Mind Crochet

Today, at Cardiac-Rehab, when I arrived the nurse, Judy, wouldn't let me start exercising because my blood pressure was so high. She told me to just sit and wait for it to go down. I hate doing that. I am eager to exercise. Telling me to RELAX just doesn't work. I sat, decided to use my mind to lower my Blood Pressure. Took a couple of deep breaths, said my two relaxing words with the breathing, told my body to lower my b/p, and then tried to go to my calming imaginary place but that wasn't holding my mind, so I did what??? You guessed it -- started designing a crochet pattern in my head. My eyes were closed, and within a few minutes I heard Judy say "I want to take your B/P now." I opened my eyes, and there she was with the cuff. I told her "I was meditating." She said "I could tell. It worked. Your heart beat went down 32 beats." Then she took my B/P again and said it went down, too, and I could start exercing now! Wow! The wonders of the mind -- and the wonders of Mind Crochet! I can't tell you what I designing because I might use it for the NIC Chapter Challenge, WATER.

M I N D C R O C H E T lowers Blood Pressure and Heart Rate!

A Brain Crochet Design (A B C D) or I hate dentists

I don't like going to dentists or doctors or sitting in

Waiting Rooms. I especially don't like

dentists - I've fainted in dentist chairs more

than once, so great was my fear- I can

actually use the word "terror" to describe

how I used to experience dentists. That's not

the case now-I worked hard to overcome that

sense of terror - but I still don't like them.

One of the ways I use to keep myself calm and "relaxed" in the dentist chair is A B C D crochet. I design a crochet pattern in my mind! And yes, it works. I've been doing this for about four years - and have produced some unique and pretty crochet pieces. After I design them in my head- I go home and crochet them!!! This makes going to the dentist a creative tolerable, almost welcome challenge. I've tried thinking about other things at the dentist - relaxing in the sun, sitting in front of a warm fireplace, all the comfort spots I've ever experienced - but nothing absorbed my mind - until I tried Mind Crochet. I don't plan ahead for this-once I'm in the dentist chair-I go to the Design Studio in my head-I picture myself walking into Dodie's Design Studio, surrounded by colorful yarn and crochet hooks and gadgets. Then I sit down in my very comfortable (dentist chair) recliner (and even I have to admit those dentist chairs are comfortable). Then I start crocheting.

....

My first Mind crochet project was what I call a recliner wrap because I shaped it to keep me warm and comforted and protected in the dentist chair recliner. It is now covering my recliner at home! I didn't have time to finish designing it in the dentist chair, but it was enuf of a start for me to go home and sketch my Recliner Wrap in color on paper, and then crochet it in reality. Way to Go! My next Mind Crochet project was a pair of earring crocheted with dental floss. Later, I went home and crocheted several of them, and gave some to my dentist and his staff during my next dental visit. I never did tell him how I crocheted these in his office uding Mind Crochet. Another project, by this time, I've lost track of the order in which I dentist chair designed them was a stuffed animal to hold in the dentist chair. You get the idea... it's all in the mind. My next visit is in May-wonder what I will crochet in his dentist chair then.....

Crochet Poem

My co-worker, Diane Rumsfield, wrote the following poem, titled Crochet Poem. However, if I could I would change the title to CROCHET CONNECTION. Thank you, Diane.

To be a crocheter
connecting your stitches
of wool or acrylic or cotton;
To shape a creation
of your own design or
from pattern in vogue or forgotten--
....
Select a hook, a weight, a hue;
and as each loop is drawn into
the next, and stitches formed from strands,
the rhythm travels from your hands
....
To the place where soul and art meet,
To the tempo of your heartbeat.
......
Diane explained that she changed the meter of each stanza because the rhythm of crochet stitches changes, and she wanted to illustrate that by changing the rhythm in her poem. Very creative. Diane is also a quilter, painter and does a bit of crocheting, too.
...

Art of Crochet

"Crocheting has been likened to meditation in the way the repetitive movements of the crochet hook and yarn relieve stress. Another emotional benefit is the pride and pleasure you can derive from a completed crochet project that you can use of give as a gift." - Maran Illustrated Knitting and Crocheting, page 220. ISB 1-590200-862-3. I found this book in the Rolling Meadows Library. I don't usually read books that cover both Knitting and Crochet, but I grabbed this one while waiting for the Crochet Guild meeting to begin. I am impressed by the Crochet Section. This illustrations and directions for crocheting are TOP NOTCH. They would be a good teaching tool for crocheting. I think that if I buy a book about crocheting AND knitting, I am wasting my money because at least half the book is of no value to me since I don't knit, but this book's crochet illustrations might just be worth it.
....
Also, DID YOU KNOW? The word crochet comes from the French word croc which means hook. This is according to a delightful book titled STORYBOOK CROCHET, page 111. If you like 3-d crochet, and crocheting dolls, this is a must-read book.

I thank Gwen for choosing WATER for the Chapter Challenge theme. Since water does not have a shape of its own, the entired will be quite diversified and, hopefully, imaginative. I real challenge to creativity. I have eagerly started on my project. I also am hoping that somehow we can garner some publicity for the CGOA with this project as well as promote the cause of conserving water.

NIC Feb. Meeting

Today I went to the Feb. Meeting of the Northern IL Chapter of the CGOA. I was quite excited to find out that WATER was chosen for the theme of the Chapter Challenge. Show & Tell was awesome. Dorothy H. crocheted a gorgeous filet crochet patterned yellow baby blanket. One person crocheted a filet crochet top that was really unique and quite pretty. I donated a very old lace sampler to NIC along with a crocheted doily encased in glass. Amy wasn't there, so I gave three poems composed by Diane R. to Rosalie to give to Amy before the Feb. 15th deadline for the newsletter.