Crafting a connection to self and others with Nasreen Imrit

Mia Hobbs:
00:00:04
Hello and welcome back to series two of the Why I
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:07
Knit podcast. My name is Dr Mia Hobbs and I'm a clinical
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:10
psychologist who's passionate about knitting and its benefits
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:13
for our mental wellbeing. Each episode I interview a different
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:17
knitter about why they knit and how it benefits their mental
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:20
health. This week on the podcast, I'm joined by Nasreen
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:24
Imrit, also known as @sewcraftynaz on Instagram.
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:28
Nasreen is quite a new knitter but an experienced crocheter and
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:32
sewer and multicrafter.
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:37
Hi, Nasreen. Welcome to the podcast.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:00:39
Hi, Mia. Thank you for inviting me on to the
Nasreen Imrit:
00:00:42
podcast.
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:43
You're very welcome. I'm delighted to have you! So
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:46
you are a multicrafter? And a relatively new knitter, is that
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:53
right?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:00:54
Yes, that's right. My crafting journey
Nasreen Imrit:
00:00:58
probably started when I was about 11/12, so starting
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:02
secondary school and doing Textiles, which was known as
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:06
Home Economics at the time. We had to make these aprons for the
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:11
next module, which was going to be Cookery. So we had to start
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:14
embroidering, to embroider something on the little pocket.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:17
So that's how I discovered thread, and then started to do a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:22
hand embroidery, and I really, really enjoyed it. And then I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:26
think my dad noticed and was like, "Oh, what's this?" and I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:29
said, "Oh, we have to embroider this thing", and then he...  So
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:33
my mum passed away when I was really little, when I was five,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:35
and she enjoyed crochet. She made mostly doilies and I think
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:41
she made a couple of shawls, so my father kept all those things
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:44
for when myself and my sister would be a bit older; we might
Nasreen Imrit:
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be interested. So that's how I discovered yarn and crochet. And
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:53
at the time, obviously there was the books that she had, and I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:01:59
just picked up whatever crochet hooks she had, which were really
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:02
small ones because she was making more doilies and really
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:05
fine lace things.
Mia Hobbs:
00:02:06
So was she using thread more than yarn?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:08
Yeah, she actually had some fingering yarn
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:12
as well. And then I just picked it up and I thought, "Let's just
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:16
try this". And I remember the first things I made ended up
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:21
being tiny beanies for my Barbie dolls.
Mia Hobbs:
00:02:24
Okay, wow!
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:26
Because I didn't know how to increase so I just
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:28
kept going in the round, so it became a little bowl. So I was
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:30
like, "Well, that could be a good little hat for my dolls."
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:34
So that's how I started to crochet. I made anything that
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:39
would work out through the bowl, because that's all I could do,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:42
little baskets...
Mia Hobbs:
00:02:42
Yeah, kids are so great at finding a use for
Mia Hobbs:
00:02:44
something. They've made something and they're going to
Mia Hobbs:
00:02:46
turn it into a thing. I found that in my knitting groups, as
Mia Hobbs:
00:02:49
well. They're really good at seeing the potential in
Mia Hobbs:
00:02:52
something that's an unusual shape.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:54
Yeah they are, absolutely. And yeah, so that's
Nasreen Imrit:
00:02:57
how I started crochet, then dabbled in lots of little
Nasreen Imrit:
00:03:01
things, mostly cross stitch and embroidery. And then when I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:03:05
started having my children, I started to crochet again and do
Nasreen Imrit:
00:03:09
blankets and hats and things. But I probably took it bit more
Nasreen Imrit:
00:03:15
seriously in the last few years, as the kids grew up a little.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:03:22
I've just always wanted to keep trying new crafts and keep
Nasreen Imrit:
00:03:26
trying new things. Cross stitch was a favourite for a while but
Nasreen Imrit:
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obviously the work's quite slow. And so then I discovered quicker
Nasreen Imrit:
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crafts, things like dot printing, screen printing (that
Nasreen Imrit:
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was a fad for a little while), so really transforming tote bags
Nasreen Imrit:
00:03:49
and things like that. And then as I had children, they wanted
Nasreen Imrit:
00:03:53
to get involved. "Come on, I'm going to come into your craft
Nasreen Imrit:
00:03:57
room. What can I do?" And I'm like, "Oh, what can you do...?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:04:01
Don't touch anything!" (Laughs) So that's been quite interesting
Nasreen Imrit:
00:04:07
because it's helped me understand craft on many levels,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:04:13
in terms of doing it for myself and how do I connect my children
Nasreen Imrit:
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with it. And so then obviously my next challenge was to learn
Nasreen Imrit:
00:04:22
to knit. And for me it was just seeing jumpers like yours,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:04:29
constantly, on Instagram! And I was like, "I want to make this!
Nasreen Imrit:
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I want to make this!" And although with crochet you can
Nasreen Imrit:
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kind of get a little bit close, you can't get that same effect
Nasreen Imrit:
00:04:39
that you get with knitting.
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:40
Yeah, it's the different kind of texture, I
Mia Hobbs:
00:04:42
suppose, of the fabric, isn't it?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:04:44
So that was my main inspiration to learn to
Nasreen Imrit:
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knit. And then I somehow, in one of those competitions they have
Nasreen Imrit:
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in Instagram giveaways, won some circular needles and I was like,
Nasreen Imrit:
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"Ooh, I must start using them!" And so I kind of fell in and out
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:02
of love with it initially because I could do so many other
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:05
things quicker. I could crochet quicker, I could sew quicker.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:10
But when I did start it, I actually found it quite
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:13
addictive because it was the use of both hands, which initially
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:19
was challenging as I kept dropping the left needle quite a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:22
lot.
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:23
Because you're used to just having one implement.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:25
And I was like, "Oh no, oh no, oh no, I need to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:28
save the stitches!"
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:29
And I guess just one stitch, usually, with crochet as
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:32
That was it! You work stitch by stitch and you
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:32
well.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:34
can stop your work, you can lose your crochet needle, it wouldn't
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:37
matter.
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:38
I always lose my crochet hook, just in the sofa!
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:42
When we take the sofa cushions off, there's always a crochet
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:45
hook in there!
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:45
Yeah, likewise. So I think that that initially
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:49
felt a bit new to me, like, "Ooh, I can't just whip this up
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:53
really quickly, I have to really sit down and concentrate." But
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:54
Oh, great!
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:58
once I kind of accepted it as a different craft - not because
Nasreen Imrit:
00:05:59
It was a variegated yarn but I tried some
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:02
colourwork with yellow, because I was like, "No no no, that's
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:03
I'm a crocheter, I can just knit - I actually enjoyed it. So I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:08
where I'm going, I want to do colourwork." And I actually
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:08
would do it more to relax rather than to produce something. I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:12
made a phone sock as my first project, which I think I have
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:13
really enjoyed it! But then again, with lots of WIPs going
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:17
saved somewhere, with some scrap yarn, and I even tried some
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:18
on, I thought, "Okay, I will pick that up at some point when
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:22
colourwork on it.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:23
I've got time." But then my mother-in-law came to stay with
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:28
us for a bit, to spend some time with us, and then she was like,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:34
"Ooh, I've always wanted to learn to knit." And I was like,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:39
"Okay, let's do it!" And we both sat down in front of the laptop
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:45
with YouTube on, and she took to it really quickly. She made a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:50
mini thing, just garter stitch, that ended up being a little
Nasreen Imrit:
00:06:55
neck wrap that you could wear if you're cold around the house,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:07:01
and she really loved it. So I picked up knitting again, just
Nasreen Imrit:
00:07:06
to do it together with her, and thought I was gonna make myself
Nasreen Imrit:
00:07:12
a top. So that's still ongoing. I pick it up, put it down,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:07:17
depending on whether I just need something to relax and not to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:07:22
follow any pattern because it's just going to be a rectangle
Nasreen Imrit:
00:07:28
really. But yeah, it's a slow start but I'm learning to see it
Nasreen Imrit:
00:07:33
as very different from my other crafts that I do. I'm seeing it
more like cross stitch:
00:07:39
I know there's going to be an end but I
more like cross stitch:
00:07:44
enjoy just the bit that I'm doing at that time. I wasn't too
more like cross stitch:
00:07:49
sure about it to start with but I think it's growing on me quite
more like cross stitch:
00:07:55
nicely.
