The magic of creating with Casey Bernard

Mia Hobbs:
00:00:03
Hello and welcome back to series two of the Why I
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:05
Knit podcast. My name is Dr Mia Hobbs and I'm a clinical
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:09
psychologist who's passionate about knitting and its benefits
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:12
for our mental wellbeing. Each episode I interview a different
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:16
knitter about why they knit and how it benefits their mental
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:19
health. This week on the podcast, I'm joined by Casey
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:23
Bernard who co-presents the VeryPink Knits podcast along
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:26
with Staci Perry.
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:34
Hi Casey. Welcome to the podcast.
Casey Bernard:
00:00:37
Thank you! Thanks for having me.
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:38
I always start the podcast with asking where your
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:40
relationship with knitting began. Where did yours start?
Casey Bernard:
00:00:45
Well, I've been thinking about this since you
Casey Bernard:
00:00:46
sent me the questions. I was in graduate school in my mid 20s
Casey Bernard:
00:00:53
and then I finished and suddenly I was like, "I have all this
Casey Bernard:
00:00:55
free time!" I've always dabbled in some kind of crafty thing,
Casey Bernard:
00:01:02
and I started cross stitching and... I don't know what else I
Casey Bernard:
00:01:05
was doing. And then I started with crocheting because I knew
Casey Bernard:
00:01:08
the basic crochet chain from when I was a little kid. And
Casey Bernard:
00:01:11
then I was looking at patterns and looking at things, and I was
Casey Bernard:
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like, "I really don't..." I had like knitting envy, I often say,
Casey Bernard:
00:01:19
because I like the finished product of knitting versus
Casey Bernard:
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crochet. And so it came after graduate school. It came to be a
Casey Bernard:
00:01:25
thing that I could do, and something that I could pick up
Casey Bernard:
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and put down. I have a tendency to fall asleep if I'm watching
Casey Bernard:
00:01:32
TV, so...
Mia Hobbs:
00:01:34
I do that if I'm not knitting.
Casey Bernard:
00:01:36
Yeah, exactly! [Laughs] Because my husband
Casey Bernard:
00:01:39
would get so mad, he would say, "You've watched the beginnings
Casey Bernard:
00:01:43
of so many great movies." [Laughs] And so knitting kept me
Casey Bernard:
00:01:50
awake on the couch. And then it just got to be a thing where now
Casey Bernard:
00:01:53
it's just part of my life.
Mia Hobbs:
00:01:56
Yeah. And did you teach yourself?
Casey Bernard:
00:01:58
Yes, this was pre-YouTube so...
Mia Hobbs:
00:02:01
Yeah, same! I always say that: "Pre-YouTube" [laughs]
Mia Hobbs:
00:02:04
from a... Well, my mum taught me, but when you had problems it
Mia Hobbs:
00:02:08
was harder! You can't just look stuff up [laughs].
Casey Bernard:
00:02:11
Yeah. And it took a while for me to figure out
Casey Bernard:
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which schematic in a book worked better for me. I found there
Casey Bernard:
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were some that showed hands and some that didn't show hands, and
Casey Bernard:
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when I saw the hands it helped. And then my mom had knit in the
Casey Bernard:
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past. But now I've gotten her into it again, and she's like
Casey Bernard:
00:02:31
more obsessed with it than I am. So she was there to help me, but
Casey Bernard:
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it took her a while to kind of get going with it too. But yeah,
Casey Bernard:
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I just pretty much taught myself through books. And then it was
Casey Bernard:
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kind of around the time of Stitch 'N Bitch; that book came
Casey Bernard:
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out... that was like early 2000s. Then I took a couple
Casey Bernard:
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classes at the local yarn shop, and that's where I met Staci
Casey Bernard:
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Perry.
Mia Hobbs:
00:02:59
Okay, and you guys obviously host the VeryPink
Mia Hobbs:
00:03:02
podcast together. Okay, so you met her through knitting?
Mia Hobbs:
00:03:07
She didn't teach you. Okay. What kind of things were
Casey Bernard:
00:03:07
Mm-hmm.
Casey Bernard:
00:03:10
you knitting at the beginning?
Casey Bernard:
00:03:13
I think I was knitting scarves. So the reason
Casey Bernard:
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I switched and I like knitting more than crochet is you can
Casey Bernard:
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keep track of the stitches. I crocheted a scarf that was just
Casey Bernard:
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like wonky, because I kept losing track of the number of
Casey Bernard:
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stitches. [Laughs] So once I found knitting, I was like, "Oh,
Casey Bernard:
00:03:32
it's all there on the needle. I can keep track a little better."
