Knitting for mental health

Today I want to talk about knitting to relieve stress. Lion Brand Yarn posted a story about knitting in the waiting room of ICU and surgery rooms. The story is about a woman named Carol and her infant daughter who wound up in neonatal ICU and having surgeries for years after that. Today her daughter is doing fine and has a career in the healthcare field the story ends well, but waiting in the ICU waiting room, unable to go and comfort her daughter, she could not read.  She couldn't watch TV. She could just sit there.  Until she remembered knitting, which she had done before and so she knitted while her daughter was in surgeries and while her daughter was being cared for in an ICU that she was not able to enter, except during visiting hours. Luckily those days are gone when our loved ones are in ICU and we are not allowed to be with them as much as possible.  Now we understand that being with our loved ones during their time of stress is very important, not just to us, the relatives and friends to see how they're doing, but to them as well.  Knitting for wellbeing, knitting for health, knitting for healing. It's a concept that I can fully support.  People may think you're crazy for knitting or making your own yarn, but the truth is yarn is very relaxing.  It's a way to focus yourself and regain control especially when you feel like control has been taken away from you.

Www.projectknitwell.org

Take a look at their website. Maybe you can participate.  You can donate money, you can donate supplies and you can volunteer to teach others how to knit during their times of stress.  In my mind it's not just the loved ones of the sick,  it is anyone who has to wait, including the patient.

Pass on what you have learned.  Teach someone to knit, spin, weave or ride a horse.  Someone taught you, so pay it forward.  And what better way to pay it forward than teaching a worried parent or spouse to knit?  Helping others is therapy for you, too!

This rooster picture is just because he's gorgeous!

Being where you need to be right now.

Pour a cup of tea and pull up a chair.  I'm not too long winded this time, so enjoy.

A cute crocheted "thing".

Sometimes we think we know what we need, but then we are shown what we really need. 

I think it's hard to know what we really need until we try a few things and maybe fail a lot.  Or you could be one of those people that succeed at everything.  I don't think this is for people like that, but please feel free to read on.

My daughter on her small pony.  Breezie was great and is now with another family, being adored!

Sometimes you need one thing now, but you outgrow it.  I wouldn't want my daughter to try and ride her small pony when she is ready for a large horse, but when she was only 5, she didn't have the strength to control my big horses.

Drop spindles are a great start into spinning - low tech and low cost.

So, maybe now you need to be in the moment of learning knitting, then later on you might want to learn spinning.  But regardless of where you are at, you need to be focused on where you are now.  Sound simple?  Yeah, but I am always looking ahead to the next thing.  I need to ride the young horse, so he learns how to be ridden.  But I want to be galloping him down the trail at the lake, whooping and hollering like a wild thing.  Needless to say, he's not quite ready for that.  Sometimes you have to be where your companion can join you.

This is the spinning wheel I chose.  A huge step up from a spindle, but not nearly as portable.

Once a year, I go to my daughter's school and demonstrate how to make yarn.  Kids like hands on, so I take lots of different fibers and some ready made yarn.  If I have a rabbit, I take that too!  What fun!  It's a blast for me and them.  I get thank you's from boys and girls for the rest of the school year, even from kids who have seen it 2-3 times!

Once you have learned something, it often helps to teach it to someone else to help you to the next level.  It's amazing how much you learn about yourself by answering the question of "what's different about these two?" The enthusiasm of youth can be infectious if you go with it.  Let your joy fill them and their joy fill you.  Who needs drugs when you can get high on each other!?

Welcome

The Fine Art of Slow is a concept I've been working on for a while now.  What is it?  A way of life.  It's slowing down to enjoy the little things in life.  But it's also about handcrafted gifts and unique one of a kind items.

Sock in progress - commercial yarn

I sell yarn that I dyed myself.  I take my time and enjoy the process.  I think I'm just the start, though.  I believe positive energy can be infused into lovingly made items.  So, I'm giving the yarn a good start. Then it's up to you to continue.  Take your time and enjoy the process!

Close up of yarn I dyed and knit.

Why is slowing down so important to me?  My brother, Frank.  He lived more in his 37 years than most people fit into 80.  He wasn't living today for a retirement in 40 years.  He seized life by the horns and went out sliding sideways.  Not all of us are going to be like him, but all of us can strive to enjoy every moment of our lives.

I dyed this sock and knit it, too.

In high school, I started crocheting. I also did a lot of cross stitch.  I enjoyed every minute.  I also rode horses, raised goats, chickens, rabbits, etc.  I truly love farm life.  It took me many years to come full circle back to farm life.  I shear my llamas, comb or card the wool, blend it with other fibers, spin it into yarn.  I'm way too slow to ever sell my handspun yarn, though.  I also dye my yarn and yarn I've purchased, knit, crochet, weave and design projects.  That's a lot!

I love the pooling and striping!

Why so much?  I love it!  I love creating.  I'll share some of everything I do with you.  Including my farm life with llamas, horses, cats, a dog, chickens and the occasional rabbit, goat or sheep.  Do stay tuned to learn more!

www.thefineartofslow.com

Being present in the moment

In Mid-September 2015, we were at an endurance ride.  That's a sport where people pay for the honor of riding up to 100 miles in one day, on horseback.  It's a blast!  And the people involved are incredible.  Of course, I have to admit that I'm riding at the "baby" level, 25 miles.  My wording on that, BTW.

This is my stallion, right before he became a gelding.  My daughter, Lisa is leading him.  I ride him in Limited Distance rides.

But that's not really what I'm writing about.  I always pack everything but the kitchen sink.  So, I took knitting and spinning things with me, along with my kindle, phone, laptop, DVD's, refrigerator, microwave ...  You get the picture.  Good thing I have a back seat in the truck and a large dressing room in the trailer.

Hand dyed fingering weight silk.

So there I am with my knitting.  And I even pull it out to work on it while I'm waiting for riders to come in to the vet check.  What was I thinking!?  I think I knitted one or two rounds all weekend.  I came to the conclusion that I needed to live that weekend in the now.  And that's what I did.  I learned a lot.  That's what happens when you are present in the now.

Hand dyed worsted weight wool.

Be present now!  And always be willing to learn, most especially when you think you have nothing to learn.  There's always something to learn.

My stallion before we started riding long distances.  Being overweight is no healthier for a horse than a human.

Fill your days with joy, stay open to ideas and learn something new every day.

I'm learning how to spin on a spinning wheel, how to design my own socks, dying yarn better and better, being a better parent, day by day.  What are you learning?  Remember, learning isn't about having a college class to learn in.  It's about absorbing your experiences, acknowledging both the good and "improvable" (lets not use the "b" word) and finally applying what you've learned.  Then the cycle starts all over again.

Hand dyed worsted weight wool.

www.thefineartofslow.com