Why I Knit

• Knitting and the menopause with Dr Zoe

  In the second of two episodes, this week I speak to Dr Zoe, a GP specialising in menopause. Zoe's colleagues joined me last week to speak about knitting a blanket for her following her recent cancer diagnosis. Zoe speaks about her long history of using knitting to benefit her mental well-being, how she is using it now during her cancer treatment and how knitting has allowed her to find spaces where being an introvert is celebrated. We also talk about Zoe's views that knitting is a particularly helpful tool during the menopause when we all rely more on our daily coping strategies to manage this transition.To connect with Zoe: Instagram: @manchestermenopausehive-------------🧶Join us at our first Live Webinar The Healing Power of Knitting: unravelling the science behind knitting and mental health on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm BST to find out all about how and why knitting benefits our mental health.🧶 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.Here's how to stay in touch:💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmondMentioned in this episode:Join us at our Live Webinar: The Healing Power of KnittingJoin us on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm BST for our first Live Webinar: The Healing Power of Knitting: unravelling the science behind knitting and mental health. This is your chance to learn about the psychological theory behind how and why knitting feels so essential to our well-being. This is a webinar based on all the available research evidence into knitting and mental health, along with the themes from over 50 Why I Knit podcast interviews with knitters about how knitting has made a difference in their lives. Paula and I have pulled this together and combined it with our knowledge of psychological theory to help explain how and why knitting helps. This is an hour long webinar followed by a live q and a. We would love for you to join us on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm British Summer Time. If you can’t make it live, you can still buy a ticket and access the recording at a time that suits you. You can get your ticket at https://creativerestoration.org/events/

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• Knitting a blanket of support with the menopause specialists

  This week I am joined by Sharon Hartmann, Dr Sarah Ball and Dr Carys Sonnenberg who are all health professionals working in the field of menopause. They have come together to create a shared knitting project in support of two of their colleagues who are going through treatment for cancer. This is the first of two episodes featuring menopause specialists and their colleague Dr Zoe, who is one of the receipients of these special blankets joins me next week.While Sharon is a returning knitter, Sarah and Carys are new to knitting and they all join me to speak about their experience of their joint knitting project. We also discuss their work in the field of menopause and their reflections on how knitting can be particularly beneficial to our mental wellbeing at this time of life.Connect with Dr Carys Sonnenberg:Website: Rowena HealthInstagram: @drcaryssonnenbergYouTube: Two Doctors Chat MenopauseTikTok: Carys SonnenbergConnect with Dr Sarah BallWebsite: Health in MenopauseInstagram: @drsarahmollyballConnect with Sharon HartmannInstagram: @sharonhartmann-------------🧶Join us at our first Live Webinar The Healing Power of Knitting: unravelling the science behind knitting and mental health on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm BST to find out all about how and why knitting benefits our mental health.🧶 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.Here's how to stay in touch:💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmondMentioned in this episode:Join us at our Live Webinar: The Healing Power of KnittingJoin us on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm BST for our first Live Webinar: The Healing Power of Knitting: unravelling the science behind knitting and mental health. This is your chance to learn about the psychological theory behind how and why knitting feels so essential to our well-being. This is a webinar based on all the available research evidence into knitting and mental health, along with the themes from over 50 Why I Knit podcast...

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• The accidental knitter with Martyn of Knit365

  This week I am delighted to be joined by Martyn, host of the Knit365 YouTube channel. I loved speaking to Martyn about his journey from beginning as an accidental knitter, having made an off-the-cuff promise to his grandmother, to a daily knitter with a successful YouTube Channel about his adventures in yarn.It was great to hear how Martyn has discovered the therapeutic benefits of knitting along the way, how he loves the satisfaction of making progress and completing things, and how he now has a knitting project within easy reach wherever he is. It was really interesting to hear how he intentially uses knitting to manage stress and to get his reflections on being a man who knits.-------------🧶Join us at our first Live Webinar The Healing Power of Knitting: unravelling the science behind knitting and mental health on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm BST to find out all about how and why knitting benefits our mental health.🧶 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.Here's how to stay in touch:💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmondConnect with MartynYouTube: Knit365Substack: Knit365Instagram: @welsh_tenorMentioned in this episode:Join us at our Live Webinar: The Healing Power of KnittingJoin us on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm BST for our first Live Webinar: The Healing Power of Knitting: unravelling the science behind knitting and mental health. This is your chance to learn about the psychological theory behind how and why knitting feels so essential to our well-being. This is a webinar based on all the available research evidence into knitting and mental health, along with the themes from over 50 Why I Knit podcast interviews with knitters about how knitting has made a difference in their lives. Paula and I have pulled this together and combined it with our knowledge of psychological theory to help explain how and why knitting helps. This is an hour long webinar followed by a live q and a. We would love for you to join us on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm British Summer Time. If you can’t make it live, you can still buy a ticket and access the recording at a time that suits you. You can get your ticket at https://creativerestoration.org/events/