Casey Bernard:
00:03:37
I think I was knitting like... you know, my friends were
Casey Bernard:
00:03:41
starting to have babies so  I was making baby things. I never
Casey Bernard:
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really enjoyed making scarves that much. I have a few that
Casey Bernard:
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I've made, but they just take too long. I find them tedious.
Casey Bernard:
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And then I soon started doing weird stuff like a bikini. [Laughs]
Mia Hobbs:
00:03:59
How did that go?
Casey Bernard:
00:04:01
It turned out really small, and I gave it to
Casey Bernard:
00:04:03
my sister-in-law who's really skinny.
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:06
Is it usable in water?
Casey Bernard:
00:04:08
Well, it's kind of like, you know, the 70s
Casey Bernard:
00:04:11
crocheted kind of thing.
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:12
I always just felt like it would just stretch the
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:16
minute it got wet and that would not work well for me. [Laughs]
Casey Bernard:
00:04:22
Some yarn has elastic in it, so it kind of
Casey Bernard:
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holds its shape. It's cotton with elastic.
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:28
Okay. Yeah, I guess it's not like alpaca then it's
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:31
just going to hit the floor, isn't it, as soon as you get out
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:33
the water! [Laughs]
Casey Bernard:
00:04:36
Yeah, I don't think you're really supposed to
Casey Bernard:
00:04:37
swim in it.
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:38
No, it's more for like hanging out. Okay. And why
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:42
do you still knit? I guess one of the reasons I contacted you
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:46
is because I'm really interested from listening to your podcast,
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:49
the conversations that you and Stacy have about process versus
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:53
project knitter. And I think you're both quite different ends
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:57
of the spectrum, maybe, in that. And I've always wondered...
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:03
Stacy seems to think that she loves knitting and is a process
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:08
knitter and it's almost like all knitting is equal. Whereas you
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:12
seem to be more of a somebody who gets bored. [Laughs] Like
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:16
you said, you don't like knitting scarves. Why do you
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:19
still knit? What is it about knitting for you?
Casey Bernard:
00:05:22
I mean, I love the finished project, obviously.
Casey Bernard:
00:05:24
And I think we've talked about this before, that I feel like my
Casey Bernard:
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knitting time is a little bit more limited, because I don't
Casey Bernard:
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have as much free time as she... not free time, but she has her
Casey Bernard:
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own day. She's single, doesn't have kids, she's got the dogs
Casey Bernard:
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and the business to run. But, you know, I have kids, I have a
Casey Bernard:
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job, I have to cook for everybody, and so I feel like my
Casey Bernard:
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time is limited. So I want to accomplish something, which may
Casey Bernard:
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make me more project-oriented. I'm also just a project-oriented
Casey Bernard:
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person, I think. In my job I worked on projects. I was just
Casey Bernard:
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talking about this with my son last night. I could never have a
Casey Bernard:
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job where I think about one thing for like 30 years, and I'm
Casey Bernard:
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focused on that one topic. I need some variety. I mean,
Casey Bernard:
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knitting is relaxing to me. I'm working on a hat right now that
Casey Bernard:
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has taken me so long, because I just haven't had the energy.
Casey Bernard:
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Then I'll sit down at the end of the day and I'll start knitting
Casey Bernard:
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it, and I fall asleep! Or I'm watching TV and I'm falling
Casey Bernard:
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asleep because I've just been really busy. But sometimes when
Casey Bernard:
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I'm in the morning getting dressed, my husband will find me
Casey Bernard:
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standing at the bed, just knitting a row real quick,
Casey Bernard:
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because it just kind of like centres me. I just enjoy the
Casey Bernard:
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rhythm of having that project going.
Mia Hobbs:
00:06:46
Would you knit every day?
Casey Bernard:
00:06:48
I would if I had more time. But yeah, I do at
Casey Bernard:
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least a little tiny bit, usually. Even if it's one row.
Mia Hobbs:
00:06:56
You said you feel like it kind of centres you
Mia Hobbs:
00:06:59
or... I don't know if you said it makes you feel calmer. Do you
Mia Hobbs:
00:07:04
feel like it gives you other things in terms of benefiting
Mia Hobbs:
00:07:07
your mental wellbeing?
Casey Bernard:
00:07:10
Yeah. I'm not a good meditator, and it just kind
Casey Bernard:
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of shuts everything out, I guess, and I can just kind of
Casey Bernard:
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focus on this thing. And I just love having the the tactile
Casey Bernard:
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input too, with my hands. And yeah, I like having a finished
Casey Bernard:
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project, even if I don't keep it. I think about who I'm going
Casey Bernard:
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to give it to and it just allows my mind to kind of like work
Casey Bernard:
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through things I'm working on, while I'm working on my
Casey Bernard:
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knitting.
