We often have a craft project on the go at Summerdyne. It is lovely to involve our residents, who come up with project ideas which we all then develop together. There is a huge sense of pride, focus and achievement.
Our summer craft project
This summer we have created two stunning mobiles. The first is a bee mobile, that is now hanging in our conservatory.
Our bee mobile
Residents used either acrylic paint or ink pens to colour acetate bees. These were strung at different heights from a basket hive.
residents working together on the bee mobile craft project
The second is a potted mobile. We fixed some branches in a pot with sand and pebbles and our residents created butterflies and bees to hang from the branches.
The butterflies were cut out cardboard shapes, with tissue paper wings, so they catch the light as they spin. The beauty of a potted mobile is that it is portable. It is being moved from room to room and enjoyed by all our residents.
The Knit and Natter Group
When we were making the butterfly mobile, Barbara, one of our residents, had the brilliant idea to make knitted bees to hang with the butterflies.
Barbara’s knitted bee
This soon lead to two other knitters at our home getting involved and so, the Knit and Natter Group began!
This group is proving very popular with residents, visitors and staff. They regularly knit together, discuss their work and enjoy a chat and a cup of tea. Thank you to those visitors have very kindly donated wool.
The benefits of knitting
Not only is the Knit and Natter Group a lovely social occasion, there are some proven benefits to knitting.
- The most obvious one is the sense of pride: Taking a ball of soft yarn and creating something totally different is a real achievement and involves a lot of skill.
- The rhythmic repetition of knitting uses muscle memory and has a relaxing effect, similar to a meditation session.
- The sense of focus and being still to knit is calming. It reduces your heart rate and lowers your blood pressure. This also alleviates stress, anxiety and depression.
- Knitting stimulates the whole brain and therefore keeps it healthier. It has been proven to help relieve symptoms of people with Parkinson’s disease.
- Gentle use of your fingers helps keep joints healthy and prevent arthritis.
With the weather turning autumnal and reaching for a woolly jumper, what better time to pick up those knitting needles. If you would like to pop along to our Knit and Natter Group please do give us a call and bring along your knitting project.