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• Adaptive knitting with Beth Gorishek

  To kick off series 8 I am deligted to be joined by Beth Gorishek who is also known the Adaptive Knitter. Beth was born with a limb difference and through teaching, speaking and workshops helps knitters to learn how to make adaptations to their knitting practice so that it works for their body. Beth believes that makers are well placed to be adaptive as this is part of the creative process of making and that adaptation is creativity. I also particularly loved Beth's approach to using knitting to carve out small pockets of time for her self-care and to create something meaningful in those moments.I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.Connect with BethWebsite: adaptive knitterInstagram: @adaptiveknitter-------------🧶Join us at our first Live Webinar The Healing Power of Knitting: unravelling the science behind knitting and mental health on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm BST to find out all about how and why knitting benefits our mental health.🧶 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.Here's how to stay in touch:💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmondMentioned in this episode:Join us at our Live Webinar: The Healing Power of KnittingJoin us on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm BST for our first Live Webinar: The Healing Power of Knitting: unravelling the science behind knitting and mental health. This is your chance to learn about the psychological theory behind how and why knitting feels so essential to our well-being. This is a webinar based on all the available research evidence into knitting and mental health, along with the themes from over 50 Why I Knit podcast interviews with knitters about how knitting has made a difference in their lives. Paula and I have pulled this together and combined it with our knowledge of psychological theory to help explain how and why knitting helps. This is an hour long webinar followed by a live q and a. We would love for you to join us on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm British Summer Time. If you can’t make it live, you can still buy a ticket and access the recording at a time that suits you. You can get your ticket at https://creativerestoration.org/events/

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• Bonus episode Journal Club 4 - Crochet improves attention

  This month we are discussing a paper published in Scientific Reports (part of the prestigious Nature group of peer-reviewed scientific journals) about the impact of crochet on attention.You can read the full paper here.This is a study by neurologists into how crochet impacts on attentional networks. It combines brain imaging with an interesting experimental design. It is a complex read, involving a lot of neuro-speak but we've tried to summarise it in a way that hopefully makes it easy to understand the methods and findings. We have also created a blog to help illustrate the methods and design used, which you can find here.Citation: Rossi Sebastiano, D., Muscio, C., Duran, D. et al. Crochet increases attention through a requiring motor skill learning. Sci Rep 15, 4141 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-88777-9-------------🧶Join us at our first Live Webinar The Healing Power of Knitting: unravelling the science behind knitting and mental health on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm BST to find out all about how and why knitting benefits our mental health.🧶 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.Here's how to stay in touch:💌 Sign up to the Creative Restoration newsletter📲 Follow us on Instagram at @knittingistherapeutic and @drpaularedmondMentioned in this episode:Join us at our Live Webinar: The Healing Power of KnittingJoin us on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm BST for our first Live Webinar: The Healing Power of Knitting: unravelling the science behind knitting and mental health. This is your chance to learn about the psychological theory behind how and why knitting feels so essential to our well-being. This is a webinar based on all the available research evidence into knitting and mental health, along with the themes from over 50 Why I Knit podcast interviews with knitters about how knitting has made a difference in their lives. Paula and I have pulled this together and combined it with our knowledge of psychological theory to help explain how and why knitting helps. This is an hour long webinar followed by a live q and a. We would love for you to join us on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm British Summer Time. If you can’t make it live, you can still buy a ticket and access the recording at a time that suits you. You can get your ticket at https://creativerestoration.org/events/

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