Mia Hobbs:
00:07:57
There's so much I want to ask you about what
Mia Hobbs:
00:07:59
you've already said. You've had a slightly different journey to
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:06
many people because you've got quite good in other similar
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:09
crafts that are similar but a bit different, and I wonder
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:12
whether that just made you... Like, most new knitters wouldn't
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:15
even think about a colourwork sweater, probably, whereas I
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:20
wonder whether you felt like you had this springboard and you
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:23
almost had higher expectations of knitting to start with
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:26
because you already were really good at crochet, for example,
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:29
and maybe that was a tricky experience!
Nasreen Imrit:
00:08:32
I think you're right because I started doing
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:35
Oh, that's good!
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:35
colourwork in crochet. There's a stitch that actually resembles
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:40
knitting a bit, which is the centre stitch. So I started
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:44
doing some colourwork in crochet and I really, really enjoyed it.
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:49
And then I was like, "Ooh, now this is the next step", not
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:53
actually really appreciating that it is actually a complete
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:57
different skill. And I was like,"Yeah, if you can crochet
Mia Hobbs:
00:09:01
you will be able to knit really quickly". On Instagram,
Mia Hobbs:
00:09:05
obviously, I know a lot of crocheters-knitters and they
Nasreen Imrit:
00:09:06
I know! He's like, "Oh, you're knitting!"
Nasreen Imrit:
00:09:09
were like, "You'll be absolutely fine". And they've been really
Nasreen Imrit:
00:09:14
really helpful with pointing me in the right directions, what
Nasreen Imrit:
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patterns to try first, etc. And I'm like, "No, I'm going for a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:09:23
colourwork sweater!" (Laughs) But then I thought no, maybe a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:09:27
hat, let's start with a hat. I think that that expectation was
Nasreen Imrit:
00:09:32
what probably set me back initially, because I was like,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:09:36
"It's yarn, it's two needles, I crochet, I should be able to do
Nasreen Imrit:
00:09:37
"Yes I am!" (Laughs) It's something that I'm going to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:09:40
it." But once I kind of set that aside, I realised actually I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:09:45
enjoyed it so much more, and I accepted it as its own craft, as
Nasreen Imrit:
00:09:49
its own skill. Even my husband can tell the difference between
Nasreen Imrit:
00:09:54
knitting and crochet now!
Nasreen Imrit:
00:10:05
develop more this year, I think. And yeah, let's watch this
Nasreen Imrit:
00:10:09
space, see what I make!
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:10
And I'm interested in the idea that you might have
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:12
different crafts that give you different things, like the idea
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:17
of having some times where you might need something that feels
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:20
more relaxing, and it's okay for it to be slow. And maybe there
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:23
are other times where you feel like, I need... I think you used
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:26
the words "quick fix" just before we started recording. I'm
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:29
interested in hearing a bit more about that, like how you decide
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:33
whether it's based on your mood, or what else is going on in your
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:36
life or...?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:10:38
Yeah, so I find that each week, I need to make
Nasreen Imrit:
00:10:43
something.
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:45
Does it need to be finished, or just spend some
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:47
time making it?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:10:48
No, just spend some time making it, but at
Nasreen Imrit:
00:10:50
least it's tangible. It's a tangible progress. I work part
Nasreen Imrit:
00:10:57
time, and the rest of the time is kids, etc. But then if I do
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:03
make something or make progress on something, it makes me feel
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:06
like, "Oh, yeah, I've done something for myself this week".
Mia Hobbs:
00:11:09
So it feels like your thing, for you.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:12
Yeah, it's my thing, for me. And sometimes
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:16
with large projects, even though I've done two or three rows, it
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:23
doesn't feel tangible because it's large, and it's going to be
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:26
ages before it's finished. So I have little quick projects, like
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:31
block printing which I quite like, and often, if I want to do
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:35
that in an evening, my boys will always come in, "Can I try it?"
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:39
And then they will use one of their old vests and they will
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:41
join in and print their vests.
Mia Hobbs:
00:11:44
And how old are they?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:45
They're seven and four. They just want to spend
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:50
that time, and then they will come in (and if one comes in,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:53
the other one will come in). And I was like, "Okay, well find
Nasreen Imrit:
00:11:56
some old vests and you can block print." And they block printed a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:00
couple of vests, it was quite funny. I always have some spare
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:06
tote bags and scrap fabrics that are plain, so I'll block print
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:10
them. If it's a tote bag, that will probably be gifted at some
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:15
point. If it's a piece of fabric, then I know that I'll
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:19
probably use it to make a little pouch for something. And then
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:22
I'll be like, "Ooh, that feels finished." Or I will actually
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:27
look up a pattern and choose yarn for it and put it
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:32
separately so it'll make me feel like I've decided something or
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:35
I've made something. So my quick crafts tend to be things (like
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:39
with block printing) that are quite small, or I'll arrange all
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:44
my scraps to decide a project that I can use all my scraps
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:47
for. Or sometimes I'll make things that are just squares, so
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:51
crochet squares. If you made a square, that can take about 45
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:54
minutes, and then feel like, "Okay, I've added another square
Nasreen Imrit:
00:12:58
to this project." So it would depend on the week that I've had
Nasreen Imrit:
00:13:05
as to whether I need my quick fix. If I know I won't have much
Nasreen Imrit:
00:13:07
time, got to wait in the car for somebody to finish something,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:13:11
I'll just do a quick thing and then I'll be like, "Yep! Done
Nasreen Imrit:
00:13:13
it. I'm okay now."
Mia Hobbs:
00:13:16
Do you plan that quite deliberately, like to sit
Mia Hobbs:
00:13:19
and think what do I need right now? Do I need to have something
Mia Hobbs:
00:13:22
quick that I finish, or could I just do a couple of rounds on
Mia Hobbs:
00:13:27
this knitted thing?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:13:30
I do think about it deliberately a lot more now.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:13:34
When I used to work a lot more, I would find that the day that I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:13:38
was off I'd be floating about just kind of doing the things
Nasreen Imrit:
00:13:43
that needed to be done, and at the end of the day you just
Nasreen Imrit:
00:13:46
still feel mentally tired, even though you've achieved quite a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:13:49
lot. I wasn't consciously making time for that break, to think
Nasreen Imrit:
00:13:53
how do I break away from work and everything else. So now,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:13:58
towards the end of my working week (which is Wednesday) I will
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:01
actually think during my lunch break, "Okay, what do I feel
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:04
like this week?" and then I will know if I'm putting on too much,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:08
"Okay, now I don't have to finish that, that can wait." So
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:10
I will deliberately make myself think, "Okay, I'll probably try
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:13
and finish a border on this. And actually, I'm not going to pick
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:17
up another new project, I'll try and finish this a little bit
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:20
longer. I'm a bit bored with this. Maybe I'll just put this
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:23
aside." So I'll talk myself through it for 10 minutes or so.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:27
So then I actually do feel that when I've done it I'm like,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:32
"Yeah, actually, that was alright." It was contained, it
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:36
was planned. I actually feel better that I've achieved what I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:38
wrote down. So it's all that feeling of having made a list
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:41
and having achieved it as well.
