The yarn harlot, that is. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee was in town
all weekend doing knitting workshops and I was there for every minute.
Friday night she gave a talk on how knitting affects our
brains. Knitting releases serotonin and dopamine. These make us feel good and
can also help with pain management. Knitting also allows us to enter the Theta
state of mind. REM sleep is a Theta state. Theta is also the border
between the conscious and the subconscious world; you are in Theta just before
falling asleep, and just after waking up. You enter Theta when meditating. It
is the state of mind when you feel most creative. Knitting does all of this
because it is a rhythmic, repetitive movement that can be very soothing.
Okay, I know I am not explaining this very well, but that’s
why Stephanie was giving the talk and not me. Suffice it to say, knitting is
good for your mental health. It can help with depression, it helps to ward off
alzheimer’s disease, and can even help people with ADD. There really is no
downside to knitting.
Saturday, Stephanie conducted a workshop on “knitting for
speed and efficiency”, and Sunday was “liking lace”. These workshops ran from
9:00 am to 4:00 pm (closer to 4:30 on Sunday). Stephanie is a great teacher and
she really knows her stuff. I’ll get into more details of each workshop in
future posts. Right now, I am on brain overload.
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