Craft to Save Your Life!

You all may remember when Stitch Red visited The Today Show to raise awareness about the campaign and spread the word about using crafting - knitting, sewing, crochet, macrame, whatever is your passion! - to reduce stress and lower blood pressure, which helps to keep your heart healthy.  It's a win-win!  Along with wearing everything we could find in the color red, we made a bunch of signs to hold up for the cameras to identify our group and get our slogans out there - messages like "Knit more, stress less!" and "Red wine is good for your heart - just ask Kathie Lee and Hoda!".  They made a fantastic impression, so since then, we have been taking them to trade shows with us to decorate the Stitch Red booth.

But one of those signs hit very close to home for one crafter we recently met.  Zoe Brown, who stopped by the Stitch Red booth last weekend at Vogue Knitting Live in Seattle, immediately grew excited when she saw the "Quit Smoking & Start Knitting" sign on the wall of our booth - you see, Zoe has done just that!

A smoker for 30 years, Zoe knew she needed a little help to kick the habit - more specifically, she needed something to keep her hands busy and take her mind off her cravings.  That's where knitting came in; she took up the craft and formed a brand-new habit: a creative one!  Zoe also started spinning her own fibers into yarn - she knit the shawl she's wearing in the photo with yarn she spun herself!  

But Zoe gets much more from knitting and spinning than just something to do with her hands: she says it relaxes her, almost like a form of meditation.  That's something we've heard from other knitters and crafters as well - practicing a repetitive motion helps the mind relax into an almost Zen-like state. 

As one more added benefit, Zoe says the money she used to spend on cigarettes is now available to spend on spinning and knitting - her healthy habit :) .  With all of these great side-effects combined, Zoe has stayed away from cigarettes for five months!

Congratulations, Zoe - we are SO proud of you and your accomplishments and we hope your story inspires others to give up unhealthy habits for heart-healthy ones!

What habits do you have that you'd like to trade?

~Heather