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:44
So you're quite goal-focused.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:47
Yeah, I find that works better for me because I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:14:50
have a lot of WIPs across all the crafts. So I can get lost
Nasreen Imrit:
00:15:01
into it. I get distracted very quickly, so I've found that
Nasreen Imrit:
00:15:06
helps keep me focused.
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:09
Interestingly, Nasreen, no-one else has
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:11
mentioned school in their crafting origins story, which is
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:18
interesting. And certainly in my own experience, I'd kind of
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:21
almost forgotten I'd done Textiles at school because it
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:24
was so off-putting. (Laughs) The teachers were so scary that I
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:28
was 100% convinced I would sew through my finger on the
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:32
machine. I haven't done that yet! Similarly, making pastry:
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:40
also filled with terror. So that's interesting, actually.
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:44
Obviously there was enough good about it that it got you hooked,
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:49
actually. It was a positive experience for you.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:15:50
Yes, it was. And I think because obviously, there
Nasreen Imrit:
00:15:54
wasn't anybody who really did any crafts in the immediate
Nasreen Imrit:
00:15:59
family, obviously I didn't know my mum, so I think for me it was
Nasreen Imrit:
00:16:03
like a lightbulb moment. I was like, "Wow!" I grew up in
Nasreen Imrit:
00:16:09
Mauritius for a bit, so that's where I'm from originally, and I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:16:13
remember on the way back from school there was one little
Nasreen Imrit:
00:16:17
embroidery shop, a craft shop, on the way home. And I would
Nasreen Imrit:
00:16:21
save my pocket money and I would buy embroidery thread on the way
Nasreen Imrit:
00:16:23
home. And I would buy a new colour each time. And those
Nasreen Imrit:
00:16:29
moments still are quite vivid, because I would remember "Oh my
Nasreen Imrit:
00:16:32
god, I've got so many shades of this one!" And I even made a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:16:37
cross stitch for my brother when I was 15 because he travelled
Nasreen Imrit:
00:16:41
and he was missing home, so I made him a little Home Sweet
Nasreen Imrit:
00:16:44
Home cross stitch project. So the memories of that actually
Nasreen Imrit:
00:16:49
are quite nice in the sense that I'm really glad I discovered it
Nasreen Imrit:
00:16:54
through school.
Mia Hobbs:
00:16:56
It sounds like it also was a really nice link to
Mia Hobbs:
00:16:59
your mum.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:00
It was, and I think obviously having lost her
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:03
so young, we always found ways to reconnect with her. And she
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:06
was a baker, she crocheted, she sewed. I still have her books
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:11
from the 80s. I was looking at them the other day and was like,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:15
"I should try and make something that doesn't look terribly
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:18
dated. There are some things I could probably make." And I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:20
thought I might do that. So my dad said, "Okay, there you go."
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:25
So my sister's got the baking side of things. She loves baking
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:28
and decorating cakes. And I do more of the crafting, the sewing
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:33
and the crochet. So it was really, really nice to have that
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:37
connection and actually love crafting. My dad would always
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:41
tell me,"Your mum used to make that." And that was actually
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:43
quite nice to have that.
Mia Hobbs:
00:17:45
And also special that he kept some of the things she
Mia Hobbs:
00:17:49
actually made and her crochet hooks.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:52
Yeah, so I still have her crochet hooks and some
Nasreen Imrit:
00:17:55
bits and bobs that she made. A lot of it used to be home decor
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:01
things, like little doilies and things like that. They've kept
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:04
really well, actually. So that was very precious. I guess
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:09
that's how my love for craft actually started, which is
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:13
really nice, and I carried on with it. And yeah, it's a big
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:17
part of my life, I would say.
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:21
And that must be a special thing to share with your
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:22
kids as well, that they can see those things that their grandma
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:25
made.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:26
That's it! Yeah, I was showing it to my daughter
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:28
the other day, and I was like, "Oh look, this is my mum's
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:32
book." She was like, "Oh, wow!" And she was amazed it wasn't in
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:35
black and white. I was like, "No, colour did exist!" (Laughs)
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:40
And we were looking at it, and obviously the patterns used to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:45
be in these little foldable paper flyer type things when
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:51
they bought the patterns, and very brief. It's really
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:54
interesting to see how it was, you know, none of the yarns
Nasreen Imrit:
00:18:57
exist anymore. It's really interesting. She was like, "Oh,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:19:01
this one's cute. You could make that!" for one of my little
Nasreen Imrit:
00:19:04
nieces. So it was really nice to show that, and also to pass on
Nasreen Imrit:
00:19:14
the love of making to them as well, although they're
Nasreen Imrit:
00:19:18
interested in different things. I find it's an integral part of
Nasreen Imrit:
00:19:24
home, actually making, for us. Well, not my husband probably
Nasreen Imrit:
00:19:28
but the rest of them! (Laughs)
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:30
I suppose part of this podcast is about thinking
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:33
about how crafting can benefit our mental wellbeing, and that
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:37
those of us who do it a lot feel like we get lots of benefit on a
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:42
kind of wellbeing level from doing it. And I think there are
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:46
many ways you can interpret craft, like some people do Lego,
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:50
I had a client who was making circuit boards, doing all these
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:55
things I didn't understand. But the the feeling behind it, I
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:59
suppose, was very similar to the feeling I get from making
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:03
something from scratch, with yarn and needles or sewing a
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:07
dress or something. The idea of having something where the
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:11
outcome is not high stakes, nobody else cares about it, you
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:16
can kind of experiment or be creative and a safe place to
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:20
make mistakes, and that it's kind of just for you with no
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:24
other useful purpose, necessarily.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:20:26
Absolutely. I noticed that with my daughter,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:20:35
she's more into calligraphy, so she can sit there and will do
Nasreen Imrit:
00:20:38
beautiful lettering, and she will apply that to her art or
Nasreen Imrit:
00:20:41
her homework and things. So that's her thing. My middle one
Nasreen Imrit:
00:20:45
will cross stitch. He actually asked me the other day... we've
Nasreen Imrit:
00:20:49
run out of the size of the aida that he actually uses, and he
Nasreen Imrit:
00:20:55
was like, "Can I do a cross stitch?" and I was like, "I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:20:57
don't think we've got the size that you use, we have to get
Nasreen Imrit:
00:20:58
some other ones." So it's a nice quiet space for him. And he'll
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:03
cross stitch mostly vehicles, but it doesn't matter. So he
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:06
cross stitches anything that he likes, and if he makes a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:09
mistake, I'll say "It's alright! We'll just cut it and start
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:11
again." So he really, really likes it. And I think they've
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:17
noticed, especially my middle one, that if you need some quiet
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:21
time, that's a nice space for him to recharge, and feel that
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:26
this is something that's just his. He uses it a lot when he
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:33
feels like the world's getting too much or schools getting too
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:36
much and things like that. So he really does enjoy that. And you
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:39
won't hear him! He's the loudest, but you will not hear
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:41
him at all. And then he started sewing. So he's got interested
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:46
in sewing a little bit. He does keep coming into my room saying,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:49
"What can we sew?", and I was like, "I don't have any boy
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:51
fabric anymore!." (Laughs) Because I bought some for their
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:55
room but they've used it all up. And I was like, "Well, I don't
Nasreen Imrit:
00:21:58
have anything with cars or planets or dinosaurs anymore."
