Susie Bass is a researcher studying a PHD in the relationship between power, identity and mental health through craft. Susie is a knitter and multi-crafter and during our discussion she speaks about how craft has been a common thread which has helped her to process traumatic events in her life, and to reconstruct herself afterwards.

CONTENT WARNING: During our conversation Susie speaks about losing a baby and experiencing a sexual assault. She also speaks about the process of being diagnosed with ADHD and Autism in adulthood.

Susie Bass

Instagram: @susiebass_anyhow for links to Susie's work

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🧶Join us at our LIVE Webinar: Unravelling Burnout: How knitting can help you rest, reset and restore on 18th November at 7pm UK time

🧶 If you'd like to learn more about how to use knitting for your self-care, check out our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time.

🧶Catch up on our on-demand webinar The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting.

Here's how to stay in touch:

💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter

📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmond

Mentioned in this episode:

Unravelling Burnout: How Knitting can help you rest, reset and restore

Join us for our next LIVE webinar on Tuesday 18th November at 7pm UK Time

Fran is a bear maker and multi-crafter who is originally from the UK but now lives in the Pyrenees mountains of France. Fran speaks about how craft has helped to negotiate living with chronic illness and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Fran

Website: Woollenhearted.com

Instagram: @woollenhearted

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🧶Join us at our LIVE Webinar: Unravelling Burnout: How knitting can help you rest, reset and restore on 18th November at 7pm UK time

🧶 If you'd like to learn more about how to use knitting for your self-care, check out our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time.

🧶Catch up on our on-demand webinar The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting.

Here's how to stay in touch:

💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter

📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmond

Mentioned in this episode:

Unravelling Burnout: How Knitting can help you rest, reset and restore

Join us for our next LIVE webinar on Tuesday 18th November at 7pm UK Time

Loose Ends

Find out more at their website: www.looseendsproject.org

Follow them on Instagram: @looseendsproject

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🧶Join us at our LIVE Webinar: Unravelling Burnout: How knitting can help you rest, reset and restore on 18th November at 7pm UK time

🧶 If you'd like to learn more about how to use knitting for your self-care, check out our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time.

🧶Catch up on our on-demand webinar The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting.

Here's how to stay in touch:

💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter

📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmond

Mentioned in this episode:

Unravelling Burnout: How Knitting can help you rest, reset and restore

Join us for our next LIVE webinar on Tuesday 18th November at 7pm UK Time

The Why I Knit Podcast is back with series 6 starting on 4th January 2024!

Thanks to everyone who has been in touch to ask when the new episodes are coming out - I look forward to sharing 6 more conversations with you from 4th January.

Mia

Website: therapeuticknitting.org

Patreon: patreon.com/therpeuticknitting

Instagram: @knittingistherapeutic

Mentioned in this episode:

Unravelling Burnout: How Knitting can help you rest, reset and restore

Join us for our next LIVE webinar on Tuesday 18th November at 7pm UK Time

Kathryn Vercillo is a writer and crafter who specialises in the intersection between art and mental health.

I particularly loved Kathryn's focus on her relationship with craft being something that is constantly evolving, and her celebration of every part of the process.

Kathryn speaks about crochet has helped save her life during periods of depression, and also talks about how she used crochet to help her through the grief following her friend's death through suicide.

Kathryn Vercillo

 Instagram @createmefree

Substack: https://createmefree.substack.com/

Books:  https://www.amazon.com/Kathryn-Vercillo/e/B001JPC6IO

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🧶Join us at our LIVE Webinar: Unravelling Burnout: How knitting can help you rest, reset and restore on 18th November at 7pm UK time

🧶 If you'd like to learn more about how to use knitting for your self-care, check out our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time.

🧶Catch up on our on-demand webinar The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting.

Here's how to stay in touch:

💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter

📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmond

Mentioned in this episode:

Unravelling Burnout: How Knitting can help you rest, reset and restore

Join us for our next LIVE webinar on Tuesday 18th November at 7pm UK Time

Jessica Hendrickson is the Creative Design Director at Lion Brand Yarn. As a teenager she had such a strong desire to make and wear her own clothes, that she told her parents she had to attend a school without a uniform.

She continues to use knitting and crochet to express her identity, but over time she has also used them to help find her way through post-natal depression and to help her focus. Jessica speaks about how she manages her desire to knit all the things as quickly as possible, but also how her constant drive for new experiences is a superpower in her role as Design Director which requires her to come up with new designs and use new yarns on a daily basis.

Jessica and Lion Brand Yarn

Webiste: Lion Brand Yarn 

Tom Daley's “Made With Love Collection," which will be

available for purchase in September 2023 at Michaels and on LionBrand.com.

