Lesley @tintocktap writes, “Wink made a tremendous contribution to modern crochet and was a bright light in our online community. She deserves to be remembered.”
On Instagram, Lesley (from Leicester, UK) writes about herself, “IT geek by day, crochet nerd by night. Determinedly clinging to my Scottish accent. Coffee drinker. Love my kids.”
From her blog we learn,
“When I was a child, my mother and grandmothers all knitted and I was taught to knit too. I’m sure we were typical of a long line of Scottish women, passing on our knitting skills from one generation to the next and I love the sense of connection I get through this to previous generations. Knitting, however, was always functional with the aim of making items to wear. I remember, when I was in primary school, knitting jumpers and things I would wear myself.”
Lesley learned to crochet in school and later picked it up again and again during times when she felt like she “needed something to do”. Her various yarn work is now a key part of her life.
Lesley was inspired by Wink to explore crochet that looks like knitting. And in February of this year she made her own crochet mandala free pattern called the Spring Daisy Mandala.
In yesterday’s post, I shared some of the statistical results of a crochet health survey I completed last year. Today I wanted to share an anonymous paragraph written for that survey that describes how crochet helps with both mental and physical health:
“I started crocheting because I was bored living on my own for the first time. I picked up a book and taught myself. I was 19. I used to think the only way to relax was a very hot bath and a very cold beer. But then I started noticing how calm I became while crocheting.
After 33+ years I find it my most relaxing thing to do. I have worked hard and played hard my entire life and ultimately have had to slow down due to arthritis behing my kneecaps. Debilitating arthritis. Had surgery on both knees, separately, and while in the hospital I took to my crocheting.
Though I still have pain, when I crochet my mind is taken somewhere else and I forget the pain. It may not literally relieve the pain, but my mind believes it does. The mind, and brain, is powerful. And if crocheting can fool mine into believing I’m not in pain, then you can bet I will be crocheting for at least another 33 years.”
This shows that crochet can help with pain relief, as well as helping relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety. These things all go hand-in-hand as chronic pain conditions can cause or exacerbate depression.