Nasreen Imrit:
00:22:03
But yeah, I really love the way that they're all, in their own
Nasreen Imrit:
00:22:06
way, discovering working with their hands a lot more and
Nasreen Imrit:
00:22:12
creating things themselves actually.
Mia Hobbs:
00:22:14
Yeah and it sounds like you really notice that
Mia Hobbs:
00:22:16
having an impact on them, that they kind of feel regulated and
Mia Hobbs:
00:22:21
calm when they're doing it.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:22:23
They do. And I think it's really nice because
Nasreen Imrit:
00:22:26
it's something that they've done and they've made; it's not just
Nasreen Imrit:
00:22:31
their homework or their school activities, all these scripted
Nasreen Imrit:
00:22:35
things. So things where they have a blank canvas and they can
Nasreen Imrit:
00:22:38
go wild. They can decide what they want to make and what they
Nasreen Imrit:
00:22:41
want to draw and what they want to write and things like that.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:22:45
So I think that's quite important, especially during
Nasreen Imrit:
00:22:48
lockdown when we couldn't go very far anywhere. It was
Nasreen Imrit:
00:22:54
somewhere to actually explore, these avenues to think how can
Nasreen Imrit:
00:22:59
they express themselves and find an outlet. And I think that was
Nasreen Imrit:
00:23:01
really useful at the time.
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:03
And I think with kids, they don't get that many
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:06
choices over things really, do they? Like they're told what
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:08
their English homework is and there's probably very little
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:11
scope for choice, and the older they get, probably the less
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:13
scope there is for choice, what they write about. So it's nice
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:17
for them to have a space to create something where they're
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:20
the boss.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:23:21
Yes! Yeah, absolutely, and I think we
Nasreen Imrit:
00:23:24
noticed that a lot more over lockdown. My daughter started
Nasreen Imrit:
00:23:28
making little furniture out of paper. So she would have the
Nasreen Imrit:
00:23:32
boxes of cardboard and she would make a little bedroom.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:23:34
Everything was made out of tiny cardboard or paper. She'd make
Nasreen Imrit:
00:23:38
this little scene. That's her idea of making. She's more pen
Nasreen Imrit:
00:23:41
and paper now. And my son did the cross stitch. The little one
Nasreen Imrit:
00:23:45
just kind of dabbles into everything at the moment. He's
Nasreen Imrit:
00:23:47
not quite sure yet. They will come into my room and be like,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:23:54
"Ooh, what can I have to put in my little project?" So I was
Nasreen Imrit:
00:23:58
like,  "Okay, you can have ribbons, you can have this, you
Nasreen Imrit:
00:24:00
can have this." But yeah, I do think that it has a big, big
Nasreen Imrit:
00:24:05
space for mental wellbeing, to promote mental wellbeing in all
Nasreen Imrit:
00:24:13
children and adults.
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:16
And it's a great thing to send them out into the
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:19
world with, isn't it, for the rest of their lives really, this
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:22
kind of little hidden superpower that when they need to feel
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:25
calmer, they can go and do that. Take themselves off. Certainly
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:29
at university, I hadn't discovered knitting then but I
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:31
did some cross stitch. I would go and secretly do it in my room
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:35
when everyone else was cramming and I'd had enough of revision (laughs).
Nasreen Imrit:
00:24:39
Yeah, absolutely. And you reminded me actually...
Nasreen Imrit:
00:24:42
I studied in Manchester at the same med school as Atia (Azmi).
Nasreen Imrit:
00:24:46
There's lots of fabric shops there,  so I remember buying
Nasreen Imrit:
00:24:50
this piece of fabric that was enough to cover my single bed
Nasreen Imrit:
00:24:54
but the weave was as such that you could cross stitch through
Nasreen Imrit:
00:24:58
it. I had it on my bed and I decided that I would just add
Nasreen Imrit:
00:25:02
little bits to it. So that's why I would take breaks from my
Nasreen Imrit:
00:25:06
revision. I would go and say, "Oh, I'll make a little piece on
Nasreen Imrit:
00:25:10
it." I don't have it anymore, I think. I'd put a little piece on
Nasreen Imrit:
00:25:15
there and then I'd go back to my revision. So it was basically
Nasreen Imrit:
00:25:19
several years of bits of cross stitch on it for a while. I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:25:23
might be able to locate it. I can't remember where I've left it.
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:28
Have you got a photograph? That sounds like an
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:30
amazing keepsake!
Nasreen Imrit:
00:25:32
It does! I know that it's been around for ages.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:25:36
I haven't seen it recently. We've moved a few times, so I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:25:39
need to try and find it. Photos... it's going to be from
Nasreen Imrit:
00:25:41
a very long time ago, probably not digital even.
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:44
Yeah, that's the tricky thing, isn't it, with
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:47
pre-digital?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:25:49
I'm going to try and find out if I can still see
Nasreen Imrit:
00:25:51
it. I think I can still find it somewhere. But yeah, you just
Nasreen Imrit:
00:25:55
reminded me of that. Yes, at uni...
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:57
So were you crafting buddies, you and Atia?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:26:01
For a little while. We spent three or four
Nasreen Imrit:
00:26:03
weeks, I think, doing a project in Wales. So we went to Wales
Nasreen Imrit:
00:26:06
together; there was me, her and another friend. And I remember
Nasreen Imrit:
00:26:09
spending a lot of time in libraries looking at cross
Nasreen Imrit:
00:26:12
stitch books and other craft books. So we would spend a lot
Nasreen Imrit:
00:26:18
of our spare time being in the library and think, "Oh wow, look
Nasreen Imrit:
00:26:21
at these patterns!" and things like that. So we spent that
Nasreen Imrit:
00:26:24
three... I think it was three weeks, actually... three weeks
Nasreen Imrit:
00:26:26
in Wales together, a good few years ago now. But we didn't do
Nasreen Imrit:
00:26:30
much crafting together at uni as such. But I reconnected with her
Nasreen Imrit:
00:26:37
a few years ago through Instagram. That's when I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:26:40
discovered Instagram.
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:47
I've had quite a few health professionals get in
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:50
touch with me who are knitters or crafters. Parlty maybe that's
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:53
because I am a psychologist and they're more attracted to the
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:57
idea of what I'm talking about. It was something I noticed when
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:01
I did salsa dancing years ago, that there were loads of doctors
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:05
there, and I suppose I developed this theory that being a doctor
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:09
is quite stressful and quite taxing on the brain, and that
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:13
maybe that means you need kind of an active way of turning off
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:17
your brain from your work. So the idea of dancing, I suppose
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:20
it's hard to think about anything else if you're trying
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:24
to coordinate what your feet and your hands are doing at the same
Mia Hobbs:
00:27:28
time. And I wondered also about craft, whether that's the
appeal:
00:27:31
that it's quite an active way of switching your
appeal:
00:27:35
brain off from other things and having this... I don't know...
