Mission Statement
The mission of One Thread is to empower individuals, groups and communities, through knitting lessons with expert instructors and the use of quality materials.
The Inspiration for One Thread
One Thread was inspired by a year long service learning and research project Theresa conducted while studying abroad at the University of Ghana. She worked with a group of women on the outskirts of Accra, the capital of Ghana, teaching them to take their scrap fabrics and knit or crochet them into products they could sell. She knew after that experience that the connecting and healing she saw in knitting was universal and teaching knitting with a deepened purpose was what she wanted to do with her life.
Specialties
One Thread specializes in teaching knitting and/or crochet in individual or group classes in the Greater Sacramento Area. They will come to you and work to create a healing and nurturing environment.
The Work
One Thread is an organization that believes in the power of knitting and crochet as a therapeutic and healing tool to help alleviate stress and promote confidence, peace and connection to those who live under duress from work, illness or trauma. Theresa has been knitting and crocheting for nearly 4 decades and has been bringing people together in classes and workshops for 10 years. Customers have included children as well as adults in individual and group settings, students with brain trauma, Multiple Sclerosis, stroke patients and cancer patients. She has conducted workshops in yarn shops, independently and as a service learning project in Ghana and found the connection students share is universal, crossing race, cultural and generational backgrounds.
Knitting Wellness Benefits
· “Knitting has been shown to lower heart rate and blood pressure and reduce muscle tension… The intervention provided nurses with an opportunity to process difficult work situations.” The Impact of a Knitting Intervention on Compassion Fatigue in Oncology Nurses
· “Knitting was reported to be methodical, therapeutic and rewarding activity for the patients in this study.” Managing anxiety in eating disorders with knitting
· “The rhythmic, mathematical nature of knitting and crocheting keep the mind absorbed in a healthy way, providing an escape from stressful thoughts but allowing for internal reflection.” Doctors Promote the Health Benefits of Knitting
· “Using your hands meaningfully triggers heath engagement and activity in about 60% of your brain.” Doctors Promote the Health Benefits of Knitting
Works Cited
Anderson, L., & Gustavson, C. (2016). The Impact of a Knitting Intervention on Compassion Fatigue in Oncology Nurses. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 20(1), 102-104. doi:10.1188/16.cjon.102-104
Caiola, S. (2014, October 12). Doctors Promote Benefits of Knitting. Journal-Gazette. Retrieved February 23, 2018, from http://proxy.lib.csus.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1611303203?accountid=10358
Clave-Brule, M., Mazloum, A., Park, R., Harbottle, E., & Birmingham, C. L. (2009). Managing anxiety in eating disorders with knitting. Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, 14(1). doi:10.1007/bf03354620
Testimonial
"When you are meeting it is all about the beauty of it. ......At that moment, it is all about the knitting so skin color, religion, where you are coming from, everything, it is not that important. It is the knitting that is so, we somehow correspond with the thread....The thread comes in different sizes. We human beings also come in different sizes. It comes in different colors. We are also different colors. But it is the same thread. A thread which means we are one. So crocheting and knitting and other things also makes us….if we do all those things together all from different countries, tribes and other things, it makes us all one" --Alami Yaa Haruna (The name of this organization was inspired by my interview with Alami)
Alami is a former student and dear friend who is a mentor in the service leaning project at the University of Ghana International Programs office in Accra, Ghana. I was honored to teach her to knit and crochet.
One Thread is a project of Arts and Culture El Dorado's Arts Incubator Program.
