture tips and posting them on Instagram. It became a fun way for me to share my knowledge and expertise and to connect with the global making community.
The idea to begin offering virtual consults came when I started to get an overflow of messages from makers, asking very specific and individual questions. It was hard to make recommendations when I didn’t know what was going on with their posture and bodies. I had done some virtual visits when the pandemic started, so I knew it was possible to do ergonomic assessments over video calls. Physical therapists are trained to be highly observant of posture and to have the ability to break movement down into steps, and so it made sense to expand my services to include virtual ergonomic assessments. I have found them very successful in helping makers troubleshoot what in their posture is causing them pain or discomfort.
How did you come up with the idea for your wellness products, especially the Wrist & Hand Care Kit?
One of the most common questions asked was how to stretch the hand, which is difficult to stretch due to the nature of the short and strong muscles within. I spent some time searching for firm massage balls, but many of the ones on the market are too soft for my liking. Once I got the idea to begin to source my own massage balls, adding TheraPutty for strengthening was a perfect complement to provide a holistic experience for the hands and wrists. The kit was designed this way to provide a way to strengthen and stretch the hands and wrists. The Wrist Restore brace is a brace I have used for years in my professional work as a physical therapist, so I knew it well and had found it to translate well for adding extra stability for handcrafting.
I also offer the Half Foam Roller, which allows the user to stretch the upper body over it while remaining stable on the ground, which aids in opening up the chest and upper back—important for makers who spend a lot of time hunched in front of their crafts.
What else would you like us to know about your work?
The foundation of my work is ensuring that people understand their bodies more and improve their physical self-awareness. It is important to me that crafters understand how or what about their posture could be contributing to pain and how to address it in a healthy way with exercises and postural corrections. My first love lies with teaching, so you can find me teaching at various fiber festivals throughout the year and on social media.
Visit Andrea at ptandrea.com or on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube as TheKnittingPT.
This article was originally published in Spin Off Winter 2025.