Mia Hobbs:
00:07:43
Do you feel like the finished product benefits you?
Mia Hobbs:
00:07:47
The experience of giving it to someone, or when you wear it, if
Mia Hobbs:
00:07:51
someone says, "Oh, did you make your sweater?" or...
Casey Bernard:
00:07:53
Oh, for sure! I feel really excited. I made a
Casey Bernard:
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Christmas sweater that has a Christmas tree on it, and I'm
Casey Bernard:
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like,"Oh, I need to wear my Christmas sweater!" It's the
Casey Bernard:
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week I get to wear this. And now, living in Maine, I
Casey Bernard:
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definitely get benefits from having all the hats and scarves
Casey Bernard:
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that I have made, or cowls.
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:12
As opposed to Texas where you were before?
Casey Bernard:
00:08:15
Yeah. I knit some gloves for myself last year and
Casey Bernard:
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they really are better than store-bought gloves. They are
Casey Bernard:
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warmer. They're just better!
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:27
Okay, so you're enjoying that aspect of it. Does
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:30
it matter what you knit? Does that make a difference? Like
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:33
does it make a difference what the stitch pattern is or the
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:35
colour or...?
Casey Bernard:
00:08:37
I have a tendency to buy the same colour. I find
Casey Bernard:
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that I've knit multiple things that look just like the other
Casey Bernard:
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thing I knit.
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:46
I find I have phases of that. Like at the moment I'd
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:50
say I'm in a wine-red phase [laughs] probably influenced by
Mia Hobbs:
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the season, and then I have other times when I'm like "Oh,
Mia Hobbs:
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all of my projects are teal! I've just bought more yarn in
Mia Hobbs:
00:09:03
that colour!" [Laughs] Does it go in phases like that? Or is it
Mia Hobbs:
00:09:07
like overall you tend to knit one colour more than others.
Casey Bernard:
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I tend to do purples and greens and then I'll
Casey Bernard:
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be like "I am not buying more purple yarn!" I really like
Casey Bernard:
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black, but black is so hard to knit with because it's hard to
Casey Bernard:
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see. I'm working on a sweater right now that's like a grey
Casey Bernard:
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marl, like a... it's not variegated, it's kind of a mixed
Casey Bernard:
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black and grey. So I've been trying to expand but this last
Casey Bernard:
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year or so I've been trying really hard not to buy yarn
Casey Bernard:
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because I have so much. I've bought so much yarn or I've
Casey Bernard:
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received yarn as a gift and I'm just so behind in my production
Casey Bernard:
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this year. [Laughs] I don't want to buy any more.
Mia Hobbs:
00:09:46
And the stitch pattern? Does that make a
Mia Hobbs:
00:09:48
difference?
Casey Bernard:
00:09:49
I like to mix it up. I like to do some colourwork
Casey Bernard:
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or I like to do some lace. Staci actually last Christmas bought
Casey Bernard:
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me a sweater pattern, and the yarn for it, that's got a little
Casey Bernard:
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bit of textured stitch pattern, and then it's got some
Casey Bernard:
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colourwork in it. So it's kind of like a mixture of both. But
Casey Bernard:
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sometimes, I like to just sit and knit stockinette. I really
Casey Bernard:
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don't like garter stitch. It doesn't matter, necessarily. I
Casey Bernard:
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will probably not take on a super complicated lace pattern
Casey Bernard:
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anytime, if I know that I don't have the time to focus on it.
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:28
Sure. Do you have different projects for different
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:32
occasions? Like if you're sitting waiting for a kid to do
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:36
sports or...
Casey Bernard:
00:10:38
Yeah, I usually have a pair of socks that... I
Casey Bernard:
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don't really like patterned socks. I like this self-striping
Casey Bernard:
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yarn. I've knit a couple pairs of socks that have like the lace
Casey Bernard:
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pattern in it and I don't really enjoy that. I like my socks to
Casey Bernard:
00:10:51
be simple. And I even really have gotten to where I only want
Casey Bernard:
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to do one kind of heel and toe. So I usually have a simple thing
Casey Bernard:
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like a sock that I can just like carry around that's small. Or
Casey Bernard:
00:11:03
just get that done when I don't have focus but I do want to knit
Casey Bernard:
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something that I just need to get a row in. And then I'll
Casey Bernard:
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usually have something that's got a little more something to
Casey Bernard:
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it. More pattern to it. But yeah, I usually have at least
Casey Bernard:
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four projects going on, and one may sit for months before I pick
Casey Bernard:
00:11:20
it up again.
