Why I Knit

By Dr Mia HobbsSociety & Culture Health & Fitness Mental Health Leisure Personal Journals Crafts

Why I Knit episodes

July 12, 2023 Knitting for confidence and self-compassion with Jessica Hendrickson
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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🧶 Come and join our new community on Patreon! Perks include early access to podcasts, weekly behind the scenes videos and a monthly online knitting circle. This will enable us to connect more meaningfully with you all, grow the podcast and share more resources about knitting, creativity and wellbeing.
🧶 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:
Join our community on Patreon!
We'd love you to join us on Patreon - you can support the podcast while accessing perks such as early access to new episodes, our weekly behind the scenes videos and join our monthly online knitting circle.
Self-Care One Stitch at a Time - Live!
We wanted to let you know that we will be running our first ever live cohort of our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time in January 2027.
Join the priority waiting list
If like me, you find it hard to stick with a pre-recorded online course and fit it into your schedule, and prefer the accountability and community of a live course then this is the course for you!
The course will run for 6 weeks from the 6th of January, and will consist of 6 pre-recorded videos which you can watch at a time that suits you, and 6 live online sessions (on Zoom) run each Wednesday evening for 6 weeks.
Self-Care One Stitch at a Time is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques and is designed to help you use knitting intentionally to benefit your well-being. We cover topics including how to connect with your values, using knitting for mindfulness, how to choose your next knitting project with your self-care needs in mind. Plus we look at mistakes and traps that crop up in our relationship with knitting and how to navigate them.
We are limiting the group size to just 12 spaces in order to keep the group small enough for discussions – so if you’d like to join us you can click here to join the priority waiting list and you’ll be the first to know when tickets are released.
43 min
July 05, 2023 Knitting to refill my mental health bucket with Dr Kaman Hansford
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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🧶 Come and join our new community on Patreon! Perks include early access to podcasts, weekly behind the scenes videos and a monthly online knitting circle. This will enable us to connect more meaningfully with you all, grow the podcast and share more resources about knitting, creativity and wellbeing.
🧶 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 - Live!
We wanted to let you know that we will be running our first ever live cohort of our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time in January 2027.
Join the priority waiting list
If like me, you find it hard to stick with a pre-recorded online course and fit it into your schedule, and prefer the accountability and community of a live course then this is the course for you!
The course will run for 6 weeks from the 6th of January, and will consist of 6 pre-recorded videos which you can watch at a time that suits you, and 6 live online sessions (on Zoom) run each Wednesday evening for 6 weeks.
Self-Care One Stitch at a Time is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques and is designed to help you use knitting intentionally to benefit your well-being. We cover topics including how to connect with your values, using knitting for mindfulness, how to choose your next knitting project with your self-care needs in mind. Plus we look at mistakes and traps that crop up in our relationship with knitting and how to navigate them.
We are limiting the group size to just 12 spaces in order to keep the group small enough for discussions – so if you’d like to join us you can click here to join the priority waiting list and you’ll be the first to know when tickets are released.
Join our community on Patreon!
We'd love you to join us on Patreon - you can support the podcast while accessing perks such as early access to new episodes, our weekly behind the scenes videos and join our monthly online knitting circle.
56 min
June 28, 2023 Knitting is a constant companion with Kesha Evans
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
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🧶 Come and join our new community on Patreon! Perks include early access to podcasts, weekly behind the scenes videos and a monthly online knitting circle. This will enable us to connect more meaningfully with you all, grow the podcast and share more resources about knitting, creativity and wellbeing.
🧶 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 - Live!
We wanted to let you know that we will be running our first ever live cohort of our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time in January 2027.
Join the priority waiting list
If like me, you find it hard to stick with a pre-recorded online course and fit it into your schedule, and prefer the accountability and community of a live course then this is the course for you!
The course will run for 6 weeks from the 6th of January, and will consist of 6 pre-recorded videos which you can watch at a time that suits you, and 6 live online sessions (on Zoom) run each Wednesday evening for 6 weeks.
Self-Care One Stitch at a Time is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques and is designed to help you use knitting intentionally to benefit your well-being. We cover topics including how to connect with your values, using knitting for mindfulness, how to choose your next knitting project with your self-care needs in mind. Plus we look at mistakes and traps that crop up in our relationship with knitting and how to navigate them.
We are limiting the group size to just 12 spaces in order to keep the group small enough for discussions – so if you’d like to join us you can click here to join the priority waiting list and you’ll be the first to know when tickets are released.
Join our community on Patreon!
