If you do an internet search regarding crafting, you can find all kinds of articles about the benefits: cognitively, to help with memory, emotionally, to help with anxiety, physically to help with rehabilitation after a stroke for example. The list goes on.
But I don’t need an expert to tell me those things. I can see these benefits day in and day out. No one talks about the joys of yarn itself. The tactile pleasure, the sensory pleasure of the colors. This alone is therapy.
A little girl came in the shop this week for yarn for finger knitting. She picked Flamingo pink, because Flamingos are her second favorite bird. When I wound the yarn and presented it to her, she said, with delight in her voice and her eyes, “I love yarn!”. That sums it up.
In addition to the pleasure yarn itself gives us, there’s the pleasure of planning a project, of perusing Ravelry or going through your stash to see what you can make. Some people get lost for hours in this activity. Planning things over which we have control can be great therapy in a world where we feel that we have no control.
And of course there’s the crafting itself. I used to teach lots of children to knit and I would bring in Chinese worry balls aka mediation or stress balls, to show them how moving these balls around which is supposed to stimulate calm and “less worry”, is similar to using your hands to knit. We have had stroke victims come in for classes and knitting and crocheting is said to be good for those with arthritis. Some see knitting as a zen activity. It means many different things for many different people.
Have you ever joined us on Friday afternoons or Wednesday evenings? There’s also one Sunday a month (this Sunday) when we host a crafting group. If you go you will see the social benefits of crafting. Claire, our spinning instructor, even brings her wheel on Wednesdays. Connecting to others through shared interests is so important in a world where many people feel a loss of personal connection, or a loss of “third spaces”; places where people can connect with others outside of home and work.
And we can’t overlook the feeling of satisfaction that crafting brings when we put on a garment, give a gift or just weave in those last ends. We have a physical manifestation of all our hard work and that’s meaningful.
Tell your friends, family and neighbors about the benefits you feel when crafting. Let’s continue to build this community one stitch at a time.
Jennifer