The Craft Yarn Council is back with their second annual Lemon Drop in New York City and we are proud to be a supporting Sponsor. We would love for you to get involved too. Read below on how you can participate if you knit or crochet or even if you want to learn to knit or crochet. The patterns are easy to learn.
Make Lemons Into Lemonade:
Knitters Dropping Thousands of Handstitched Lemon Stress Balls in NYC to Ease Tax Day Blues, Highlight Stress Awareness and Health Benefits of Their Craft.
New York, NY (March 30, 2016) — Make lemons into lemonade. This is the motto of a group of ambitious knitters who will drop thousands of hand-knit/-crocheted lemon stress balls into the hands of frazzled New Yorkers on one of the most stressful days of the year, Tax Day (which ironically happens to land during National Stress Awareness Month). On Monday, April 18th people rushing last-minute to the James A. Farley Post Office Building in Manhattan to wait in line to mail their 2015 Tax Returns by the due date and filing deadline will be met with a sunny surprise and important message… knitting and crochet are good for you.
“Upon discovering all the studies out there that prove these crafts reduce stress and boost mood and hearing so many personal stories from knitters and crocheters on the topic, we felt it was important to draw more attention to the subject and help more people who are stressed out find a way to relax and feel happier,” said Craft Yarn Council Co-Executive Director, Mary Colucci. “Since April is National Stress Awareness Month and Tax Day is historically one of the most stressful days of the year for Americans, April 18th seemed like the perfect day to stitch away stress.”
Dr. Carrie Barron, psychiatrist with the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and co-author of The Creativity Cure: Building Happiness With Your Own Two Hands, praises knitting as an effective way to alleviate anxiety and depression stating “the rhythmic, mathematical nature of the craft keeps the mind absorbed in a healthy way, ridding it of stressful thoughts and allowing for internal reflection.” Barron calls knitting “a powerful, preventative medicine like an anti-depressant that seems to be doing something antidepressants and psychotherapy cannot do.”
Knitting has been a crucial outlet for Athena Wallis, a 33-year-old mother of three, who upon being diagnosed with depression taught herself to knit and uses it to calm her brain. “It only takes me 10 or 15 minutes to feel the effects,” said Wallis. “Once you start doing it, it’s so rhythmic that it becomes a meditative thing. It really makes my brain calm down.”
The 2,000+ lemon stress balls were all handmade by members of knitting and crochet guilds across the U.S. who wanted to be part of this health movement and give back through their beloved crafts. The pattern for the lemon stress ball was designed by Twinkie Chan, popular San Francisco-based crochet designer known for creating deliciously fun, food-themed accessories. The CYC partnered with Chan in April 2015 to launch its first Stitch Away Stress campaign and highlight the stress-reducing benefits of knitting and crochet during National Stress Awareness month.
For more information, or to request an interview please contact Kaity Ocean at 775-544-9647 or [email protected]. More details can also be found at www.craftyarncouncil.com/health.
About The Craft Yarn Council
The Craft Yarn Council (CYC) is a non-profit that represents the leading yarn companies, accessory manufacturers, magazine, book publishers, and consultants in the yarn industry. For more than 30 years the Council has sponsored a wide range of promotional and educational programs, including its highly acclaimed Certified Instructors Program, Discover Knit and Crochet classes, and its popular annual I Love YARN Day event, which offers a virtual meeting place for the nation’s knitters and crocheters.
This was a fabulous article. I would love to use some of it in my next blog (it will be actually my 1st blog) My website is about creativity and positivity and how the 2 can go together. This is exactly what I am talking about and one of my main creative outlets is crocheting. I appreciate what the CYC has done… that is awsome. Thank you for sharing. My website should be up in this next week.