Time for the third instalment of self-care when crafting blog series, and this one is about entertainment.
You can read the previous blogs by clicking on their titles: good tools, exercise.
Let’s talk about keeping ourselves entertained when we get stuck in into our favourite craft, I mean don’t get me wrong creating is joyful enough, but I’m talking more about keeping our ears entertained. Whether it will be a good TV show, film, audiobook, podcast or just listening to music, there’s nothing better than getting engrossed in a good story or sound and crafting! Best of both words.
A good story or sound can really enhance your crochet or knitting experience, especially when you are trying to de-stress. Sometimes we have events happening in our personal life that can really take a toll on us, knitting and crochet is a wonderful way to escape, a form of mindful meditation. The simple act of repeating stitches, and focusing our minds can do wonders to calm us down, and shut out the outside world, even if it’s just for a short while.
Crochet and knitting, just like listening to your favourite song, flips on your happy switch, and you instantly feel better. Now imagine combining those two!!
So, what to do when crafting
1: Watch
I’m a huge fan of detective shows, my favourite ones are the ones with a bit of humour and good story, not so keen on the silly ones. I think I have binged while knitting or crocheting on most of my favourite ones, from Vera to Maigret. The one I keep coming back to the most and constantly keep re-watching are The Brokenwood Mysteries, brilliant series from New Zealand with the most fantastic soundtrack. Always a good story with amazing cast. I have been going on about my love for this show so much I’m now converting everyone, not to mention having the songs on repeat.
Vera also never disappoints, not as much humour, but boy are the plots good!! So well-acted and made, absolute pleasure watching. My tension quite often tightens when watching Vera as I get so caught up.
The Coroner and Maigret are also very good, I’m just so disappointed that they only got two seasons, there is still so much to explore with those two shows, big shame that BBC and ITV didn’t see their worth. Maigret was an adaptation of the books by Georges Simenon, and luckily some of the books are in audio form.
I’m not only a fan of crime dramas, but I do also love comedy as well. I’m currently rewatching Dinnerladies, I miss Victoria Wood so much!!
You can watch a lot of programs on catch up, each channel has one, I think. There is always UKTVPlay which is free and full of great shows like my favourite detective show and a drama series called ‘A Place to Call Home’. It’s not a series I would normally watch, I try to avoid overly emotional shows, ones that I cry non-stop while watching, but it was recommended to me and oh my. A stunningly cast show, set-in post-war Australia, it was an emotional roller coaster, I actually didn’t do any craft while watching as I was too busy crying!! The story, the acting just SUPERB!!
Anyway, I better move on before I start listing all my favourite shows and let’s talk about podcasts.
2: Listen to podcasts
I always welcome recommendations for new knitting and crochet podcast, I listen to them often.
There are quite few out there now and exploring is part of the fun. They are a great way of keeping in the know what’s happening in the yarn world.
Some of them are only available to listen, some you can watch on YouTube. I wrote in brackets which ones apply to each, Audio or Video.
A few of my favourite ones are:
The Marly Bird Yarn Thing Podcast (video)
The Fat Squirrel Speaks (video)
3: Audio books
I used to devour books, read constantly, but since I started designing my time is usually taken with crochet or knitting and unfortunately, I have not mastered the art of reading while crafting. It is a lot easier to achieve with knitting, especially on a plain stitch.
However, audio books are now my best crafting companion. As with TV shows, detective stories are my most listened, especially Raymond Chandler, my all-time favourite crime writer.
LibriVox has a vast free audio books library, with many amazing titles, lots of classics, all read by volunteers from around the world. They are a free service relying on donations, if they bring you lots of joy, please consider donating to keep them going.
For any other titles Audiobook.com are fab, they are subscription services, and have a fab selection.
Listening device
With all the wonderful shows, podcasts, and audiobooks to listen, good earphones are vital. Of course, you might not need them if you are listening by yourself. I find using earphones very beneficial for immersing my self fully in a story and my craft.
For years I have used the ones connected with wire, that kept getting in the way and I kept forgetting about them and whenever I stood up, they would painfully pull out of my ears. However, they are so easy to use, just plug in and hey presto. That’s why I kept avoiding wireless ones, kept thinking they are just too fussy to set up. I’m more of a ‘turn it on and off again and see if it works’ kinda girl, my husband is an IT technician so I always have someone to fix my tech issues, and there’s plenty of them, but I still avoid anything that will require me to read an instruction booklet. That’s why I think I keep getting iPhones, not because I like them, but I’m used to them and know exactly how to set one up and use it.
I sometimes get approached by companies wanting to send me things. I know how it works, they send me something for free and in return they get advertising. I rarely accept, but when Sudio contacted me, I just couldn’t resist. I was in the market for new earphones not only because the wire on my ones was going and only one of them worked, but also because their ones are completely wireless!!
I chose Sudio Nio, and what a sound revelation! The buds have an open-ear design, so they are not too snug, for me this is perfect as I dislike the pressure of ear tips in my ear canal which always feels really uncomfortable. They also come with wingtips for more comfort and security, they won’t fall out when commuting or exercising. I felt no discomfort at all from wearing them for good few hours. The sound quality is amazing, but still allows me to be aware of my surroundings, which is perfect for me when commuting. They also offer great controls, Nio’s function can play, pause, skip to next song, adjust volume, answer, decline, and end call. I have tried them on few Zoom classes, and they were fab!! They are also really pretty. It’s a bit like buying knitting or crochet accessories, the appearance makes no difference as long as they perform their function well, but we all know it really, really helps 😀
Most importantly they are super easy to set up! Connect to your Bluetooth, find them in drop down and hey presto! That’s it!!
Also, they are very affordable comparing to other brands offering wireless earbuds. I’m not a person who is willing to spend hundreds of pounds on earphones…. On yarn yes, but earphones no.
The lovely people at Sudio are offering my followers 15% discount across their site (link below) if you use the code Crafthappy21, they are also currently offering a free tote bag with every purchase which is perfect to carry larger WIP in, it also has a pocket inside for scissors, hooks and other bits, but hurry the bag offer ends in August or while stock lasts.
Sudio website: https://www.sudio.com/gb/
Cat’s bottom
Tomorrow’s blog post will be all about resistance aids for training hand and arm muscles.
Anna x
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