I’ve been able to crochet most of my life and for the majority of that time, it was just a hobby, but now crochet and my mental health are vitally intertwined.
My Crochet History
I learnt to crochet when I was little, about 8 years old I think. I could already knit as I’d been taught by my Mum and although she could crochet, she wasn’t confident enough to teach me. Then, one day at school, we had a volunteer come into school and he taught us how to crochet. I remember him fondly.
Since then, crochet is something that I have left and come back to many times (mainly to make granny square blankets to give as gifts to relatives), although it wasn’t something that I wanted to stay with for a sustained period of time.
Until about 8 years ago when I picked up the hooks again because I wanted to learn how to read a crochet pattern. I’ve not put them back down since!
Why I Love Crochet
One of the things that kept me interested was the vast amount of types of crochet that are out there and especially, at that time, amigurumi.
If you’ve never heard of it before, amigurumi is the Japanese art of making small woollen characters, either knitted or crocheted, specifically the cutest you can find. The patterns themselves can be quite straightforward or very complex, but each one you make is different with their own personality. Amigurumi also requires a lot of counting involved in which requires concentration, consequently your brain has no time to focus on its normal nonsense..
Over the years, I have had experiences with depression and anxiety and tried a variety of ways to keep my mind and intrusive thoughts at bay. Some have been more successful than others, as you can imagine, including medication.
I have been on anti-depressants since 2013 and rediscovering crochet seemed to coincide perfectly with my greater need for tools that I could use to help improve my mental health and I think this is why crochet has stuck with me this time.
I am not an expert in this field. I can speak only of what I have experienced and how it has helped me but, to me, crochet has become a crucial ingredient of my day-to-day self-care.
Crochet and Negative Thoughts
One particular aspect is the link between crochet and mindfulness. Anxiety and depression bring me a lot of negative thoughts about all aspects of everything and it can be very hard to drag my mind away from them, which is crucial as they’re very damaging and can mentally cling to you like oil.
According to the charity MIND “Mindfulness is a technique you can learn which involves noticing what’s happening in the present moment, without judgement” – it brings you back to the present, taking you away from intrusive thoughts and stopping that spiral.
And crochet does that for me. I spend time looking for patterns that I want to make and researching new techniques that I’ve not tried before and then I spend time choosing the right yarn for the pattern. Once all of that is done, I get myself comfortable and I crochet, obviously making sure to take breaks when I need to (crochet can be tough on the hands and neck muscles!).
The mindfulness comes with the concentration part of crochet, especially with things like amigurumi or mosaic crochet, where there can be a lot of counting and every row is different. This means that my mind doesn’t have the opportunity to get lost in intrusive thoughts as it is focused on what it is doing.
Crochet and Self-Esteem
The final treasure that crochet gives me is that much needed boost to my self-esteem.
At the end of every project I can pick up the thing that I have made and I can touch it. It is a tangible item that I can look at and appreciate that I made it with my own hands.
Subsequently, I then pass it on to someone else, either as a gift for them or as a sale and if I’m lucky, that person will then show me the item in use and that is the cherry on the self-esteem cake. Just to know that the little Woolly Wonder I made is loved and used and is with you every day and hopefully giving you a fraction of the happiness it gave me to make it – there is no better feeling.
If you feel that crochet could help you, by learning how to crochet, trying one of my patterns or tutorials, or by buying a finished item, have a look around and keep in touch.
