Knitting is a familiar process for me, one that is inextricably tied to memory and personal connection. My grandmother taught me, along with my sister, on Christmas day when I was nine years old. The routine of beginning a new piece reminds me of first learning under her instruction. It is a skill that has not faded with time, one that I can call upon again and again. Another significant aspect of knitting is the familiar and predictable pattern--the movement of my hands rarely varies which is comforting and soothing especially in periods of anxiety or stress. For my knitting experience for this class I wanted to focus on something else, something that I am not as used to paying attention to, which is the presence of mistakes and imperfections in the knitted piece. Normally I would go back and correct these mistakes, but I chose to keep them as reminders of the authenticity of the process. For this reason I thought of knitting as an intervention for adults with addiction and substance use disorder. The metaphor of acknowledging and honoring mistakes as intrinsic to growth and recovery intrigued me, and I wanted to explore this more, as well as any other benefits knitting has for this population, through the literature. I found that knitting in recovery settings is a tool that increases self esteem and fosters persistence and the mastery of new skills for people recovering from addiction and substance use disorder. (Duffy, 2007). Learning how to knit is sometimes a frustrating process, but overcoming frustration and accomplishing something is important and beneficial for this population. This skill can also be passed on to others, providing purpose and a sense of empowerment, and may connect to desires for generativity, or the need to nurture and provide for younger generations. Knitting is also a self soothing activity, and one that relieves boredom which can be a trigger for relapse (Duffy, 2007). Many adults with substance use disorder are also experiencing the effects of trauma, including the trauma of addiction (Duffy, 2007). While knitting is an intrinsically
calming process that can serve to regulate an activated nervous system, it can also be used to focus attention, something that traumatized individuals struggle with maintaining (Duffy, 2007). I am interested in using knitting in an inpatient recovery setting with the knitted piece acting as a record of and a connection to the participant’s time spent in recovery, each row serving as a reminder of a journey consisting of progress, relationships, obstacles, and challenges.
References
Duffy, K. (2007). Knitting Through Recovery One Stitch at a Time: Knitting as an Experiential Teaching Method for Affect Management in Group Therapy. Journal of Groups in Addiction & Recovery, 2(1), 67–83.
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