Instagram: @lionbrandyarn

 @jesssicaleee

@madewithlovebytomdaley

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🧶Join us at our LIVE Webinar: Unravelling Burnout: How knitting can help you rest, reset and restore on 18th November at 7pm UK time

🧶 If you'd like to learn more about how to use knitting for your self-care, check out our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time.

🧶Catch up on our on-demand webinar The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting.

Here's how to stay in touch:

💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter

📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmond



Mentioned in this episode:

Unravelling Burnout: How Knitting can help you rest, reset and restore

Join us for our next LIVE webinar on Tuesday 18th November at 7pm UK Time

Dr Kaman Hansford is a GP who joined us on one of our retreats for healthcare professionals. She has lived experience of using mental health services and knitting is now a crucial part of her wellbeing plan.

Kaman speaks about feeling that she can use knitting as an early warning sign if her mental health is deteriorating, and also that it is one of the tools she uses daily to access some calm.

I also really valued Kaman's perspective on using knitting as a way of becoming more self-compassionate.

Kaman is not on social media, so if you have any comments on this episode I am very happy to pass them on!

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🧶Join us at our LIVE Webinar: Unravelling Burnout: How knitting can help you rest, reset and restore on 18th November at 7pm UK time

🧶 If you'd like to learn more about how to use knitting for your self-care, check out our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time.

🧶Catch up on our on-demand webinar The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting.

Here's how to stay in touch:

💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter

📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmond

Mentioned in this episode:

Unravelling Burnout: How Knitting can help you rest, reset and restore

Join us for our next LIVE webinar on Tuesday 18th November at 7pm UK Time

Kesha Evans learned to knit 11 years ago when her son was born prematurely and was in the NICU. She was approached by Carol Caparosa from Project Knitwell who offered to teach her to knit. Despite not considering herself creative at all, Kesha agreed to learn and ended up feeling that the visits from Carol were as important to her as those of the doctors and nurses.

Today Kesha is on the board at Project Knitwell and I interviewed her as part of their Knitathon in March 2023. Project Knitwell's team of volunteers go into hospitals, schools and community settings to offer knitting as a wellness tool to people at challenging times of their lives.

This interview was one of several online sessions recorded during the Knitathon - you can access these recordings by donating online - find out more at Project Knitwell Knitathon

Project Knitwell

Website: projectknitwell.org

Instagram: @projectknitwell

-------------

🧶Join us at our LIVE Webinar: Unravelling Burnout: How knitting can help you rest, reset and restore on 18th November at 7pm UK time

🧶 If you'd like to learn more about how to use knitting for your self-care, check out our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time.

🧶Catch up on our on-demand webinar The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting.

Here's how to stay in touch:

💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter

📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmond

Mentioned in this episode:

Unravelling Burnout: How Knitting can help you rest, reset and restore

Join us for our next LIVE webinar on Tuesday 18th November at 7pm UK Time

Jude generously joined me to speak about how he found knitting and the knitting community during a difficult time, and how knitting was a crucial part of putting himself back together.

He also speaks about the death of his parents last year, and how he continues to feel connected to them both through the memories held in knitted items, and also in the other new hobbies and skills that Jude has discovered more recently.

Jude also dyes beautiful yarn and by coincidence I realised I was wearing a pair of socks knit in Stranded yarn during our interview, bought 5 years previously at Unravel festival!

Jude

Stranded Dyeworks online

Instagram: @strandeddyeworks

Stranded Podcast on YouTube: Stranded Podcast

-------------

🧶Join us at our LIVE Webinar: Unravelling Burnout: How knitting can help you rest, reset and restore on 18th November at 7pm UK time

🧶 If you'd like to learn more about how to use knitting for your self-care, check out our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time.

🧶Catch up on our on-demand webinar The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting.

Here's how to stay in touch:

💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter

📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmond

Mentioned in this episode:

Unravelling Burnout: How Knitting can help you rest, reset and restore

Join us for our next LIVE webinar on Tuesday 18th November at 7pm UK Time

Dr Shona Mason is a dentist and teacher who encourages her students to develop interests outside of dentistry to prevent burnout and encourage them to have a positive work-life balance. As part of this mission she runs a knitting group for students, one of whom got in touch with me and suggested that she'd make a great interviewee for the podcast!

Shona

Instagram: @shonamasonmakes

-------------

🧶Join us at our LIVE Webinar: Unravelling Burnout: How knitting can help you rest, reset and restore on 18th November at 7pm UK time

🧶 If you'd like to learn more about how to use knitting for your self-care, check out our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time.

🧶Catch up on our on-demand webinar The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting.

Here's how to stay in touch:

💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter

📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmond

Mentioned in this episode:

Unravelling Burnout: How Knitting can help you rest, reset and restore

Join us for our next LIVE webinar on Tuesday 18th November at 7pm UK Time