MENOPAUSE AWARENESS MONTH

​October is Menopause awareness month in the UK. Some of us here at Janie Crow are more than aware of menopause, every month! Whether that’s the unseasonable heat we carry within us, the obvious spikes and dips of hormones or a months-absent menstrual cycle roaring back into life with no warning. Yes, menopause makes itself very much known around here.

​There is now, thankfully, much more information available to us and it is a subject which is now openly and frequently discussed and this can only be a good thing. We are not about to even dip our toe into the myriad of science papers and opinions and remedies and any of that, believing firmly that everyone is unique and will choose the path that works best for them to navigate this astonishingly complex time in our lives. There are podcasts and books and TV shows and all sorts and we could spend a month listing resources here but we won’t.  This post really is to let you know that “women of a certain age” (and we don’t know whether to love that gentle description or be outraged by it’s patronising tone – hormones again) make up a large and much-loved part of the Janie Crow community and are also well represented in the company itself!
 
There are dozens of recognised menopause symptoms ranging from the ones we all know (THE HEAT, OH THE HEAT!) to the less frequently recognised things like anxiety and brain fog. There are some things we think crochet can do to help.  We are NOT of course suggesting that it is appropriate to not seek specialist medical opinion in favour of picking up a hook, not at all, but let’s look at some of the things we know it brings us:

​PEACE OF MIND​


​We’ve said it so many times but sitting quietly and mindfully with hook and yarn is a tonic for so many things: a busy mind, anxious thoughts, low mood. All these things can be eased, even if only a little, by the repetitive action of making those familiar movements to create stitches. 

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​REGULAR SELF-CARE
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Taking time out of a busy schedule for yourself is essential. Very often, at this time of life, we still have children at home that we have to look after and also, we are starting to take on more of the “parent” role to our own parents. We have the responsibilities both up and down the generations.  It is a lot.  I speak from experience and my advice here would always be this:  if help is offered, take it.  In whatever form that may be.  TAKE THE HELP! Offer of a babysitter to have a few hours to yourself, yep. Offer of someone else making the trip to the supermarket for the parents, yes please.  It is not a failing to put your own oxygen mask on first. Remember that if you’re the hub of things, your falling down helps no one.  I am sorry to lecture but I’ve been there, done that and not been able to wear the t-shirt because I found it too hot. Sorry I digress…

​Crochet is a brilliantly portable hobby.  Waiting rooms, waiting in cars, swimming lessons and all those things are a good place to sit and just connect a bit with your own brain for your own – seemingly trivial – reasons. There is nothing at all better for you than doing something which benefits no one at all except you!  It’s the best tonic. Knocking up a granny square might seem ridiculous to some but to us who know what the feeling of hook and yarn does to a stressed head, it’s not ridiculous at all. Use your skill in a way you’d perhaps not considered: as a means to bring yourself back to you.

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HOW TO COMBAT THE HEAT
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Well yes, its unavoidable really but a lot of us make blankets don’t we? Many of us (me) would actually love to need to sit under a blanket.  We still make them. So what does that tell us? It’s not the end result, it is the action itself we crave.  If however you would like to still make something you could use, consider working with cotton or bamboo, both of which are lovely if you get hot handling yarn. Make smaller projects – bags or pouches or decorations. You have our fullest permission to have a smaller thing on the go as well as a bigger thing.  The difference in size means it doesn’t really count as not finishing one thing before starting another (that’s just science, we don’t make the rules).

You can find a selection of smaller projects by Janie here :

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Again, having a bag of something small and fun in the car (no, not chocolates although this does also work and definitely NOT gin miniatures) is such a good way to remind you that you are YOU. Your pass times and hobbies and self care matters.  Have you ever just driven somewhere to be alone and have 5 mins thinking time? I have. I would have loved to have a bit of crochet to focus me when I sat in the car park at Asda but I was too muddle headed to sort it!

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​WHAT WAS I GOING TO SAY?
 
Oh yes brain fog. Isn’t that a treat? Well, it’s not a problem if you switch from the more complex designs to something you can crochet with your eyes closed and your brain switched off. Muscle memory is a wonderful thing. If you DO want to carry on with the complex designs through periods of, erm, “meandering awareness” (made that up, will use it) then might we suggest that the “production line” method of crochet is a good idea. 

​If you’ve gone to the trouble of reading the same instruction 267 times to get to grips with it on a motif, it’s a good idea to do it over and over on all of them because you know, I know, we ALL know that when you go back to make the next one, you’ll have to read that thing 267 times again!

Also, (and I genuinely forgot what I was going to write here) writing out parts of the instructions yourself, in your own words and maybe chunked up so that there is a small part on each line of a piece of paper, might help. Smaller sections of a larger row or round are the menopausal woman’s friend. Tick them off. Really treat yourself!

We are also continually adding to our videos to support Jane’s patterns. 
​It can help to work through a motif with one of us yabbering on with you in the background.
You can click on the image there to go directly to our channel and have a look if you fancy.

Finally, although it’s been a huge challenge to me as it is to many, menopause has also quite unexpectedly been a way of reaffirming the beauty and companionship of womanhood. I have navigated some huge life changes while also grappling hormones: bereavement, caring for elderly parents, divorce and subsequent single motherhood. Throughout all of this, an army of wonderful women have sweated and sworn and laughed and cried with me. The physical changes I’m going through are – to me – worth the richness I’ve been gifted at this time of my life.
 
So crank the aircon up, go get a sneaky coffee and sit for a few mins in the car park, hooking your way to a bit of calm. We wholeheartedly support you and appreciate all of you.