Mia Hobbs:
00:11:21
You said you gravitate towards the same
Mia Hobbs:
00:11:23
colours. I suppose that I have times that I think, "Oh, I want
Mia Hobbs:
00:11:27
to knit some bright colour" because I feel like it gives me
Mia Hobbs:
00:11:29
a little boost to my mood that day or something. Does it make a
Mia Hobbs:
00:11:33
difference when you're working on it? Or are you thinking more
Mia Hobbs:
00:11:35
about, "No, I want to WEAR that purple sweater" or whatever it
Mia Hobbs:
00:11:38
is.
Casey Bernard:
00:11:40
Yeah, so I have this sweater that I'm working
Casey Bernard:
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on. It's like a navy blue base and it has a bright gold and
Casey Bernard:
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then magenta colour pattern. And when I'm knitting that I'm like,
Casey Bernard:
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"Oh, I love these colours so much." And it does make me want
Casey Bernard:
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to work with it a little bit more. And you get excited! Like
Casey Bernard:
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I love the self-striping yarns. The colour changes and so it
Casey Bernard:
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gets kind of exciting to switch to the other colour.
Mia Hobbs:
00:12:03
Yeah. So that keeps your interest going. Is knitting
Mia Hobbs:
00:12:07
ever unhelpful for your mental health?
Casey Bernard:
00:12:10
Sometimes, when I feel like I have too many
Casey Bernard:
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projects going on and I feel a sense of dread... not dread, but
Casey Bernard:
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I feel like it's just another thing on my list. Like right now
Casey Bernard:
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I've been trying to make some hats using a little knitting
Casey Bernard:
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machine. My friend has a shop here in town and she asked me to
Casey Bernard:
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make a few hats. And it was enjoyable, but at the same time
Casey Bernard:
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it felt like a chore. I would never want to do it for a job. I
Casey Bernard:
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would never try to sell my stuff because I don't enjoy that
Casey Bernard:
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feeling of having to get it done.
Mia Hobbs:
00:12:42
So were they like shop samples?
Casey Bernard:
00:12:44
No, I just made like six or eight little hats
Casey Bernard:
00:12:49
that you can make on the little crank machine.
Casey Bernard:
00:12:51
Yeah. Or, you know, I made a hat for a friend
Mia Hobbs:
00:12:51
Yeah. So then it felt like pressure.
Mia Hobbs:
00:13:00
that we went to dinner with the other day and the dog ate it.
Mia Hobbs:
00:13:02
[Laughs]
Mia Hobbs:
00:13:03
Your dog?
Casey Bernard:
00:13:04
Yeah, right before we left.
Mia Hobbs:
00:13:06
Oh no!
Casey Bernard:
00:13:07
He just like grabbed it and pulled on it, and
Casey Bernard:
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so it kind of ruined it. When you're making something for
Casey Bernard:
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somebody as a gift for a specific day, it was just like
Casey Bernard:
00:13:17
that kind of same feeling.
Mia Hobbs:
00:13:19
Yeah, sure. I'm not great with deadline knitting. I
Mia Hobbs:
00:13:25
think I couldn't also do it as a job. I think it would reduce the
Mia Hobbs:
00:13:29
enjoyment, and it wouldn't be relaxing. Are you gifting a lot
Mia Hobbs:
00:13:37
of the things you make, or mainly for yourself?
Casey Bernard:
00:13:39
No. I mean, sometimes I'll knit something
Casey Bernard:
00:13:41
and maybe the socks come out a little too big, and I'll give
Casey Bernard:
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them to a friend. Or while I'm knitting this hat that I'm
Casey Bernard:
00:13:46
working on that's taking forever, I'm thinking about
Casey Bernard:
00:13:48
giving it to a friend, just because I have a lot of hats and
Casey Bernard:
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I thought she might like a hat. I've knit for my husband, I'll
Casey Bernard:
00:13:58
knit for my kids. My son wants a scarf so I'm going to use my
Casey Bernard:
00:14:06
machine to make him a scarf.
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:08
So they're still good recipients of knitted gifts?
Casey Bernard:
00:14:11
Yeah, they recognise the need for it!
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:13
Oh yeah, now that you're living somewhere cold!
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:18
Okay. I wonder, Casey, if you could tell me about a
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:21
significant knitting project.
