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

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🧶 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 webinars:

The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting

Unravelling Burnout where we look at how we can use knitting as a tool to prevent burnout

Knitting for Attention and Focus. We explore how knitting and crochet can support concentration, attention and mindful awareness, particularly for people who struggle with restlessness, distractibility or overwhelm.

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:

Self-Care One Stitch at a Time

If you'd like to use learn more about how to use knitting intentionally as part of your self-care, we have the audio course for you.

Series 4 is coming on 15th December! Sorry for the long wait and thanks for your patience. I am looking forward to sharing these 7 new conversations with you.

If you have guest suggestions, please send me an email at [email protected] or message me on Instagram where I am @knittingistherapeutic

You can also sign up to my mailing list to find out more about my work at www.therapeuticknitting.org

Mentioned in this episode:

Self-Care One Stitch at a Time

If you'd like to use learn more about how to use knitting intentionally as part of your self-care, we have the audio course for you.

Sylvia Watts-Cherry is a knitwear designer and teacher who is probably best known for her colourful intarsia designs. I love listening to other people talk about knitting, and was really drawn to Sylvia's description of her Paragon sweater design as being a 'happy knit' and the idea that intarsia feels therapeutic for her as she doesn't have time to think....something I relate to!

I also loved hearing Sylvia speak about a different way in which knitting has been therapeutic for her, in allowing her a way of exploring and connecting to her African heritage, by taking inspiration from African jewellery and artefacts for her knitwear designs.

Sylvia Watts-Cherry

Instagram: @withcherriesontoptoo

Ravelry: Sylvia Watts-Cherry

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🧶 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 webinars:

The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting

Unravelling Burnout where we look at how we can use knitting as a tool to prevent burnout

Knitting for Attention and Focus. We explore how knitting and crochet can support concentration, attention and mindful awareness, particularly for people who struggle with restlessness, distractibility or overwhelm.

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:

Self-Care One Stitch at a Time

If you'd like to use learn more about how to use knitting intentionally as part of your self-care, we have the audio course for you.

Dr Jen Unwin is a clinical and health psychologist who after retiring from her NHS role is now working with people with food addictions. She is a lifelong knitter who has herself found that knitting is an important part of her own self-care and because of this has also used knitting to benefit others as part of her work.

You can find out more:

Dr Jen Unwin

Instagram: @Jen_unwin

Twitter: @jen_unwin

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🧶 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 webinars:

The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting

Unravelling Burnout where we look at how we can use knitting as a tool to prevent burnout

Knitting for Attention and Focus. We explore how knitting and crochet can support concentration, attention and mindful awareness, particularly for people who struggle with restlessness, distractibility or overwhelm.

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:

Self-Care One Stitch at a Time

If you'd like to use learn more about how to use knitting intentionally as part of your self-care, we have the audio course for you.

Eileen has been a knitter since she was a child, but returned to it recently during a challenging time in her life. She discovered a new love for knitting and has now started to create her own designs. Eileen speaks about how knitting has been a form of self-expression, and how she rarely keeps the things she knits, but she loves planning the perfect gift for someone....even if she has never met them.

Eileen Jack

Instagram: @cniotaillaimhe - follow the link in Eileen's bio to buy her patterns on Ravelry or Payhip

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🧶 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 webinars:

The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting

Unravelling Burnout where we look at how we can use knitting as a tool to prevent burnout

Knitting for Attention and Focus. We explore how knitting and crochet can support concentration, attention and mindful awareness, particularly for people who struggle with restlessness, distractibility or overwhelm.

Here's how to stay in touch:

💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter

📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmond

Dr Paula Redmond is a clinical psychologist who specialises in working with healthcare professionals who have experienced burnout or workplace trauma. Paula and I met through the world of psychology, and I was delighted to meet another clinical psychologist who knits, and also speaks about creativity, including knitting, in her work. Paula speaks about her personal journey with knitting and how it benefits her mental wellbeing, as well as how she believes it can be helpful to her clients.