appeal:
00:27:39
escape. I don't know what your thoughts are.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:27:41
Yeah, I would agree with you, because I would
Nasreen Imrit:
00:27:44
remember the time where crafting was there but not a major part
Nasreen Imrit:
00:27:49
of my life. So if I had a hard day, so probably at the
Nasreen Imrit:
00:27:52
beginning, when I went into my first years as a doctor, I would
Nasreen Imrit:
00:27:57
be so tired I'd probably spend the evening watching TV, but
Nasreen Imrit:
00:28:05
that would not relax me at all. You think that if you empty your
Nasreen Imrit:
00:28:11
brain, you're filling it with something else. And I think
Nasreen Imrit:
00:28:14
after doing that for a while I did notice that actually I just
Nasreen Imrit:
00:28:18
felt more and more tired, which is when then picking up a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:28:21
craft... the fact that you're concentrating on it, reading a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:28:24
pattern to it... you're actually actively emptying your mind of
Nasreen Imrit:
00:28:29
the other things, rather than just blocking it and watching a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:28:33
screen which obviously doesn't do that at all. So I do think
Nasreen Imrit:
00:28:38
that it has that effect of cleansing your mind in the way
Nasreen Imrit:
00:28:45
that you're concentrating on something repetitive, something
Nasreen Imrit:
00:28:48
creative. And I do notice the difference after doing some
Nasreen Imrit:
00:28:54
crafts if I've had a stressful day. So after finishing work,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:28:58
catching up with everything I have to do, if I shut myself in
Nasreen Imrit:
00:29:01
a room and decide to just crochet for a couple of hours or
Nasreen Imrit:
00:29:04
even sew, I will notice the difference. When I come out I do
Nasreen Imrit:
00:29:08
feel mentally refreshed in a way. So I yeah, I definitely
Nasreen Imrit:
00:29:15
believe that it does actually healthily help you kind of
Nasreen Imrit:
00:29:21
cleanse rather than forget. And at the same time you're creating
Nasreen Imrit:
00:29:27
something. I think it does have a big part to play towards
Nasreen Imrit:
00:29:35
preventing burnout for a lot of people who feel burnt out,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:29:39
because it is difficult to switch off. Possibly from the
work that YOU do, as well:
00:29:43
it's quite difficult to switch off
work that YOU do, as well:
00:29:46
from the things that you have to listen to, you have to hear.
work that YOU do, as well:
00:29:48
Even though you've got your professional hat on, you still
work that YOU do, as well:
00:29:51
absorb it. You're still human, you still absorb it.  And to
work that YOU do, as well:
00:29:55
learn to let that go is necessary, I think. To have a
work that YOU do, as well:
00:30:02
method of really switching off and recharging before the next
work that YOU do, as well:
00:30:09
day or the next thing. So yeah, I'm a strong believer in that.
work that YOU do, as well:
00:30:13
I'd go everywhere with my crochet stuff if I could!
work that YOU do, as well:
00:30:17
(Laughs) Even when there's no time, I take it with me. You
work that YOU do, as well:
00:30:19
never know, you might get stuck in traffic!
Mia Hobbs:
00:30:20
Yeah, definitely. That's really interesting, the
Mia Hobbs:
00:30:28
idea about preventing burnout. I think burnout's an increasingly
Mia Hobbs:
00:30:31
big problem, isn't it, in the health service, certainly here.
Mia Hobbs:
00:30:37
And yeah, I resonate a lot with what you say about finding a way
Mia Hobbs:
00:30:42
of... I find sometimes I'm attracted to really complicated
Mia Hobbs:
00:30:44
patterns because, like you say, I want to absorb myself fully in
Mia Hobbs:
00:30:47
something so my brain can't be thinking about other things from
Mia Hobbs:
00:30:51
my day. But also the idea of having this kind of soothing
Mia Hobbs:
00:30:56
repetitive motion. It almost sounded like you get something
Mia Hobbs:
00:31:00
almost a bit rejuvenating from it, like that time you spend in
Mia Hobbs:
00:31:04
your craft room.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:31:05
I do. It's like my little haven. I'm quite lucky
Nasreen Imrit:
00:31:08
to have a space, and that the children know I'm generally off
Nasreen Imrit:
00:31:12
limits. (Laughs) So on the days when they're at school and I'm
Nasreen Imrit:
00:31:20
not at work, I will actually have the door closed and maybe
Nasreen Imrit:
00:31:24
listen to something, maybe not, depending on whether I want
Nasreen Imrit:
00:31:26
quiet. And it will just be like the best time in the world, just
Nasreen Imrit:
00:31:30
making something. Over time, as I've learned to understand what
Nasreen Imrit:
00:31:37
crafting means to me, I've realised actually I need it.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:31:39
It's part of something that I need to be who I have to be, at
Nasreen Imrit:
00:31:44
home at work, etc. rather than just being this thing that I do
Nasreen Imrit:
00:31:48
because I enjoy it. I remember when I was cross stitching in my
Nasreen Imrit:
00:31:52
late teens/early 20s, I used to get comments like, "Why are you
Nasreen Imrit:
00:31:59
doing that? This is what old people do." They would say it in
Nasreen Imrit:
00:32:03
a laughing way and it would be relatives. "Why are you doing
Nasreen Imrit:
00:32:06
that? You should be going out!" And I'm like, "Well, I really
Nasreen Imrit:
00:32:09
like it. I love watching this white fabric just burst with
Nasreen Imrit:
00:32:13
colour, and I made this!" They wouldn't really understand it,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:32:17
but I'm glad it's not something that anyone's been able to ever
Nasreen Imrit:
00:32:22
take away from me, even from that age.
Mia Hobbs:
00:32:25
Do you think you understood then? Because I think
Mia Hobbs:
00:32:27
certainly for myself, I don't think I really understood that I
Mia Hobbs:
00:32:32
needed it and that it was beneficial to my mental well
Mia Hobbs:
00:32:35
being until really relatively recently. Maybe the last five or
Mia Hobbs:
00:32:40
so years, I've really thought deliberately about what do I
Mia Hobbs:
00:32:43
need right now for me in terms of crafting, and just how
Mia Hobbs:
00:32:48
important it was to me. And I had certainly lots of those
Mia Hobbs:
00:32:52
comments about being an old lady and those kind of things at
Mia Hobbs:
00:32:55
university, when I was literally the only person doing cross
Mia Hobbs:
00:32:58
stitch or knitting. I'd be interested to hear about the
Mia Hobbs:
00:33:02
journey you've been on in terms of your understanding about how
Mia Hobbs:
00:33:05
much you've needed craft.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:33:08
I would say in my early years I didn't link it to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:33:12
my mental health as such. It was really just, "Mum used to do it.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:33:15
I really want to do it." So I kind of grew into that. And then
Nasreen Imrit:
00:33:20
I always just liked it. That was just it. I just liked thread and
Nasreen Imrit:
00:33:24
I did it on and off, on and off, through uni as well. But I would
Nasreen Imrit:
00:33:27
say in terms of benefit to my mental health, probably the last
Nasreen Imrit:
00:33:36
four or five years, I would say. That's possibly because now my
Nasreen Imrit:
00:33:44
youngest is four, so I was too busy to actually think about it.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:33:50
And then recently, obviously now they're all a bit older, but
Nasreen Imrit:
00:33:57
there is still lots more to do. I started thinking about it more
Nasreen Imrit:
00:34:03
deliberately. As they get older their needs increase, and work's
Nasreen Imrit:
00:34:08
been more stressful with Covid times, and I think that's made
Nasreen Imrit:
00:34:11
me a lot more aware of it. It's gone from being a hobby to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:34:16
something that's more therapy. When I discovered Instagram,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:34:23
that was mad because I was like, "(Gasp) Look at all these
Nasreen Imrit:
00:34:27
patterns! Look at all these people!" So that's how I learned
Nasreen Imrit:
00:34:29
to sew, when I discovered Instagram, and I self-taught.
Mia Hobbs:
00:34:33
And when you say sew, what do you mean by sewing? Is
Mia Hobbs:
00:34:37
that like machine-sewing or hand-sewing or...?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:34:39
Yes, I do mainly machine-sewing.
