Rita's Story - Crocheting Through Grief

Rita is a woman that discovered this blog while touring the vast world wide web. She contacted me this week to tell me, and Close Knit readers, about her experience coping with grief and depression after the loss of her daughter. 

I have played around with crochet for many years but, I never gave it enough time to be any good at it.  July 22 2008 my daughter my boo died she was 31 years old my grief and anguish were unbearable I stayed in my bedroom for a year~ alone I isolated I wanted nothing to do with the outside world that managed to go on without my daughter when I could not. So I picked up my crocheting again I would sit for hours just crocheting.. to others this looked like an obsession  to me it was therapy ..I was so depressed I did not leave my home.. I ordered everything I needed  on-line. For every stitch I made there was a tear yet somehow crocheting soothed  my soul my heart Its over three years later now since Boo died I still crochet and when life becomes unbearable I pick up my hook and soon my pain is lessened there will always be a part of me that my daughter took with her and my heart still cries for her.

Judi Rebecca (My Boo) June 19 1977 - July 22 2008

Save on One of a Kind Show 2011 Admission

Come shopping at the One of a Kind Show this holiday season in Toronto! Save on admission with this coupon code courtesy of Vintage Baby Revival. Also, follow Close Knit and visit again for an opportunity to win tickets to the show.

Don't know what the One of a Kind Christmas Show & Sale is? It's the very best of handmade by local artisans. You won't want to miss this show. There is so much to taste and experience and you will be inspired by the talent. Please stop by booth D-07 and visit Vintage Baby Revival for beautiful knits for babies, toddlers, and young children.

-LadeeBee xxf

A Belly Laugh a Day

One of the things that helps me get through life is the ability to have at least one good belly laugh every day. As some of you reading this blog may already know, I have depression. It really is a good thing that there is a lot of humour in my home and plenty of good laughs. My partner has the same off-balance sense of humour and we enjoy lots of gut tightening, tear inducing, barely able to breathe laughing episodes together. Mostly I'm the one that gets out of control. Once I watched Dave Chappelle's stand-up and missed half his show because I was laughing at his joke from five minutes ago.

Recently my mood has been going down toward the deeper end. I'm not feeling much energy, sadness comes on for no apparent reason, my sleeping patterns get all funky, and I have a lot of doubts about what the hell I am doing with my life. This past week I was really questioning my choice to work for myself and feeling it was a stupid decision and I was looking at job postings that I might be qualified for. My partner works full-time and now every evening he goes to school to work towards finishing his degree. I don't see him as much and we haven't been getting those belly laughs in. I realise that is what I am missing! I need a good laugh every day. I need someone who gets my sick sense of humour and doesn't look at me all sideways with a silent question. I'm not saying laughing makes it all better, but it definitely helped me this week.

Louis CK performing in Toronto, Canada Saturday October 15th, 2011
I broke the rules and took this photo, and no I did not film him! Just wanted a pic.
Please don't be mad Mr. CK

One of my favorite comedians is currently on tour and we were able to score some tix to go and see him. We saw Louis CK live! I was only 8 rows away from the stage. Let me tell you, it was Awe-some. The opening act was Steven Page from the Canadian iconic band, the Barenaked Ladies. What a treat to hear him perform with his acoustic guitar. Tonight was exactly what I needed.

I think that doing my own art or watching a talented individual performing theirs is a helpful way to deal with depression when it starts to rear its ugly head. What experiences have you had lately that has helped improve your mood?