WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY ?
The Knitwit
A cow Dr . Doyle crocheted for her coworker ’ s birthday .
I
am a self-proclaimed yarn addict . One wall of my basement is entirely covered in bins full of yarn . I have been knitting since right after 9 / 11 . This is something I started during residency , when I was so exhausted and busy , and the uncertainty and unrest post-9 / 11 was so prominent . I learned that simply creating something with two needles and some string was something that grounded me , relaxed me and gave order and purpose to a crazy busy life . As time went on , I taught myself to crochet , mainly to be able to put borders on items I made , but then I realized that crochet was easier ( one hook vs . two needles ) and faster - more instant gratification ! As a young resident , I was surrounded by people who were getting married and having babies - so my knitting and crochet talents could be used to make gifts for my friends , family and coworkers .
Residency was stressful , but the COVID-19 pandemic was worse . I have always been kind of an infectious disease “ junkie ” and had read all of the books about plagues and pandemics . When I first saw news reports in December of 2019 about a new respiratory virus in China , I started to worry . In February of 2020 when COVID was named and was spreading through Europe , I bought a bunch of gloves , hand sanitizer and wipes . My husband and the checkout lady thought I was crazy . When COVID hit the U . S ., my anxiety
6 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE by ELIZABETH DOYLE , MD
Dr . Doyle ( center ) and her clinic residents - she and her resident crocheted tops to wear to her seventies-themed 50th birthday party earlier this year .
reached a fever pitch and I started to worry I would fall victim to the virus . I knew my exposure wasn ’ t near what my brave emergency department and hospitalist / ICU colleagues had , but I was scared . I was so scared that I crocheted a dozen baby blankets for my unborn grandchildren-to-be in case I didn ’ t make it through the pandemic .
The COVID pandemic did give me some gifts , beginning with more time at home with my children . In those early days when we were doing half-staff model with some of us in office and some of us at home doing telemedicine , I got a lot more knitting and crocheting done . It was then that I started to realize the mental health benefits of knitting and crocheting . I didn ’ t worry about COVID when I was making something out of yarn .
I did a short literature search about the health effects of yarncrafting . I found some interesting information . The act of knitting has been found to lower heart rate and blood pressure . 1 A study at a Washington , D . C . hospital showed that knitting reduced compassion fatigue and burnout scores in oncology nurses . 2 This is a very relevant study since health care provider burnout rates have markedly increased since the COVID pandemic . A large survey of over 8,000 people demonstrated that mood improved , happiness increased , and feelings of calm increased with crocheting . 3 This is certainly something I have noticed in my own life .
You can never find me without yarn in my purse . I have crocheted