Casey Bernard:
00:14:23
Significant in what way?
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:25
Any way. Some people have spoken about something they
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:27
were knitting at a specific time in their life, or it could be
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:37
when you mastered some certain skill, or it could be the first
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:40
thing you ever made, or a complete disaster. It could be
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:43
anything!
Casey Bernard:
00:14:45
Well, I think about this sweater that I made.
Casey Bernard:
00:14:48
I bought this mohair yarn (this is when I was a new knitter),
Casey Bernard:
00:14:51
beautiful mohair yarn, and there was a pattern in interweave
Casey Bernard:
00:14:54
knit. And I didn't really (obviously) understand gauge. So
Casey Bernard:
00:15:01
I had like an extra 12 inches of fabric on my sleeves. It was
Casey Bernard:
00:15:08
this pillowy, lovely thing and I worked so hard on it. It was
Casey Bernard:
00:15:12
huge. And I got everything right but yeah, it was gigantic. So it
Casey Bernard:
00:15:18
really was a lesson to me, how to do that properly.
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:24
What became of it? Mohair's also horrendous to rip
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:28
back, isn't it?
Casey Bernard:
00:15:28
I know! I gave it to Goodwill, to the charity
Casey Bernard:
00:15:33
shops. So hopefully somebody found it and is loving it.
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:36
Yeah. I'm sure they are.
Casey Bernard:
00:15:38
Yeah. But I do think a lot about... I had this
Casey Bernard:
00:15:42
purse that I made that was pretty intricate intarsia, and
Casey Bernard:
00:15:47
then it was felted, and I just really love it. I forget about
Casey Bernard:
00:15:50
it every once in a while and then I'll find it. And I'm like,
Casey Bernard:
00:15:52
"This is gorgeous, a gorgeous design". It's got a big flower
Casey Bernard:
00:15:55
on it. So I  just remember that was a complicated piece, and I
Casey Bernard:
00:16:02
stuck with it and made a nice little thing out of it.
Mia Hobbs:
00:16:05
And you still have it?
Casey Bernard:
00:16:07
Mm-hmm.
Mia Hobbs:
00:16:07
Did you make it a while ago?
Casey Bernard:
00:16:08
Oh, yeah. It's been probably 10+ years.
Mia Hobbs:
00:16:12
That's great. I also normally ask about a knitting
Mia Hobbs:
00:16:16
high and a knitting low. They could be events; they don't have
Mia Hobbs:
00:16:21
to be projects.
Casey Bernard:
00:16:25
A knitting low is when I've worked so hard on
Casey Bernard:
00:16:30
something and then it comes out and it doesn't fit right or
Casey Bernard:
00:16:34
doesn't look the way you wanted it to look. But a high... last
Casey Bernard:
00:16:42
year I finished a sweater that's got this rainbow variegated
Casey Bernard:
00:16:46
yarn, and it's a super basic sweater. It's just a pullover,
but it's like a sweatshirt:
Speaker:
00:16:52
cosy. It makes me happy every
but it's like a sweatshirt:
Speaker:
00:16:57
time I put it on. I purposely knit it knowing that in the dark
but it's like a sweatshirt:
Speaker:
00:17:01
winter days here, I would be like, "I need some happy rainbow
but it's like a sweatshirt:
Speaker:
00:17:05
in my life". [Laughs] So this rainbow sweater... it's cosy and
but it's like a sweatshirt:
Speaker:
00:17:10
every time I put it on, I'm like "I need to make another sweater
but it's like a sweatshirt:
Speaker:
00:17:13
like this because it's so comfortable."
Mia Hobbs:
00:17:15
Is it quite a thick yarn?
Casey Bernard:
00:17:17
No it's DK. It's really soft. It fits me
Casey Bernard:
00:17:23
perfectly, and it just fit the bill, you know?
Mia Hobbs:
00:17:27
So that's something that makes you feel happy when
Mia Hobbs:
00:17:29
you put it on?
Casey Bernard:
00:17:30
Yeah, for sure.
Mia Hobbs:
00:17:32
And with the lows, are you someone who will rip
Mia Hobbs:
00:17:34
back if it's not looking how you want it to?
Casey Bernard:
00:17:36
Yeah, for sure. And there's been many projects
Mia Hobbs:
00:17:37
Put it in the naughty corner!
Casey Bernard:
00:17:37
Yeah, for sure.
Casey Bernard:
00:17:40
that I've ripped back and then just given up on, and put the
Mia Hobbs:
00:17:44
But do you feel like that gets any easier over time?
