Can you help Stitchlinks?

Have you heard of Stitchlinks?
It is an online organisation set up and run by Betsan Corkhill. They aim to combine the therapeutic benefits of knitting with practical health information and support this with a secure, global friendship network. Betsan wrote an article in Issue 4 of knitonthenet about her work which you can read by clicking this link.

One of their main aims is to carry out research into the therapeutic use of knitting and stitching and to use the knowledge gained from the research to help people lead a more fulfilled life. The benefits can help everyone to find balance in life, to take control, as well as better manage illness. A large number of people already use them to manage a range of medical conditions and you can read more about their work on the Stitchlinks website.

Betsan is looking for 90 knitting volunteers who would be willing to travel to Cardiff University to take part in a study which will look at the effect of knitting on memory. It will take one and a half hours of your time and there are various time slots available.

Three separate experiments are planned, each one will need 30 different people, so we need to find 90 knitting volunteers who would be willing to travel to the university.

The time slots are

9.30 – 11am

11 – 12.30pm

12.30 – 1.30pm – break for lunch

1.30-3.00pm

3.00 – 4.30pm

4.30 – 6.00pm

The dates are 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 7^th, 8^th, 9^th, 10^th, 11^th, 14^th, 15^th, 16^th, 17^th, 18^th June

You will need to bring along a simple knitting project which doesn’t need too much concentration.

The psychologists will be giving their time free so unfortunately will be unable to reimburse travel expenses. However, Cardiff is a great city to visit for a good day out and with its new shopping mall great for a bit of retail therapy, so a lot of knitters are combining the two! It will take about 90 minutes in the lab, followed by tea and cake if desired, then the rest of the day is free.

If you are interested in helping with the study, please contact Betsan by email at Betsan(at)stitchlinks.com to let her know which date and time you are interested in coming along to and she will book you in.

Happy knitting
Ingrid