There is something enormously stress busting about working with your hands. Craftsmen and women have always known this. But some of us have been a bit late to the party. I’ve been told by a trauma specialist that repetitive movement is very good for a messed up head – so running – making repetitive movements with your legs, and crochet and knitting, where the movement is in your hands, are all good when you’re feeling stressed, whether from ongoing trauma – or from a current difficult situation.
And I can confirm that this is absolutely true. I decided in September that I would crochet a blanket. I’d admired ripple blankets I’d seen in glimpses of people’s living rooms online for some time, and I found out about the definitive tutorial website for crochet blankets. And Dreamer, who is already an experienced crocheter, mentioned that she had thought about making a blanket, so I knew I’d have company (or maybe competition). I was a complete crochet novice, so I practised by making half a scarf. And then I ordered the kit from Attic 24: a woodland blanket (although I used the slightly simpler neat ripple pattern). And it couldn’t have been better – glorious colours to match my living room – and hours of distraction for my restless fingers and buzzing head.
And when one wave of stress finished, so did my blanket. And it fits the chair perfectly.
I lasted about a fortnight before buying the kit for another one – this time one perfectly designed for the Queen – whose favourite colours are muted blues and pinks and whose college at university is called Fylde (you’ll see the link if you read the description). And this one is going to be my quarantine blanket I guess.
On last night’s Midlands Today they had the veteran presenter Nick Owens reporting from his self isolation and talking about what he’d been up to. He described a visit to a wool shop, where yarn was flying off the shelves. Perhaps not as fast as loo roll, but he said that there were a lot of purchases. Obviously by sensible people who realise that you can have a productive, creative and beautiful way to deal with stress. So whether your head is messy from something else, or it’s getting messy because of the constant news agenda, why not join me in fiddling with yarn instead of a phone?
We had a Ladies’ Craft Night. Dreamer had printed lovely fliers and told lots of people about the evening. And she and I had a meeting on Monday all about the crafts and plans for the evening. But then family illness meant she had to be away from the parish. So a couple of valiant church ladies stepped into the breach and helped me to set up and heaps of people helped to clear up afterwards. And somehow, by God’s grace, I managed to prepare the crafts AND a talk – all very simple, I hasten to add. And we had a wonderful night of chatting, creativity, delicious puddings and thinking about how Mary prepared for Christmas. Happily, the only problem was that there wasn’t enough time. So plans are now afoot for an Easter Craft Night – a great way to get church and friends together and share both the gospel and our lives.
Bee has been here over the last couple of days, helping out with Messy Church last night and with the school Easter service this morning. She and I got together this afternoon to talk about next Thursday, when Cake & Chat becomes DIY Holiday Club. She had some lovely Easter craft ideas and we sourced some others online. We’re going to be making:
The Vicar's Wife 