Inaugural Change Your Mind Festival
The Guild’s participation in the Inaugural Change Your Mind Festival on Saturday, September 10th sponsored by Interfaith Services in Carlsbad was a great success. It was a free, one-day event focused on creating and sustaining mental wellness through workshops, demonstrations, presentations, and hands-on experiences. We were asked to demonstrate how knitting can help relieve stress.
Diana Rathbun, Karen des Jardins and I put together the Guild booth by hauling in tables, chairs and an awning, along with signage used in previous county fairs. We brought in a few samples of our own work and many store samples borrowed from Emy’s Yarns in Chula Vista. We had a basket with worsted and bulky weight yarns to use with donated straight needles. The needles had been prepped with some knitting so all participants had to do was start knitting. It was well worth the effort as the booth was colorful and attracted many participants who tried their hand at learning to knit.
Our youngest was five years old who stuck with it through a mangled row of knitting. Her dad said she was too young, but I told him that’s when I learned, so we gave it a try. When she was done, she ran back to him exclaiming, “Daddy, I did a whole row!” That enthusiasm made my afternoon. Most participants were teenagers, some with their families. All thought knitting was “cool.”
Mission accomplished.
— Tania Marshall, News