We'd love you to join us on Patreon - you can support the podcast while accessing perks such as early access to new episodes, our weekly behind the scenes videos and join our monthly online knitting circle.
51 min
June 21, 2023 Knitting myself back together with Jude Harper of Stranded Dyeworks
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
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🧶 Come and join our new community on Patreon! Perks include early access to podcasts, weekly behind the scenes videos and a monthly online knitting circle. This will enable us to connect more meaningfully with you all, grow the podcast and share more resources about knitting, creativity and wellbeing.
🧶 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 - Live!
We wanted to let you know that we will be running our first ever live cohort of our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time in January 2027.
Join the priority waiting list
If like me, you find it hard to stick with a pre-recorded online course and fit it into your schedule, and prefer the accountability and community of a live course then this is the course for you!
The course will run for 6 weeks from the 6th of January, and will consist of 6 pre-recorded videos which you can watch at a time that suits you, and 6 live online sessions (on Zoom) run each Wednesday evening for 6 weeks.
Self-Care One Stitch at a Time is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques and is designed to help you use knitting intentionally to benefit your well-being. We cover topics including how to connect with your values, using knitting for mindfulness, how to choose your next knitting project with your self-care needs in mind. Plus we look at mistakes and traps that crop up in our relationship with knitting and how to navigate them.
We are limiting the group size to just 12 spaces in order to keep the group small enough for discussions – so if you’d like to join us you can click here to join the priority waiting list and you’ll be the first to know when tickets are released.
Join our community on Patreon!
We'd love you to join us on Patreon - you can support the podcast while accessing perks such as early access to new episodes, our weekly behind the scenes videos and join our monthly online knitting circle.
1 hr 4 min
June 14, 2023 Knitting for work-life balance with Shona Mason
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
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🧶 Come and join our new community on Patreon! Perks include early access to podcasts, weekly behind the scenes videos and a monthly online knitting circle. This will enable us to connect more meaningfully with you all, grow the podcast and share more resources about knitting, creativity and wellbeing.
🧶 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:
Join our community on Patreon!
We'd love you to join us on Patreon - you can support the podcast while accessing perks such as early access to new episodes, our weekly behind the scenes videos and join our monthly online knitting circle.
Self-Care One Stitch at a Time - Live!
We wanted to let you know that we will be running our first ever live cohort of our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time in January 2027.
Join the priority waiting list
If like me, you find it hard to stick with a pre-recorded online course and fit it into your schedule, and prefer the accountability and community of a live course then this is the course for you!
The course will run for 6 weeks from the 6th of January, and will consist of 6 pre-recorded videos which you can watch at a time that suits you, and 6 live online sessions (on Zoom) run each Wednesday evening for 6 weeks.
Self-Care One Stitch at a Time is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques and is designed to help you use knitting intentionally to benefit your well-being. We cover topics including how to connect with your values, using knitting for mindfulness, how to choose your next knitting project with your self-care needs in mind. Plus we look at mistakes and traps that crop up in our relationship with knitting and how to navigate them.
We are limiting the group size to just 12 spaces in order to keep the group small enough for discussions – so if you’d like to join us you can click here to join the priority waiting list and you’ll be the first to know when tickets are released.
58 min
June 12, 2023 Series 5 is coming soon!
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 our community on Patreon!
We'd love you to join us on Patreon - you can support the podcast while accessing perks such as early access to new episodes, our weekly behind the scenes videos and join our monthly online knitting circle.
Self-Care One Stitch at a Time - Live!
We wanted to let you know that we will be running our first ever live cohort of our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time in January 2027.
Join the priority waiting list
If like me, you find it hard to stick with a pre-recorded online course and fit it into your schedule, and prefer the accountability and community of a live course then this is the course for you!
The course will run for 6 weeks from the 6th of January, and will consist of 6 pre-recorded videos which you can watch at a time that suits you, and 6 live online sessions (on Zoom) run each Wednesday evening for 6 weeks.
Self-Care One Stitch at a Time is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques and is designed to help you use knitting intentionally to benefit your well-being. We cover topics including how to connect with your values, using knitting for mindfulness, how to choose your next knitting project with your self-care needs in mind. Plus we look at mistakes and traps that crop up in our relationship with knitting and how to navigate them.
We are limiting the group size to just 12 spaces in order to keep the group small enough for discussions – so if you’d like to join us you can click here to join the priority waiting list and you’ll be the first to know when tickets are released.
5 min
February 08, 2023 The Why I Knit Podcast would love your feedback!
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.
5 min
February 02, 2023 Intentional crafting with Marceline of Hey BrownBerry
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