Mia Hobbs:
00:17:44
yarn away and can't figure out what to do with it.
Casey Bernard:
00:17:54
Yeah, especially when you're a project knitter
Casey Bernard:
00:17:58
like me, and I was a younger knitter, I hated to rip stuff
Casey Bernard:
00:18:03
back, and I would just deal with the mistake. But now I
Casey Bernard:
00:18:07
recognise, no, you want to have that thing look good and you
Casey Bernard:
00:18:10
want it to look right. It makes such a difference. I'm thinking
Casey Bernard:
00:18:15
about a tank top that I made. The whole back was lace and it
Casey Bernard:
00:18:20
was with a thick yarn so it didn't take forever, but I must
Casey Bernard:
00:18:25
have pulled that thing apart like three or four times. And I
Casey Bernard:
00:18:29
was so frustrated when I was doing it, but I'm glad that I
Casey Bernard:
00:18:32
did because the final product is perfect!
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:38
I suppose I feel like I've got more tolerant of
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:40
ripping back, the longer I've been knitting. I've accepted now
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:47
that that's just part of... like all knitters make mistakes,
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:51
that's just how it goes. And sometimes I'll rip stuff back,
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:55
especially maybe at the beginning of a project, trying
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:57
to get something right. But I often think if I was cast on a
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:04
desert island with one ball of yarn, and I didn't need it to
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:08
catch fish to eat or something, I would still knit, even if I
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:12
had so little I couldn't make a thing. I don't know whether you
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:14
would?
Casey Bernard:
00:19:15
Yeah, for sure. I would probably start finding
Casey Bernard:
00:19:18
ways to turn palm tree leaves into yarn or something like
Casey Bernard:
00:19:23
that. [Laughs]
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:24
Very resourceful.
Casey Bernard:
00:19:26
Well, I learned how to do basket weaving a
Casey Bernard:
00:19:28
couple months ago, so now I see, "I could make baskets out of
Casey Bernard:
00:19:33
that!" But basket weaving and knitting... there's a lot of
Casey Bernard:
00:19:35
similarities! You have fibre and you're weaving. But finding
Casey Bernard:
00:19:41
fibre in different kinds of plants... yeah, I would totally
Casey Bernard:
00:19:46
do that. [Laughs] Weaving and taking the strings out of
Casey Bernard:
00:19:50
coconuts and turning it into yarn.
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:53
I didn't even think about all of these things!
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:55
[Laughs] I think I feel like I'm more tolerant of ripping back,
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:01
and that maybe I've become more process-focused in other areas
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:05
of my life. I don't know what you think... whether there's
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:07
been any overspill from knitting?
Casey Bernard:
00:20:10
Yeah. Like I said, I'm a project-based person
Casey Bernard:
00:20:14
anyway, but I've got a lot more patience with myself. And like,
Casey Bernard:
00:20:19
a hat that I'm working on that should not take this long, is
Casey Bernard:
00:20:22
taking me a couple months... it's like, whatever. There's no
Casey Bernard:
00:20:25
deadline. I'll always have something going on. Although my
Casey Bernard:
00:20:30
husband... I'm working on a sweater for him and I have put
Casey Bernard:
00:20:32
it away and have not picked it up again, and he's like,
Casey Bernard:
00:20:35
"Where's my sweater?!"
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:36
Okay. But I guess at least he's keen for the end
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:39
product, which is also a good thing.
Casey Bernard:
00:20:41
Yeah. It's one of those big oversized cardigans.
Casey Bernard:
00:20:49
The Big Lebowski sweater.
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:51
Oh, yeah. I guess that is probably one of the
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:54
bigger things to knit, isn't it? An oversized man's sweater?
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:59
That's a not insignificant project.
Casey Bernard:
00:21:01
Yeah. And the yarn is just not super
Casey Bernard:
00:21:04
forgiving. So I think I put it away mostly because there's a
Casey Bernard:
00:21:07
pattern to it, and it was getting warmer, and I didn't
Casey Bernard:
00:21:11
want this giant thing in my lap. I just haven't had the time.
Casey Bernard:
00:21:15
Like I said, I haven't really had a lot of time and energy to
Casey Bernard:
00:21:18
knit. My kids have to get to school earlier here than they
Casey Bernard:
00:21:23
used to in Texas, and normally I would stay up late at night and
Casey Bernard:
00:21:26
I just can't do that because I have to get up so early here. So
Casey Bernard:
00:21:30
I'm really tired! It's messing up my circadian rhythms and my
Casey Bernard:
00:21:34
knitting rhythm, staying up when everybody else is in bed.
