I am so excited to have found a way to incorporate the juicy wellness tools I regularly employ into Talitha Dance’s offerings so you can enjoy them too! One of the big ones is needle-crafting which is why it was the first one I wanted to share, but I want to also share how it helps with mental health so I’m including links to credible sources like this article from Perspectives in Health listed on the National Institute of Health’s PubMed Library resource that details the general benefits of knitting and crocheting** in case you would like to learn more about it.
Sewing, knitting, and crocheting are a huge part of not just my mental self-care but my heritage as well. My mother and I started Me and Mummy Crafts to share the things we make together in our crafty time together. Her mother taught her and she taught me and my sister. I love that this is a way to connect with my family and ancestry that continues to help me stabilize now.
Later in Middle School and High School when I figured out that people will pay me to make them things it just boosted my self-esteem even more. As I made and sold teddy bears and collected the money I earned, you can imagine how good pre-teen/teenage me felt! I was beginning to learn through experience what science is just now finding ways to explain: the lower blood pressure, heart rate, and levels of cortisol, and the boost of seratonin ***
As life went on throwing hurdles left and right, crochet was a tried and true tool that always helped me recenter. In anxious states I could crochet and distract my mind with my project. In depressed states the comfort of the yarn, soothing repetitive hand movements, and satisfaction at seeing my pretty creation come to life delivered a soft hug from the inside without requiring my mind to be happy or my energy to be high. The only state I have difficulty crafting in is an excited state where I can’t calm down enough to focus on what I’m making and if I try, I usually make a mess of it and have to go back and fix it. Nurse Betty Houtman describes this phenomenon in her article* explaining how knitting and crochet help manage mental/emotional stress.
Over time, the collection of projects in my handmade wardrobe grew and the gifts I was able to give to others had my unique touch, adding to my sense of purpose and feeding my strong sense of individuality within a community. Author Betsan Corkhill includes that social belonging element in her book “Knit for Health & Wellness: How to knit a flexible mind & more...” which further highlights the benefits of needle-crafting.
Nowadays I want to share this wealth because this skill truly makes me feel abundant in multiple ways. I purchase and make other crochet designers’ patterns to highlight the amazing creativity of fiber arts designers, such as the above pictured Beauty of the Heart sweater pattern I followed from Heather Cummings of Cozy Creative Crochets. I have begun writing my own crochet pattern designs so that I can share them with others who know how to crochet and are looking for fresh new designs to try. I’ve also taken to challenging my creativity by making projects to sell out of my scrap yarn, I have some of those projects for sale for those who want the unique style without having to send the time to make it (you can see my patterns and items for sale in our shop).
With these Cozy Corners I’m taking my passion for crochet to the next level. I’m educating you on how it helps, not just with my heartwarming anecdotes and real life example of proof, but with credible science as well. Even more than that, I’m giving you the chance to see for yourself by teaching you the skill. Disclaimer: it is a skill you are learning. Much like learning a language or learning to dance, you will need to practice to build the neuromotor connections that embed the movements into muscle memory, so there is a learning curve. With patience and perseverance, once you overcome that curve, the sky is the limit on where and how far your hook can take you. I want the for you.
If you want to give it a try check out when our next Cozy Corner: Craft Edition will be here and come through. There’s an open seat and cup of tea waiting for you!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
*Houtman, Betty. “How Crochet and Knitting Help The Brain”. Anxiety Resource Center, 11 Oct. 2017, https://www.anxietyresourcecenter.org/2017/10/crochet-helps-brain/
**Burns P, Van Der Meer R. “Happy Hookers: findings from an international study exploring the effects of crochet on wellbeing”. Perspectives In Public Health, Volume 141, Issue 3, May 2021
, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32245337/
***Brody, Jane. “The Health Benefits of Knitting”. NY Times. 25 Jan. 2016 https://archive.nytimes.com/well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/25/the-health-benefits-of-knitting/
Resources for more projects, research, and studies on the benefits and impact of knitting and crocheting can be found at https://stitchlinks.com/research1.html