Mia Hobbs:
00:34:42
And is it clothes or...?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:34:43
Yeah, so I made the dress that I'm wearing at
Nasreen Imrit:
00:34:46
the moment. I do mostly clothes and I will make random things
Nasreen Imrit:
00:34:50
for my children, like if they need a little bag I'll make them
Nasreen Imrit:
00:34:55
pouches for things, clothes for their little teddies and stuff.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:34:59
But then Instagram initially stressed me out because I had to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:35:03
make everything that I saw. (Laughs) I had a bit of a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:35:07
love/hate relationship with my craft, because it kind of tipped
Nasreen Imrit:
00:35:11
into being this stressful thing from being this relaxing thing,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:35:16
because there was always something that I had on my list.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:35:20
The lists are still there but they don't stress me out so
Nasreen Imrit:
00:35:24
much. I had to learn to tip that balance, that actually my craft
Nasreen Imrit:
00:35:28
was to relax me not because I need to churn out three things
Nasreen Imrit:
00:35:32
by the end of the week.
Mia Hobbs:
00:35:35
It sounds like your automatic thing is kind of an
Mia Hobbs:
00:35:39
ambitious drive sensation of "Ooh, look at all these things!
Mia Hobbs:
00:35:44
I could make them." And I can hear the doctor in you there,
Mia Hobbs:
00:35:47
like the ambitious person wants to go for it, and that you've
Mia Hobbs:
00:35:50
kind of slowly reined that in into "No, this can be a bit more
Mia Hobbs:
00:35:54
about process and not just about achievement."
Nasreen Imrit:
00:35:56
Exactly. And I think that's where knitting has
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:00
really come in, because obviously, as I've started to be
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:03
more mindful of what I'm doing, meditating, taking that time
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:07
out, the knitting actually fits in really nicely with that. You
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:13
enjoy the process of knitting because it's not one stitch at a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:16
time; you've got to do a few rows before you can actually see
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:19
what you're doing and see what's come out. Whereas with crochet,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:22
you've done a few stitches, "Oh yeah, I can see, yeah that's
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:24
going to look like that for the next..." But with knitting, you
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:27
have to be patient with it for a bit before you can actually
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:30
understand. So that's where I was just thinking actually,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:34
yeah, I'm ready to start to take this on. But yeah, the last
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:40
couple of years, as I've taken sewing and crochet and now
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:43
knitting more seriously, I've had to find my balance between
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:47
wanting to make everything that exists and, you know, having a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:52
sweater like yours (which I will get to one day!) to actually
Nasreen Imrit:
00:36:55
just putting it back and making sure that my craft doesn't
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:00
become like everything else that I have to do. So that's been
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:04
very interesting. And it sounds
Mia Hobbs:
00:37:05
And it sounds like now, Nasreen, it's very much
Mia Hobbs:
00:37:08
part of a deliberate part of your self-care strategy.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:12
Yeah, absolutely. So, for example, normally if I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:15
make something I would say, "Okay, I'm going to follow this
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:18
pattern and then I'm going to make it." Because I know it will
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:21
only take me two days to make it, for example a sewing
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:23
pattern. But when I sit and think about it, what I really
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:26
want to do is I want to create. So I know that actually I don't
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:33
like this bit of it, but I'd like to add some applique to it;
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:36
I could even add some crochet to it. If I gave myself that little
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:40
bit of time to think, I would come up with something that I'd
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:43
absolutely love because I took the time and I was mindful about
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:46
it. So I'm learning to do that a little bit more, rather than
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:49
just think, "Yeah, I made it." And I'm finding that initially
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:54
challenging, but I'm getting better at it. So I can let
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:56
something sit for a while and think, "Actually, let me come
Nasreen Imrit:
00:37:59
back when I feel that I really love what I'm doing right now,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:38:04
and it is me" rather than "I've done this pattern. There you go,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:38:09
guys. Look, I made it."
Mia Hobbs:
00:38:12
Do you feel like it's more rewarding when you do it
Mia Hobbs:
00:38:14
the second way? Slower and slightly more creative, giving
Mia Hobbs:
00:38:19
yourself time to have those ideas in the first place?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:38:22
I do. I've made a couple of pieces of clothing
Nasreen Imrit:
00:38:25
like that, a dress that I made with an old shawl... So that
Nasreen Imrit:
00:38:32
shawl was a beautiful shawl I bought from India. For some
Nasreen Imrit:
00:38:35
reason I decided to put it on a surface. I put candles on,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:38:39
didn't put a plate, the candles kind of ruined some of it. It
Nasreen Imrit:
00:38:42
was so beautiful, I kept the part that was still okay. And
Nasreen Imrit:
00:38:46
then I decided to incorporate it as part of a dress, but
Nasreen Imrit:
00:38:48
obviously I had to redesign the dress slightly to make it work.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:38:53
It took me longer but when I look at it, I love it so much
Nasreen Imrit:
00:38:58
more because I was like "Okay, it is exactly as I wanted it to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:39:01
be." So I'm learning to do that a little bit more, rather than
Nasreen Imrit:
00:39:05
just say, "Yep, made this pattern, made this one, made
Nasreen Imrit:
00:39:07
this one".
Mia Hobbs:
00:39:08
And there'd be none others in the entire world that
Mia Hobbs:
00:39:10
are exactly the same as yours.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:39:12
Exactly. So yeah, my relationship with craft has
Nasreen Imrit:
00:39:18
evolved through the years to somewhere where I think I wanted
Nasreen Imrit:
00:39:23
to be.
Mia Hobbs:
00:39:24
And how about your relationship with the finished
Mia Hobbs:
00:39:27
objects? I don't know whether there's anything about that that
Mia Hobbs:
00:39:30
still gives you kind of therapeutic value. For example,
Mia Hobbs:
00:39:34
like today you're wearing a dress you made; does that make a
Mia Hobbs:
00:39:37
difference to your mental health on a daily basis, do you think?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:39:41
Now it does! When I first started, I didn't like
Nasreen Imrit:
00:39:44
the things I made! I don't know whether I was just too self
Nasreen Imrit:
00:39:48
critical, or is it that perfectionist in me that, you
Nasreen Imrit:
00:39:52
know... It wasn't quite... It was a bit rough round the edges.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:39:56
So I remember with first few things I made, I'd be like,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:39:57
"Hmm, I'll wear that thing that I bought instead." But now, most
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:03
days I will wear something that I made. And it just gives you
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:07
that sense of warmth that nothing else tends to. And I'm
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:12
like living in this dress at the moment because it's warm. And
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:15
I'm like, "Ooh, should I buy some more fabric the same and
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:17
just make a top? Because it's actually quite nice and warm."
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:20
And I'll add pockets to designs that do not have pockets,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:23
because we all need pockets all the time. But generally, I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:28
notice myself sometimes, I'll be like, "Oh, am I wearing anything
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:30
I made today?" and usually there would be one item. And I don't
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:37
find myself buying clothes anymore, much. I will look, but
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:42
generally if I'm browsing online I'm taking pictures of what
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:45
people are wearing! I'm like, "Oh, I could make this!" rather
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:48
than actually buying it. But yes, it does make me feel more
Nasreen Imrit:
00:40:54
confident, and it's like a silent confidence that yeah, you
Nasreen Imrit:
00:41:00
know, I made this and I'm comfortable in this, and it's
Nasreen Imrit:
00:41:02
me.
Mia Hobbs:
00:41:04
And do people around you know? Like people at work,
Mia Hobbs:
00:41:07
do they know about that side of you and notice if there's
Mia Hobbs:
00:41:11
something you've made, or think that you might have made it?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:41:14
Yes, at work there's a few of my colleagues
Nasreen Imrit:
00:41:19
who do know that I make things. So every now and then they will
Nasreen Imrit:
00:41:21
look at me like "Did you make that?" And sometimes it'll be
Nasreen Imrit:
00:41:23
yes, sometimes it'll be no, because sometimes they can't
Nasreen Imrit:
00:41:25
tell!