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:39
Do you need an easier project for times like that?
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:42
Reading a pattern, if you're tired, it's just too much and
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:45
you need something...
Casey Bernard:
00:21:46
Yeah.
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:50
Sure. I guess getting back into it is probably a
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:53
challenge in itself, finding where you were in the pattern.
Casey Bernard:
00:21:56
Yeah, for sure.
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:57
Okay. Casey, I always end with asking what's the
Mia Hobbs:
00:22:00
biggest gift knitting has given you for the rest of your life?
Casey Bernard:
00:22:04
That's a good question. I mean, if I'm stuck
Casey Bernard:
00:22:07
on a desert island, I can make clothes.
Mia Hobbs:
00:22:11
[Laughs] Yes! You won't be naked; you've made a
Mia Hobbs:
00:22:12
bikini before.
Casey Bernard:
00:22:13
That's right! I'm going to pull those coconut
Casey Bernard:
00:22:16
strands and make some yarn. No, I just feel like it's always an
Casey Bernard:
00:22:20
opportunity to make something for someone or, you know, have
Casey Bernard:
00:22:27
that... I kind of feel sorry for people who don't have a hobby
Casey Bernard:
00:22:30
like knitting, and they don't have a thing that they can claim
Casey Bernard:
00:22:34
to be their own; that they'll just spend all their days
Casey Bernard:
00:22:36
watching Netflix or whatever. It just feels like I have this
Casey Bernard:
00:22:43
special talent and special magic, that I can turn something
Casey Bernard:
00:22:47
into something.
Mia Hobbs:
00:22:50
Okay. So for you, it's about the magic of the
Mia Hobbs:
00:22:54
creative process or the crafting process, that you've got this
Mia Hobbs:
00:22:58
special skill that you can make something like that.
Casey Bernard:
00:23:03
Even in times when I'm not knitting a lot, I
Casey Bernard:
00:23:05
will always know how to knit. And I will always be able to
Casey Bernard:
00:23:09
help somebody learn how to knit. I can't imagine not creating
Casey Bernard:
00:23:13
something all the time.
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:15
So it sounds like even before you found knitting
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:17
you were a person who was making things with your hands or doing
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:20
things like crafting, I suppose.
Casey Bernard:
00:23:22
Right. Like I have my little macrame here.
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:24
Yeah, they're amazing! So have you got other
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:28
hobbies on the go, as well as knitting, like that kind of
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:30
thing still? Or do you think knitting has kind of superseded
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:33
the others?
Casey Bernard:
00:23:34
Yeah, knitting is the thing because I can pick it
Casey Bernard:
00:23:37
up and put it down, I can travel with it. Like I said, I started
Casey Bernard:
00:23:41
with cross stitch, and I didn't like that I had to get all the
Casey Bernard:
00:23:43
strings out and figure out what colour I was on, and I felt like
Casey Bernard:
00:23:46
it just was... Anything that takes too much setup time, like
Casey Bernard:
00:23:50
sewing to me takes up too much setup time. I like to have
Casey Bernard:
00:23:54
something that I can just stand there, knit a row, get it done,
Casey Bernard:
00:23:57
get a little creative energy out and move on.
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:02
I think that's a really common thing, in the
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:04
conversations I've had, certainly. When I was talking to
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:07
Betsan Corkhill who talks about therapeutic knitting, about why
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:10
it's so helpful, it's that it's very accessible. I think a lot
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:15
of people return to it after having kids. So having small
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:19
children and needing to do something for themselves. I
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:22
think that's a common story. And you can just do... you know,
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:26
when a baby sleeps you never quite know how long that's going
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:28
to be for! [Laughs] You could do one row or you could end up
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:31
doing a couple of inches of something or other.
Casey Bernard:
00:24:34
Yeah. And I love it for aeroplane travel and all
Casey Bernard:
00:24:38
those times when you're just sitting and waiting. There's a
Casey Bernard:
00:24:40
lot of times when I've been like, "Oh, I don't have a pair
Casey Bernard:
00:24:43
of socks going and I'm sitting here at the doctor's office.
Casey Bernard:
00:24:45
What am I doing?
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:48
I once had to wait some really long waiting times
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:51
for some appointments for my eye. I was there for three hours
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:54
and everyone else in the waiting room's phone battery had died
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:57
hours ago and I'd been doing... I don't love just stockinette,
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:03
generally. I quite like... Like with a yoked sweater, I'm super
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:07
interested in the colourwork yoke, and then it gets to the
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:10
inches and inches of just knitting in the round, and I get
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:13
a bit bored really? So for my knitting in the evening,
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:16
watching TV, that generally isn't enough to sustain my
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:20
attention. But it was great for sitting in a waiting room in a
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:24
hospital, because then I felt like I'd achieved three inches
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:27
of a sleeve. Whereas everybody else was sitting there by the
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:30
end, just watching my hands move. [Laughs]
Casey Bernard:
00:25:34
Yeah, for sure.
