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

Mia

Website: Creative Restoration

Instagram: @knittingistherapeutic

Mentioned in this episode:

Join us at our Live Webinar 'How and Why Knitting Helps'

Join us on 15th July at 7pm BST for a Live Webinar to learn more about the science behind why and how knitting benefits our mental health.

I am so sorry that it has taken much longer than planned for Series 5! However I am pleased to announce that episode one will be available this Thursday 15th June.

In the meantime you can listen to all the previous episodes here or on your favourite podcast app.

Mentioned in this episode:

Join us at our Live Webinar 'How and Why Knitting Helps'

Join us on 15th July at 7pm BST for a Live Webinar to learn more about the science behind why and how knitting benefits our mental health.

Thank you so much for listening to the podcast, I am so thrilled that so many of you have connected with the themes we have discussed. I would really value your feedback on how I can continue to create podcasts and grow this community of like-minded people who are using knitting to benefit their mental health. The survey takes only 2 minutes and I would really value your feedback!

Complete the survey by clicking here - if you were kind enough to complete the survey already from the link in my mailing list thank you so much!

You can also support the podcast by paying as little as £3 a month on Patreon. This will enable me to keep devoting time to recording and editing new interviews.

It was a joy to spend time with Marceline to hear her reflections on her relationship with knitting, how this has changed over time, and how she aims to be more intentional in her making.

Marceline speaks about tuning in to what she needs from her crafts at a given time in her life, and how connecting to 'the old way' of doing things has helped her to navigate the times when something needs to be unravelled.

Marceline

hey BrownBerry YouTube channel: heyBrownBerry

Instagram: @heybrownberry

Etsy: heybrownberry

Ravelry: heybrownberry

Mia

Website: Creative Restoration

Instagram: @knittingistherapeutic

Mentioned in this episode:

Join us at our Live Webinar 'How and Why Knitting Helps'

Join us on 15th July at 7pm BST for a Live Webinar to learn more about the science behind why and how knitting benefits our mental health.

Andrea is a physical therapist and passionate knitter who is perfectly placed to provide professional advice on what to do when we suffer pain when knitting, and how to prevent it in future.

Andrea speaks about how she returned to knitting as a new mum, and how it helped her to find a few minutes each day to do something for herself. She also shares her reflections as a physiotherapist on her important role in helping crafters to find ways of accessing their crafts in a sustainable way.

Andrea

Website: Andrea Lui

Instagram: @theknittingpt

Patreon: The Knitting PT

Youtube: The Knitting PT

Mia

Website: Creative Restoration

Instagram: @knittingistherapeutic

Mentioned in this episode:

Join us at our Live Webinar 'How and Why Knitting Helps'

Join us on 15th July at 7pm BST for a Live Webinar to learn more about the science behind why and how knitting benefits our mental health.

Kaleb decided to return to knitting during the pandemic as a way of managing anxiety and to feel connected to his mum who had been a prolific knitter. Kaleb speaks about finding that knitting allowed them to slow down, feel calmer and connected to a different community of people.

Kaleb

Instagram: @all_things_kaleb

Mia

Website: Creative Restoration

Instagram: @knittingistherapeutic

Mentioned in this episode:

Join us at our Live Webinar 'How and Why Knitting Helps'

Join us on 15th July at 7pm BST for a Live Webinar to learn more about the science behind why and how knitting benefits our mental health.

I knew I wanted to interview Lisa for the podcast when I heard her speaking about her experience of having ADHD on Irina Shaar's 'Humans of Westknits' series during the recent Westknits mystery knit along.

As someone who isn't great at just sitting and watching TV or listening to something, I feel knitting improves my ability to sit and focus and was interested to hear how Lisa felt about this.

Lisa also speaks about her lifelong love of colour; not always wanting to wear the things she wants to knit; and being someone who always aims to be the best at the things she does.

Mia Hobbs

Sign up to our monthly newsletter: Creative Restoration

Instagram: @knittingistherapeutic

Mentioned in this episode:

Join us at our Live Webinar 'How and Why Knitting Helps'

Join us on 15th July at 7pm BST for a Live Webinar to learn more about the science behind why and how knitting benefits our mental health.

Ailie hosts the Thoughtful Knitter YouTube channel. She speaks about returning to knitting in recent years as her health problems meant that she wasn't able to connect with friends and family in the same way.

Ailie speaks about her journey from a slightly reluctant knitter to someone who knits every day and focuses more on the process than the end product.

Ailie

YouTube: The Thoughtful Knitter

Instagram: The Thoughtful Knitter

Mia

Website: Creative Restoration

Instagram: @knittingistherapeutic

Mentioned in this episode:

Join us at our Live Webinar 'How and Why Knitting Helps'

Join us on 15th July at 7pm BST for a Live Webinar to learn more about the science behind why and how knitting benefits our mental health.

You can tell by the way Irina Shaar interviews knitters and other fibre artists that she loves connecting with people and finding out how they tick, so it was brilliant to hear her story and to get the chance to find out what she has learned from interviewing hundreds of knitters about their craft.

Irina

You can watch Fiberchats on YouTube here: Fiberchats

Instagram: @Fiberchats

Mia

Website: Creative Restoration

Instagram: @knittingistherapeutic

Mentioned in this episode:

Join us at our Live Webinar 'How and Why Knitting Helps'

Join us on 15th July at 7pm BST for a Live Webinar to learn more about the science behind why and how knitting benefits our mental health.

Ellen is a pretty inspiring 16 year old! She sews and knits and already seems to have figured out how to use these crafts intentionally to manage the times when she is struggling with low mood or anxiety. She also speaks about how craft helps her connect to family members and has been passed down through the generations in her family.

Ellen

Instagram: @sewandinspire

Etsy shop: Sew and inspire

Mia

Website: Creative Restoration

Instagram: @knittingistherapeutic

Mentioned in this episode:

Join us at our Live Webinar 'How and Why Knitting Helps'

Join us on 15th July at 7pm BST for a Live Webinar to learn more about the science behind why and how knitting benefits our mental health.