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🧶 Come and join our new community on Patreon! Perks include early access to podcasts, weekly behind the scenes videos and a monthly online knitting circle. This will enable us to connect more meaningfully with you all, grow the podcast and share more resources about knitting, creativity and wellbeing.
🧶 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:
Join our community on Patreon!
We'd love you to join us on Patreon - you can support the podcast while accessing perks such as early access to new episodes, our weekly behind the scenes videos and join our monthly online knitting circle.
Self-Care One Stitch at a Time - Live!
We wanted to let you know that we will be running our first ever live cohort of our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time in January 2027.
Join the priority waiting list
If like me, you find it hard to stick with a pre-recorded online course and fit it into your schedule, and prefer the accountability and community of a live course then this is the course for you!
The course will run for 6 weeks from the 6th of January, and will consist of 6 pre-recorded videos which you can watch at a time that suits you, and 6 live online sessions (on Zoom) run each Wednesday evening for 6 weeks.
Self-Care One Stitch at a Time is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques and is designed to help you use knitting intentionally to benefit your well-being. We cover topics including how to connect with your values, using knitting for mindfulness, how to choose your next knitting project with your self-care needs in mind. Plus we look at mistakes and traps that crop up in our relationship with knitting and how to navigate them.
We are limiting the group size to just 12 spaces in order to keep the group small enough for discussions – so if you’d like to join us you can click here to join the priority waiting list and you’ll be the first to know when tickets are released.
59 min
January 26, 2023 Reclaiming something for myself with Andrea Lui the Knitting PT
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
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🧶 Come and join our new community on Patreon! Perks include early access to podcasts, weekly behind the scenes videos and a monthly online knitting circle. This will enable us to connect more meaningfully with you all, grow the podcast and share more resources about knitting, creativity and wellbeing.
🧶 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 - Live!
We wanted to let you know that we will be running our first ever live cohort of our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time in January 2027.
Join the priority waiting list
If like me, you find it hard to stick with a pre-recorded online course and fit it into your schedule, and prefer the accountability and community of a live course then this is the course for you!
The course will run for 6 weeks from the 6th of January, and will consist of 6 pre-recorded videos which you can watch at a time that suits you, and 6 live online sessions (on Zoom) run each Wednesday evening for 6 weeks.
Self-Care One Stitch at a Time is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques and is designed to help you use knitting intentionally to benefit your well-being. We cover topics including how to connect with your values, using knitting for mindfulness, how to choose your next knitting project with your self-care needs in mind. Plus we look at mistakes and traps that crop up in our relationship with knitting and how to navigate them.
We are limiting the group size to just 12 spaces in order to keep the group small enough for discussions – so if you’d like to join us you can click here to join the priority waiting list and you’ll be the first to know when tickets are released.
Join our community on Patreon!
We'd love you to join us on Patreon - you can support the podcast while accessing perks such as early access to new episodes, our weekly behind the scenes videos and join our monthly online knitting circle.
52 min
January 19, 2023 Knitting for calm and connection with Kaleb James
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
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🧶 Come and join our new community on Patreon! Perks include early access to podcasts, weekly behind the scenes videos and a monthly online knitting circle. This will enable us to connect more meaningfully with you all, grow the podcast and share more resources about knitting, creativity and wellbeing.
🧶 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 - Live!
We wanted to let you know that we will be running our first ever live cohort of our course Self-Care One Stitch at a Time in January 2027.
Join the priority waiting list
If like me, you find it hard to stick with a pre-recorded online course and fit it into your schedule, and prefer the accountability and community of a live course then this is the course for you!
The course will run for 6 weeks from the 6th of January, and will consist of 6 pre-recorded videos which you can watch at a time that suits you, and 6 live online sessions (on Zoom) run each Wednesday evening for 6 weeks.
Self-Care One Stitch at a Time is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques and is designed to help you use knitting intentionally to benefit your well-being. We cover topics including how to connect with your values, using knitting for mindfulness, how to choose your next knitting project with your self-care needs in mind. Plus we look at mistakes and traps that crop up in our relationship with knitting and how to navigate them.
We are limiting the group size to just 12 spaces in order to keep the group small enough for discussions – so if you’d like to join us you can click here to join the priority waiting list and you’ll be the first to know when tickets are released.
Join our community on Patreon!
We'd love you to join us on Patreon - you can support the podcast while accessing perks such as early access to new episodes, our weekly behind the scenes videos and join our monthly online knitting circle.
41 min

About Why I Knit

From the publisher's feed

Welcome to the Why I Knit podcast! My name is Dr Mia Hobbs and I am a Clinical Psychologist who is passionate about the mental health benefits of knitting.