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:36
And I suppose for me, I think my feeling of the
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:38
superpower is slightly different. It's more that I have
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:41
this hobby I can whip out at any point that makes me feel calmer
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:45
and gives me a sense of purpose. And that's the way I feel the
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:50
superpower, rather than turning something into... using sticks
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:54
and a ball of string or coconut fibre or whatever you're using
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:57
to make something. [Laughs]
Casey Bernard:
00:25:59
Yeah. And it's so much better than scrolling on
Casey Bernard:
00:26:01
your phone, for sure, in a waiting room.
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:05
Do you feel like it makes you feel different from
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:07
scrolling on your phone?
Casey Bernard:
00:26:08
Oh yeah! Scrolling just makes you more
Casey Bernard:
00:26:10
anxious and more frustrated, or feeling like you need to buy
Casey Bernard:
00:26:16
something or all those different feelings you have. Knitting -
Casey Bernard:
00:26:21
it's a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes it's frustrating, but
Casey Bernard:
00:26:25
it's a totally different feeling.
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:28
Mm. I was interested in something you said earlier
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:31
about the idea that it gives your mind a chance to think
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:36
about other things, or almost like process things while you're
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:40
doing it.
Casey Bernard:
00:26:41
Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's like meditation in
Casey Bernard:
00:26:46
some ways, especially if you're on a long stockinette thing, and
Casey Bernard:
00:26:50
you don't really have to think about what you're knitting. Just
Casey Bernard:
00:26:52
to be able to do that. You can be working on other things in
Casey Bernard:
00:26:55
your head.
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:56
Yeah. Do you think you're deliberately doing that,
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:59
or do you think that's just what happens?
Casey Bernard:
00:27:01
Well, I think that my brain is going all the
Casey Bernard:
00:27:04
time. [Laughs] It just happens that knitting is giving me
Casey Bernard:
00:27:09
something to work on while it's running in the background.
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:13
Do you think that's why you find knitting an easier
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:16
way to access calm than traditional meditation, because
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:19
you are someone with quite a busy brain?
Casey Bernard:
00:27:22
Yeah, I think so.
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:23
Yeah, I think that's true for me.
Casey Bernard:
00:27:25
Having your hands moving, you can see that sensory
Casey Bernard:
00:27:28
feedback too.
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:33
Great. Well, Casey, it's been super interesting to
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:35
talk to you. If anyone wants to find out more about your
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:39
knitting, or follow you on Instagram, or the podcast, how
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:44
would they find out about those things?
Casey Bernard:
00:27:46
My Instagram is @kc.knits - that's where I'm
Casey Bernard:
00:27:50
more active, although lately I've been kind of taking a
Casey Bernard:
00:27:53
little bit of a break. I have a website, www.kcknits.com - it's
Casey Bernard:
00:27:58
the letter K and the letter C, even though that's not how you
Casey Bernard:
00:28:01
spell my name [laughs]. And then our podcast is the VeryPink
Casey Bernard:
00:28:06
Knits podcast. You can get it on any podcast app. And we're on
Casey Bernard:
00:28:10
Patreon. We have extra episodes for our Patreon subscribers
Casey Bernard:
00:28:15
only. And VeryPink Knits is Staci Perry's YouTube channel
Casey Bernard:
00:28:20
for all the tutorials and knitting lessons you need.
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:23
The podcast is a Q&A about knitting-related dilemmas.
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:31
Thank you for your public service. [Laughs] Okay, great.
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:35
Thank you so much, Casey!
Casey Bernard:
00:28:37
Sure! Thanks for having me.
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:43
Thank you so much for listening to the Why I Knit
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:45
podcast. If you'd like to find out more about therapeutic
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:48
knitting, you can follow me on Instagram at
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:50
@knittingistherapeutic, or at my website
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:53
www.therapeuticknitting.org. If you're enjoying the podcast, I
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:56
would really appreciate it if you could leave a rating and a
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:59
review on your podcast app. This will help grow the podcast and
Mia Hobbs:
00:29:02
let more people know about the therapeutic benefits of
Mia Hobbs:
00:29:05
knitting. And don't forget to subscribe too. Thank you!