Have you taken your pulse lately?

From my senior perspective - there are two seasons of each year we focus on our body image - just after a new year and spring as we contemplate the dreaded "bathing suit season"

Crafters know patience and persistence are essential - to achieve anything. Again from my senior perspective - is the perfect body worth it? Not in my opinion!!

A better body definitely! Quoting from Heart and Stroke Canada the first key steps are to:

• Eat well
• Get moving
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Stop Smoking 
• Manage stress

How to "manage stress"? I am of the opinion it is easier to say than to do. 

Karen Behar, Mavis Marteinson Associates, Calgary, states "when clients ask us to recommend ways to reduce stress, one of our suggestions is to take up a creative activity. Doing something creative that you really enjoy, like knitting or sewing can be a very positive distraction from stress."

So just to add to everyone's stress, The Crafty Lady has decided we (the store, contents and employees) are going to move. I am learning moving a store is just as or even more stressful than moving home and/or schools.

As part of the move, The Crafty Lady is sorting through older patterns and books to determine what must be kept. I am an avid pattern reader, so was thumbing through one during my lunch in the park. The concept everything old is new again was reinforced.

Quoting from the 1995 issue of Crafts Plus "according to a new clinical study sponsored by the American Home Craft Association, supervised by Dr. Robert Reiner of the NY University Medical Centre. Dr. Reiner's study found heart rates actually decreased by seven to 11 beats per minute when the women were knitting and sewing, the heart rate actually increased for people playing cards, reading, watching videos and painting."

I am just learning how essential taking your pulse can be to self-awareness as an indicator of stress and heart health. So to help with managing your stress and taking your pulse . . .

This week's 75% off sale features 

James C. Brett's 

Pulse 

This is a chunky, slubyarn - spun thick to thin - to increase texture while adding tonal heatherings to add dimension to your projects. James C. Brett suggests 6 mm needles, so it will work up really quickly - reducing our deadline stress.

As a chunky, this yarn is perfect for outerwear on cooler evenings. It is a superwash wool and acrylic blend to wear well and keep you warm!

Pulse

138 m / 151 yds

54% superwash wool/46% acrylic

Reg. $13.00

Sale

      $3.25

Posted by Anne, happy TLC employee - who knits to reduce my stress and create a lower pulse rate!