New team project

A great team project is underway in Cornwall, which you can all contribute to. Hall of Cornwall are asking knitters from all over the world to join them in knitting the world's longest scarf. They hope to break the Guinness World record. If you'd like to become part of this record breaking attempt, click here for further details.

Betsan

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Research help needed

The Cardiff University study into knitting and memory will begin on Wednesday June 2nd. We need to find 90 volunteers who would be willing to travel to the university to give 90 minutes of their time. Please contact Betsan for details of dates and time slots if you're interested in taking part.

Other good news is that the Stitchlinks and Cardiff University knitting survey has got clearance from the university ethics committee, so over the next couple of weeks we will be testing this out and piloting it. Our target to get this live online is June 21st and we need to find 1000 knitters worldwide to fill it out. The folk at Ravelry have agreed to help us spread the word and link to the survey, so a big thanks to them.

Results will be published in psychology and health journals as well as lay versions in magazines and through the Stitchlinks website.

Betsan

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I've just spent the week at the British Pain Society's Annual Scientific Meeting in Manchester and the results have surpassed my wildest dreams. It seems like enough pain clinicians are ready to accept knitting as a management tool for chronic pain for us to really make a difference. Lots of exciting work to be done with doctors, nurses and psychologists across the UK. It's very exciting and my brain is buzzing with ideas.

Betsan

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The stress has lifted very slightly as the Easter break means we've been given a short reprieve on our funding deadline. It's still going to necessitate pulling out all the stops but at least it now appears doable!

On the practical front we are aiming to start knitting groups in various specialist areas such as pain management, for ethnic minority women, the homeless, alcohol and drug addiction, so if you have an interest in any of these areas or have an idea of your own you'd like to develop with us, please get in touch.

Betsan

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Wow - it has been a long time since we last posted. The truth of the matter is we've been snowed under. So many deadlines piling in at once.

Time seems to be passing by so quickly I can't believe it's almost Easter. Gerard will be spending Easter at the Ideal Home Exhibition in Earls Court, London, so please say hello to him if you're visiting over the holiday period. He will have been manning the stand for 17 days by the end, with some help from Lorraine and some fab volunteers, so I'm sure he'll need a holiday!

I have a big research deadline looming and we're currently battling with a problem of getting scientific funders to accept the word knitting in the study title. We have a really good proposal and two leading UK professors working with us but if we can't get the whole panel over the word knitting we simply won't get the money. So it's all highly frustrating.

Gerard will tell you that I've been feeling very rebellious recently so we're developing Plan B which will work with healthcare professionals to set up knitting groups to SHOW it works from the bottom up.

If you're interested in helping out or joining our Knitting in Healthcare Revolution, please email me at Betsan at iknitlinks.org.

Betsan

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