Dr Paula Redmond

Website: Paularedmond.com

LinkedIn: Paula Redmond

Facebook: Paula Redmond

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🧶 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 webinars:

The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting

Unravelling Burnout where we look at how we can use knitting as a tool to prevent burnout

Knitting for Attention and Focus. We explore how knitting and crochet can support concentration, attention and mindful awareness, particularly for people who struggle with restlessness, distractibility or overwhelm.

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:

Self-Care One Stitch at a Time

If you'd like to use learn more about how to use knitting intentionally as part of your self-care, we have the audio course for you.

This week I am joined by Liz McNeil. Liz is a knitting coach who works for Knit Chats where she helps knitters with their knitting dilemmas and teaches classes about different techniques. Liz speaks about how knitting has helped her through the challenges of having small children, when finding tiny pockets of time for herself was particularly difficult. She also speaks about how knitting allowed her to access a community despite her frequent house moves.

Liz speaks about the following patterns:

Turtle knits Picky pants Ravelry: Picky Pants pattern by Theresa Belville

Bee keeper quilt Ravelry:the beekeeper's quilt pattern by tiny owl knits

Liz McNeil

Instagram: @weelittleknitter

Instagram: @KnitChats

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🧶 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 webinars:

The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting

Unravelling Burnout where we look at how we can use knitting as a tool to prevent burnout

Knitting for Attention and Focus. We explore how knitting and crochet can support concentration, attention and mindful awareness, particularly for people who struggle with restlessness, distractibility or overwhelm.

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:

Self-Care One Stitch at a Time

If you'd like to use learn more about how to use knitting intentionally as part of your self-care, we have the audio course for you.

Although Carol Caprosa doesn't consider herself to be an 'expert knitter' she, along with the many volunteers working on behalf of Project Knitwell have brought the gift of knitting to thousands of people during stressful times in their lives.

It was amazing to hear the origin story of Project Knitwell, how returning to knitting when her daughter was very unwell as a newborn baby gave Carol the idea of teaching other people in hospital to knit.

Carol Caparosa

To find out more about Project Knitwell: Welcome! - Project Knitwell

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🧶 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 webinars:

The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting

Unravelling Burnout where we look at how we can use knitting as a tool to prevent burnout

Knitting for Attention and Focus. We explore how knitting and crochet can support concentration, attention and mindful awareness, particularly for people who struggle with restlessness, distractibility or overwhelm.

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:

Self-Care One Stitch at a Time

If you'd like to use learn more about how to use knitting intentionally as part of your self-care, we have the audio course for you.

It was such a pleasure to meet Karie and speak to her about how she learned to knit and dressmake out of necessity as a very young child in rural Denmark. Then many years later, knitting helped her to recover from a serious illness and returning to it eventually lead to her career as a knitwear designer, teacher and writer.

I loved hearing about the importance of storytelling in Karie's designs, and particularly the way she talks about knitting as agency.

Karie mentions her Doggerland collection

Karie Westermann

kariebookish.net

Instagram: @kariebookish

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🧶 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 webinars:

The Healing Power of Knitting where we take a deep dive into the mental health benefits of knitting

Unravelling Burnout where we look at how we can use knitting as a tool to prevent burnout

Knitting for Attention and Focus. We explore how knitting and crochet can support concentration, attention and mindful awareness, particularly for people who struggle with restlessness, distractibility or overwhelm.

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:

Self-Care One Stitch at a Time

If you'd like to use learn more about how to use knitting intentionally as part of your self-care, we have the audio course for you.

Series 3 is coming on 23rd June!

I am so looking forward to sharing another series of 6 conversations with knitters, designers and even another psychologist.

You can catch up on all the previous episodes at the website: Podcast | Why I Knit Podcast (therapeuticknitting.org)

Mentioned in this episode:

Self-Care One Stitch at a Time

If you'd like to use learn more about how to use knitting intentionally as part of your self-care, we have the audio course for you.