Retreat & Heal

I just got back from an amazing healing “retreat”. My sister went with me so she could learn; I went for the actual healing. We got to stay at my aunt’s home, each of us in different suites. I had the Emerald Isle Suite, and she had the Suite of Dreams. Each had its own bathroom and sitting area. Each suite had so much to look at that you could literally spend hours just looking at things. The emerald Isle Suite had two full walls of books. Books make me happy, even if they are just on the shelves!


I got to meet a wonderful woman, Debra Hale of Debra’s Healing Hands. It’s hard to describe what she does. I suppose the best way to say it is that she facilitates emotionally healing and physical wellness through many different disciplines. One that is hard to describe is “PPR, Purge, Purify and Restore”. It will literally heal you and your ancestors of emotions you are stuck in. That is simplifying the process and trying to explain a wonderful process with inadequate words. In 21 days, I should see even more difference. But I have seen subtle changes ever since the session with Debra.

One of the fun things that happened on this trip happened the second time I was in Debra’s office. As I was leaving, there was a woman in the waiting area who was with the next person for Debra. She & I looked at each other and had this instant recognition. I asked her if she was my friend from long ago Tammy, and she was. JOY! JOY! JOY! I have been actively looking for her in the last few months, but haven’t been able to find her. I found her on the couch.

We hugged and hugged. I think both of us were happy to see each other for the first time in almost 17 years. She was such a wonderful person to sit and talk with and I have missed that. Now the talks will have to be over the phone, but at least, we can talk. At first I think we will probably talk over each other because there is so much to say after 17 years. We have to catch up with each other and the children & grandchildren. I can hardly wait for the many calls to come.

How to stop thinking about the economy:

Many times I have talked about the health benefits of crocheting or knitting. I have quoted the Mayo Clinic study about this very thing. Since we all know that if it's on TV then it's true. . . Right? Well, here it is from TV:



Watch CBS Videos Online

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef --Reposting

I have seen pictures of the wonders of scuba diving in places like the Great Barrier Reef and other coral reef areas. They are beautiful. But in reality, there is no way I will be doing any scuba diving; anywhere! My son has had the opportunity to become certified in scuba diving, but that's probably as close as I will get to actually doing it.

One of the reasons that people give for not doing crochet is that they don't know how to make it form the object they desire. Well, I suppose the INSTITUTE FOR FIGURING is taking that to a new level. They have created a CROCHETED display of a coral reef that is FANTASTIC! If I lived close to where it was being displayed, I would go.



It will be in Scottsdale, Arizona from April - July 2009!! And I get to help!!

When you look at the individual items that are in the display, each one will fascinate you! But to know how to put them together in a way that really looks like a part of nature is just astounding. I found myself just looking at the pictures over and over; wanting to touch them and see how they were made. WOW!!

Most people don’t understand that it takes math to create a pattern in yarn; crocheting or knitting! You need to be able to understand how many stitches it take to create the pattern and then decide how many times to repeat that pattern and how many stitches you need to add in order to work the first row as you create the stitch.

For instance, a pattern may say something like this; 3+2 (or) 12+3. You need to know what that means and how to use that information. Now I can tell people that I do higher math when I spend so much time on my crochet.

• Yarn is just my paper for doing calculations.
• I need more hooks so I never run out of “pencil leads”.
• Buying crochet magazines is just finding new calculations to practice.
• Crochet books are just my sources for answering questions and learning new stitches to work my calculations.
• The time I spend sitting and crocheting is just expanding my brainpower in mathematics.

I suppose there is a valid argument here for putting mathematical crochet in school curriculum! They already have orchestra and band – which both use math; and drama – which only uses math for creating the sets. So why not have a math/crochet class? They could make things for charity. Even better it could be used for helping the angry students learn to relax. Since it has been proven to help relieve stress, why not use it for those kids who are the difficult ones?

What about putting crochet into business? It could be a team builder. It could help to lessen the stress-related problems for almost all types of businesses. If your employees are going to take time to goof off, let crochet be an acceptable way to kick back for 30 minutes. I could continue to bore everyone that doesn’t crochet with all the ways it could be put into everyone’s life . . . but I won’t.

Just know that I will be happy to help anyone learn to crochet and if you stick with it, you will find that you have less stress in your life! That is worth working for!

Thoughts on Crochet

I just love crochet! There are so many satisfying things to make and so many colors to play with. I guess that's what my relationship with crochet is about, so I could just stop here.

But, you know me! I don't stop just because I can. I wouldn't be as irritating to some of you if I did that, so I'll continue.

I have said for many years that everyone needs to have some kind of "hobby" they can do just because they want to. For me it all began as a way to deal with panic attacks and Chronic Fatigue. I started with Cross Stitch (still do a little) and then switched to crochet. Both helped satisfy an intense need for color and kept my hands busy when my body could hardly move.

It has taken a long time for me to get decent at it, but now I feel like I can give something I've made and not have to make excuses about it. I think one of the most satisfying things I have done is to make the little nests for wildlife rehabilitation. Those fuzzy little things don't care what color I use or if it looks nice enough to show anyone. They just love having them.

I read that knitting and crochet are now used to help deal with stress. I think that's great and agree with them.

Now we don't need to make as many items for ourselves as they did in years past, but why lose the art of stress-relief? Or the art of creating something with your own hands? Or giving the gift of time to yourself or others, by making them a one of a kind creation. They may not realize it, but when you give something you have put hours/days/weeks into, you are really giving a piece of yourself when you give it to someone.

And it's a great feeling. Now my fingers are itching for some yarn and a hook. Let's see, where is the afghan for my teenager? . . .