Mia Hobbs:
00:41:26
No, with sewing I think it's harder to tell, isn't
Mia Hobbs:
00:41:28
it? Whereas with a knitted jumper, it probably looks more
Mia Hobbs:
00:41:31
obviously hand-knitted.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:41:31
Yeah, it looks more handmade. So they do
Nasreen Imrit:
00:41:34
comment on it. And I've made a few things for a couple of
Nasreen Imrit:
00:41:37
people at work as well. So they do know that I make it. I was
Mia Hobbs:
00:41:41
People ask me about knitted things, but the hourly
Mia Hobbs:
00:41:41
making something at work the other day. We had a training
Mia Hobbs:
00:41:45
afternoon over Zoom, and one of my colleagues came in. She was
Mia Hobbs:
00:41:49
like, "Are you making that? Are you selling it?" And I said, "I
Mia Hobbs:
00:41:53
haven't thought about it yet!" She was like, "Well, if you're
Mia Hobbs:
00:41:56
not doing anything about it, I'll buy it, I'll buy it!"
Mia Hobbs:
00:42:00
(Laughs) I find that really hard. I've never thought of
Mia Hobbs:
00:42:03
selling things I make!
Mia Hobbs:
00:42:09
rate would be 0.00p! (Laughs) So it's not something I'm
Mia Hobbs:
00:42:14
interested in.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:42:15
That's the thing! I was speaking to my husband
Nasreen Imrit:
00:42:17
about it and I said, "I wouldn't know what to sell this for,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:42:20
because the amount of time I've spent on it... people won't be
Nasreen Imrit:
00:42:25
willing to pay what it's worth!" So yeah, my crafting bug or
Nasreen Imrit:
00:42:36
obsession (whichever one!) is generally well known. Family as
Nasreen Imrit:
00:42:43
well - they will always ask me, "What are you making?" But yeah,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:42:47
it's part of me now, and I'm kind of glad it's not this thing
Nasreen Imrit:
00:42:52
that old people make. And you know, I've found a lot more
Nasreen Imrit:
00:42:55
confidence in it, that actually I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:42:58
discovered it when I did.
Mia Hobbs:
00:43:00
And did it help finding other similar people on
Mia Hobbs:
00:43:03
Instagram, as in people who were younger? Certainly when I
Mia Hobbs:
00:43:07
discovered Instagram, which was long after I started to knit, I
Mia Hobbs:
00:43:12
felt like I'm not the only person my age who's doing this,
Mia Hobbs:
00:43:16
and found more patterns that were more things I would be
Mia Hobbs:
00:43:20
interested in wearing, for example.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:43:23
My sister asked me to go on Instagram and I was
Nasreen Imrit:
00:43:25
like, "Nah, I don't see why I would." And then I decided to,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:43:30
about three years ago, and then I developed a lot more as a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:43:34
crocheter and a sewer at that point, because I discovered
everything:
00:43:40
all the indie sewing designers, all the beginner
everything:
00:43:45
patterns. And then I started doing colourwork in crochet
everything:
00:43:50
which are things that I hadn't ventured into before. I started
everything:
00:43:55
doing tapestry; I designed a blanket then a cushion about
everything:
00:44:01
three years ago. I've designed several things. I have too
everything:
00:44:04
many... I get distracted too easily. I haven't followed
everything:
00:44:06
through into publishing them. I've got about two or three
everything:
00:44:11
other things that I've made and designed but not written up or
everything:
00:44:15
released, so that might come one day.
Mia Hobbs:
00:44:18
Yeah? That's exciting!
Nasreen Imrit:
00:44:20
I've met designers as young as 15 on
Nasreen Imrit:
00:44:23
Instagram who are so so talented, yarn dyers and stuff,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:44:30
and it's been such an amazing space to find other people who
Nasreen Imrit:
00:44:34
do what I do. Because before that I was the only one who did
Nasreen Imrit:
00:44:38
what I did. Which is fine... everyone's like, "Oh you do
Nasreen Imrit:
00:44:41
this!" but now it's like no no no, ALL these people do this.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:44:44
There's a whole world out there! So yeah, it's an app where I've
Nasreen Imrit:
00:44:49
learned so much. So so much. And I still keep learning. But I've
Nasreen Imrit:
00:44:53
certainly learned so much from all the people I've come across
Nasreen Imrit:
00:44:57
online. You help each other. You know, they've tested my pattern,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:45:02
I've tested patterns for a lot of people, so made some nice
Nasreen Imrit:
00:45:06
Insta friends. I made face masks for them during the pandemic, at
Nasreen Imrit:
00:45:12
the beginning. So yeah, it's been really lovely to build that
Nasreen Imrit:
00:45:17
community.
Mia Hobbs:
00:45:18
I'd love to hear about a significant project. It
Mia Hobbs:
00:45:21
doesn't have to be knitting; it could be crochet or any other
Mia Hobbs:
00:45:24
craft. I don't know if you can think of something that stands
Mia Hobbs:
00:45:26
out as being a kind of significant project for you.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:45:29
I have a couple. So I have one that I made. It's
Nasreen Imrit:
00:45:36
upstairs. It's actually made on a canvas. It was the last one I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:45:39
made before I had children, and it was made with scraps from a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:45:45
cushion cover. It was a combination of... so if you
Nasreen Imrit:
00:45:50
imagine a large rectangular canvas, and it has fabric stuck
Nasreen Imrit:
00:45:53
on it with a ribbonwork and embroidery and paint. So then I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:45:59
painted in Arabic on it. So it was just a massive combination
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:03
of loads of different crafts, and that was like the biggest
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:07
thing I made for the house. Apart from that, I'd probably
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:12
say the things that I make for my children. So they all have
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:15
this little teddy that's exactly the same. My daughter had it,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:19
and by the time we realised she was so attached to it we bought
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:22
a spare, just in case she ever lost it. She never lost it, so
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:25
then the second one got the teddy. And then when we had a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:29
third, we were like, "Well, he's going to be left out!" Every so
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:33
often I have to renew their outfits. They have mini jackets
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:38
- crochet jackets - and I think that's the thing that's just the
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:42
most loved. So they will put their jackets on in winter; in
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:45
summer they're hot so they'll take their jackets off. So their
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:48
jackets go on and off, and then after a few years my daughter
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:51
was like, "We need to make a new jacket. This is just getting
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:52
really tatty." So they will choose their yarn,  and it's a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:55
good way to use up scraps. That will be the thing that is hugged
Nasreen Imrit:
00:46:59
the most, all the time. So I think that's probably my nicest
Nasreen Imrit:
00:47:04
project that I've made, the things that I've made for them.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:47:07
Or the blankets. I've made a few blankets for them. It'll always
Nasreen Imrit:
00:47:09
be dens, but it's the fact that they choose those blankets to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:47:13
make the dens with, and they know that I made it for them.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:47:18
And then they will always proudly say, "Oh my mum made
Nasreen Imrit:
00:47:20
this!" "No no no, that's my blanket!" you know, if somebody
Nasreen Imrit:
00:47:24
else touches them. "That's my one, go and touch the one that
Nasreen Imrit:
00:47:27
my mum made for you." So, you know, they really find it
Nasreen Imrit:
00:47:31
something quite precious. So I'd probably say those are my most
Nasreen Imrit:
00:47:35
significant makes in that sense.
Mia Hobbs:
00:47:38
Yeah, so the family connection is really special.
