Did you know that crochet is great for helping you deal with stress? If you’ve been crocheting for a while then you most probably know this already. And it’s likely one reason why you frequently pick up your hook. I honestly don’t know how I coped with stress before learning to crochet. Exercise and eating well and breathing techniques can only go so far. Crochet is the real stress buster for me.

If you’re new to crochet then it is possible that crochet is causing you more stress! You’re likely to be getting frustrated over stitches, yarns, not understanding things and not finding the help that you need. I encourage you to stick with it and celebrate that you found me to help you too! Once you find that one stitch or project that you love and can make without getting bothered, then you’re on the way to being able to use crochet to cope with stress.

So how does crochet help with stress?

There are so many ways.

The biggest destressor for me is when my body gets into a calming flow state with the hook and the yarn. The flow and magic of creating stitches becomes a rhythm. Your body gets into tune with what you’re creating and that rhythm starts to calm the nervous system. Your breathing calms and you find that you start to just lose yourself in the moment. The flow of my hook tells anyone that is watching how stressed or upset I am. When I’m stressed and angry my hook picks up speed and can be quite forceful in it’s rhythm. As I make more stitches though this all calms down and the tension fades away.

There is something about tapping into your creative side too. The joy and endorphins that come from working with the right yarn and the right colours and right stitches and project is almost too difficult to explain. It’s a true source of joy when you can get everything to align. When I am feeling the most joy I end up frequently stopping to admire what I am creating. That warm fuzzy feeling in your throat and chest is something that is truly worth aiming for.

Helping you to find your joy is why I created the JOYCAL. This year is the first one and it has been designed in such a way to help you find your joy in crochet. Because when you’re feeling the joy you’re also helping yourself to destress. And I don’t know a single woman who has ever said to me that they never feel stress.

The crochet along is designed to help you discover which yarns, stitches and designs make you happy and which ones frustrate the heck out of you. By learning these things you’ll find it easier to say yes or no to different projects. And when you can say yes to the right projects you’ll start to feel more joy and will help manage your stress with crochet.

Everyone is different. Everyone feels different levels of happiness with different things. I know that I don’t feel joy if I have to change yarn too often or if I have to focus on counting. I feel more joy with patterns that have lots of texture in them and a nice mix of stitches to keep it all interesting.

What is it that brings you joy in crochet? Do you know what colours you prefer? Which yarn? Which style of projects? If you can’t say yes to these and list them out then I encourage you to come and explore it with me. The JOYCAL starts soon! It can be the beginning of your journey into discovering what you love and helping you to deal with your stress better.

If you do know what brings you joy and helps you destress, let me know in the comments! Maybe we’re the same. Maybe we’re different.

Seona x