I dare to Dread

One of my closest friends has dreads. She looks amazing with them and they are an extension of her beautiful looks and personality.

I lost my mum to breast cancer in February of this year. Not long after, my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer in March. She's undergone chemotherapy and shaved her head as her hair started falling. She bought a beautiful, handmade, natural hair dreadlock wig. It looks amazing on her.

So I figured that I'm going to dare to dead my own hair. But not by means of the original method of back combing my hair and knotting it to hell. I'm going the "extension" route where you attach dreads to your natural hair by plaiting ready made dreads into your hair and securing them with a little silicone or latex hairband.

I spin my own yarn from pure sheep's fleece. I had some gorgeous wool on hand. So I spin some yarn, plied it on itself, making a double knit yarn. After washing it,I then used 2 strands of this yarn to chain dreads, roughly 50cm in length. I then felted my crocheted chains and stuck them in my dye jar. I've used poppy red. Tomorrow I will rinse them out and apply my next colour: Schwartzkopf red black tint. I'm looking at dyeing the dreads, but leaving the tips the bright red.

Spinning away the tension

I have spent a wonderful day with my family. After tackling the housework and the mountain of laundry, I had some free time... I KNOW... That isn't something I have often.

I decided to work on my spinning wheel. It is so relaxing to fluff up the fleece and then watch it spin into a nice single. There is something about the way the fibres line up in an orderly fashion and gradually wind on to the bobbin. The rhythmic sound of the wheel and the repetitive action of treadling is hypnotic and I easily enter into a trance-like state. Very little can cause me stress when I'm spinning. I picture the tension in my shoulders, neck and jaw just spin away. I've become the master of the anxiety and I plan on turning it into something lovely: a gorgeous shawl.

There have been numerous articles about how fibre crafts help for anxiety levels and have many health benefits. Many people with autism benefit from knitting or crocheting, due to the repetition and the orderly manner of the stitches. For me: I tend to stick to my diet when knitting, spinning or crocheting as I HATE to get my fibre or project dirty. If I keep my hands busy.... My hands won't feed my face. I always have flashbacks to "the Little Shop of Horror" where the flower says - "feed me, Seymour".... I pat my stomach and whisper "down my pet".

Unwashed alpaca fleece, ready to fluff up and spin from the cloud

My "Sleeping Beauty" spinning wheel.

The single is winding on the bobbin so neatly.

Two bobbins of singles joined and ready for the next bobbin to be added.

Postnatal depression... That uninvited bully!

After my first baby I was an easy going mum with the patience of a saint. My daughter could do no wrong and my answer to everything was "it's nothing soap and water wouldn't fix".

When she was 2 1/2 years old, my second bundle of joy arrived. At first things were fine, it was great having the two little ones and each day it was magical to see their love grow for each other.

Around the 6 month mark, the wheels started falling off. My temper went from non-existent to a flash bang grenade! I was SO ANGRY and I couldn't figure out what the hell was causing it. My eldest was the little darling she always was, a sensitive little thing that was always ready to be mummy's little helper and making her sister smile at every opportunity.

It got to the stage where I would having screaming fits for the most stupid reasons. A snapped pencil, a toilet accident during potty training or even walking slightly slower than me would have me in a rage. Thank the Lord I never hit her. But she was starting to cringe at me when she thought she had made an error. That was when I realised there was something wrong with me. The light of my life was fearful of me. That was the worse thing I could ever imagine.

After seeing my Gp she immediately told me that I was suffering from postnatal depression... I felt like an ogre... I wasn't the one who had been SUFFERING during my rampages.

I went to counselling and was prescribed seritonin tablets. I was told that it was all very well and good being there for my family.... But I NEEDED to be there for me too. I had to make time for myself, so something that helped me unwind and get back to seeing all the great things a had in my life.

I turned back to my crocheting and knitting. I found I had pushed these hobbies aside when I had the kids and forgot how therapeutic they were. Slowly I've been recovering and I've taught my eldest to do some dinner knitting. We're actually binding through our love of making things.

My crafts brought me back to my daughter and is building a strong bond between us again.