Mia Hobbs:
00:47:42
Oh, that's amazing. I always end with asking: what's the greatest
Mia Hobbs:
00:47:46
gift that craft has given you for the rest of your life?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:47:49
I would say connection, because I guess
Nasreen Imrit:
00:47:53
that's how my relationship with craft started,  was trying to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:47:58
connect with my mum's memory and what she did. And then obviously
Nasreen Imrit:
00:48:04
moving into kind of connecting with myself, and then connecting
Nasreen Imrit:
00:48:09
with other people through the web, and then finding a
Nasreen Imrit:
00:48:14
different way to connect with my children and passing that on to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:48:16
them. So my middle one who loves crafting is waiting for me to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:48:23
make a next... we make little reels about how to do easy
Nasreen Imrit:
00:48:26
things... so easy projects. So he's looking forward... I told
Nasreen Imrit:
00:48:30
him we'll try and make another one this weekend. So I get to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:48:34
have a one to one time with them, with something that they
Nasreen Imrit:
00:48:36
enjoy. And it's always something crafty. So I think that that
Nasreen Imrit:
00:48:40
connection and that love that's been passed on - I think that
Nasreen Imrit:
00:48:45
would probably be my main takeaway, my main connection
Nasreen Imrit:
00:48:52
(I'm using the word connect again!) to crafts. It's what
Nasreen Imrit:
00:48:55
links me to it that's the strongest thing, I would say.
Mia Hobbs:
00:48:58
Yeah, that's really special. And it's really
Mia Hobbs:
00:49:00
interesting that you said it's connection in your family, but
Mia Hobbs:
00:49:03
also to yourself... like feeling really you.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:49:06
Yeah! It's so versatile because you can have
Nasreen Imrit:
00:49:11
it be something that's completely your own, but it can
Nasreen Imrit:
00:49:14
also be something that creates friendships and creates... You
Nasreen Imrit:
00:49:18
know, like the other day we were talking about health and
Nasreen Imrit:
00:49:21
wellbeing at work, and I was saying to one of my colleagues,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:49:24
"How about if we started to teach crochet and stuff?" She
Nasreen Imrit:
00:49:27
was like, "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" Not sure how it's going to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:49:30
materialise but it's something that we would like to try and do
Nasreen Imrit:
00:49:33
and see if people are interested to learn crafting - different
Nasreen Imrit:
00:49:36
types of craft to promote health and wellbeing at work.
Mia Hobbs:
00:49:40
I think it's such a lovely... I mean, I did it for a
Mia Hobbs:
00:49:43
few... it wasn't deliberately for that but I had a colleague
Mia Hobbs:
00:49:48
who had twins and they were very special babies (long-awaited and
Mia Hobbs:
00:49:54
two of them) and lots of people came up to me and said "I know
Mia Hobbs:
00:49:58
you knit. Can you help me knit a cardigan for these babies?" and
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:01
I was thinking, "The last thing these poor children need is 15
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:05
half-knitted holey cardigans in the same size!" (laughs) and I
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:10
was like, "This is what we're going to do: I'll buy yarn, you
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:14
can knit squares, or crochet squares, and I'll crochet them
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:19
together to make blankets." Because that's easier,
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:22
obviously, than doing the shaping and everything, for
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:24
people who were... some of them were rusty knitters, some of
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:27
them were completely new to knitting. But actually it was
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:31
lovely! Often on a Friday, and it was just a very short amount
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:34
of time, like half an hour, where we'd go in the staff room,
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:38
and I could help people with various dropped stitches and
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:41
things, and some people did crochet, some people did
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:43
knitting, but it really did give people a... Like lots of people
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:48
commented on having that little space, because so many people
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:51
were just eating at their desks (me included!) and we had some
Mia Hobbs:
00:50:58
different conversations about, you know, family stories about
Mia Hobbs:
00:51:01
knitting and crochet. And I got to know people in a different
Mia Hobbs:
00:51:04
way, who I didn't really know much about their personal life.
Mia Hobbs:
00:51:08
It was really a boost to team morale, I think.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:51:12
I think you're absolutely right, and that comes
Nasreen Imrit:
00:51:15
back to the whole connection thing,. You know, the people we
Nasreen Imrit:
00:51:20
work with, we just talk about work. But to have a space which
Nasreen Imrit:
00:51:24
is away from that and be able to talk to them and to have a chat
Nasreen Imrit:
00:51:31
with them on a different level completely is just too rare, I
Nasreen Imrit:
00:51:39
think.
Mia Hobbs:
00:51:40
And just to give them that skill, like you've done
Mia Hobbs:
00:51:42
with your kids, to give them this kind of therapeutic
Mia Hobbs:
00:51:48
potentiaI, I suppose, that they can whip out on a bus or at home
Mia Hobbs:
00:51:51
or wherever they need to.
Nasreen Imrit:
00:51:53
Absolutely. And I do wish that there are things
Nasreen Imrit:
00:51:58
like that, that are more widely available in terms of helping to
Nasreen Imrit:
00:52:02
promote mental wellbeing, that is available at the moment for
Nasreen Imrit:
00:52:08
people. And I don't know, maybe that will come on the NHS that's
Nasreen Imrit:
00:52:13
more available for people, because I think there's a lot of
Nasreen Imrit:
00:52:15
people that I see that I think could benefit from something
Nasreen Imrit:
00:52:18
like that. But it's very difficult for me to say it when
Nasreen Imrit:
00:52:20
there is nowhere to actually provide it. Yeah, so you never
Nasreen Imrit:
00:52:27
know.
Mia Hobbs:
00:52:29
I mean, that's one of my hopes for the podcast, and my
Mia Hobbs:
00:52:32
kind of project in general. But I think it's tricky finding the
Mia Hobbs:
00:52:36
money and the people to value it enough to pay for it and to give
Mia Hobbs:
00:52:43
staff the time to do it also. Nasreen, it was an absolute
Mia Hobbs:
00:52:47
pleasure to hear your wonderful stories and to hear all your
Mia Hobbs:
00:52:51
insights on craft. So thank you so much for coming on the
Mia Hobbs:
00:52:56
podcast. If people want to follow you on Instagram or find
Mia Hobbs:
00:52:59
out more about your makes, how would they do that?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:53:02
So I am on Instagram, and my handle is
Nasreen Imrit:
00:53:07
@sewcraftynaz. That's where you will find me and all my makes
Nasreen Imrit:
00:53:13
and half-makes and everything else (laughs).
Mia Hobbs:
00:53:15
And is it sew as in sewing? S-E-W?
Nasreen Imrit:
00:53:19
S-E-W crafty Naz with a Z, as one word. But yes,
Nasreen Imrit:
00:53:23
that's where you'll find my creative corner. But thank you
Nasreen Imrit:
00:53:26
so much for having me on! I've really enjoyed it. This is my
Nasreen Imrit:
00:53:30
first podcast, so I'm very honoured that it's yours. So
Nasreen Imrit:
00:53:35
that's really lovely.
Mia Hobbs:
00:53:35
Thank you, it's been a privilege.
Mia Hobbs:
00:53:38
Thank you so much for listening to the Why I Knit podcast. If
Mia Hobbs:
00:53:41
you'd like to find out more about therapeutic knitting, you
Mia Hobbs:
00:53:44
can follow me on Instagram @knittingistherapeutic, or at my
Mia Hobbs:
00:53:47
website therapeuticknitting.org, where you can also sign up to my
Mia Hobbs:
00:53:51
newsletter to receive my blog on the themes from series one. If
Mia Hobbs:
00:53:56
you're enjoying the podcast, I would really appreciate it if
Mia Hobbs:
00:53:58
you could leave a rating and a review on your podcast app. This
Mia Hobbs:
00:54:01
will help grow the podcast and let more people know about the
Mia Hobbs:
00:54:04
therapeutic benefits of knitting. And don't forget to