WELLBEING | Getting Crafty (and mindful!) With A Crochet Class at Black Sheep Wools

March 3, 2020 Shell Robshaw-Bryan

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I’ve always been a bit creative and have enjoyed making things. From drawing and writing short stories to knitting and needle felting, I’ve always had something crafty and creative on the go, that was up until a few years ago when I found I was suddenly relentlessly busy all the time and all my creative pursuits fell by the wayside.

Recently I decided to make a change and to create a little space each week for new creative endeavours and I had a hunch too that it would help me to rest more and feel calmer.

I dabbled with knitting a few years ago and never progressed past straight lines. All I’d previously managed to get my head around was casting on, a simple knit stitch and casting off, which meant I’ve knitted countless scarves and wrist warmers but looking at an actual pattern just baffled me.

In early January this year though I decided that things needed to change, so I challenged myself to learn how to follow a simple knitting pattern and also, to learn to crochet.

The link between mindfulness and crafting

One of the best things about knitting and crochet is that they are highly portable crafts. In the last few weeks, I’ve taken my knitting into work and added a few extra rows to projects during my lunch break. I’ve taken yarn, crochet hooks and knitting needles on glamping and camping breaks and have found it’s worked wonders for my stress levels.

*My first knitting project of 2020 a bright striped scarf*

Crafting slows me down, anchors me in the here and now and it provides a wonderful reason to just sit still and be, but crucially, I still feel like I’m being productive as I can’t cope with sitting around and doing absolutely nothing!

*A few recent craft projects including a hat I knitted whilst on a glamping break*

When I posted on social media about my tentative foray into knitting and crochet, I was amazed at just how many other outdoor bloggers were also knitters and crocheters! Thinking about it, it makes sense though.

Many of us in the outdoor blogging community regard the great outdoors as therapy, using time outdoors to calm and centre us and crafts play a similar role. In fact, there’s a whole mindfulness movement that’s associated with knitting and crochet – The repetitive aspect does feel somewhat meditative and seeing a project take shape that only a few hours before was just a ball of yarn is extremely rewarding. Focusing on counting stitches or rows means our brains aren’t stressing about deadlines, projects or household chores that need doing.

Learning to crochet with Black Sheep Wools

When it comes to crochet I am very much a total beginner. I recently figured out how to do a foundation chain by watching YouTube videos and in an attempt to crochet my first square, I inadvertently crocheted a triangle and on my second attempt, I crocheted a circle – without any understanding of how or why they turned out that way, so I decided it was time to look for some professional tuition.

I’m very much a hands-on learner. Theory is all well and good and looking at diagrams or even watching videos is one thing, but it’s the actual doing that cements things in my brain so I knew I’d benefit from a workshop.

I did a search online and found a beginners crochet class run by Black Sheep Wools in Warrington, about a 45-minute drive from where I live. I love bright funky colours, so granny squares in vibrant psychedelic colours are my ultimate goal, but in order to get there, I needed to learn the basics.

What I learned On the day

There was a small group of us and our tutor for the day was the lovely and ridiculously talented Carol Meldrum who must seriously have the patience of a saint! Most of the other ladies in the group were either experienced knitters or had crocheted before, but not recently.

Carol took us through some basics like chaining and a few crochet stitches including double crochet and triple crochet. My tension (as always) was dreadful and just as I felt like I’d got it, my brain would freeze and my fingers would forget the rhythm of what they’d happily been doing without thought just moments before. Glancing around the table I saw perfectly crocheted pieces of work – mine, by comparison, looked like a disaster!

That said, despite clearly not being a crochet natural, I really enjoyed the day and some of what I learned has stuck. Carol was super helpful and kept coming round to look at what we were doing, offering individual advice and providing timely boosts in confidence (goodness knows I needed them).

The workshop included tea and coffee throughout the day, a light lunch of sandwiches and mid-afternoon a selection of cakes appeared. They didn’t stay around long though!

Carol had planned to take us through a couple of her patterns to make which included an intricate-looking crocheted necklace. Knowing my limits I opted to continue practising basic stitches but was delighted when a few of the ladies mentioned granny squares. Carol checked we were all happy to deviate slightly from the original plan and she launched straight into teaching us a classic granny square.

With a LOT of help, I managed to produce something that looked like a granny square – yay! My tension is all over the place and I can see areas where I’ve gone wrong, but for my first ever attempt, I must say I’m super pleased with the results.

The beautiful Rowan yarn we used (provided for us) was a real bonus and brilliant to work with, and whilst I still don’t have a granny square totally nailed (attempts to recreate one from memory at home have ended up with mistakes all over the place), the basics have definitely stuck and I feel like I have a much better understanding of a craft that in January this year I still regarded as being basically witchcraft.

The effect crafting has had on my stress levels

One thing I’ve found about my increased level of crafting is that it’s helping to keep my stress levels in check. It’s normal for me to get home from work and go straight to the gym, then come straight home and continue working on the blog well into the night but I have so many projects on the go that I’m now giving myself a cut-off time for working and am finding crafting before bed is helping me relax and centre myself.

It’s too early to say I have developed new skills in either knitting or crochet, but it’s fair to say I’m well and truly hooked and everywhere I go, from weekends away in the city to camping trips in the countryside, I’ll be taking my yarn stash, needles and hooks with me and I can’t wait to sit contentedly beside a campfire crocheting perfect granny squares 😊

Find out more about Black Sheep Wools craft workshops, (the shop is amazing and well worth a visit!) or follow my adventures in crafting over on Instagram.

*Granny square completed last night, not perfect but I’m getting there!*

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Shell Robshaw-Bryan

Editor & Owner at Camping with Style

Shell loves all things travel and outdoors and is a nature-loving, comfy-camping kinda girl. Shell started the Camping with Style blog after a serious snowboarding accident which left her with a broken back. Despite this she used the outdoors and healing power of nature to aid her recovery and she continues to spend time outdoors whenever she can.

From open water swimming, snowboarding and kayaking to hill walks and meditation, Shell shares her travels and microadventures here on the blog and in various publications she's written for, Shell has a particular interest in promoting wellbeing and the many benefits of nature therapy.

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