Unwind: Crochet & Mindfulness

This Project is the workings of a Girl Scout Gold Award.  For those unaware of what a Gold Award is, it is an 80-100 Individual Girl Scout Project that focuses on a community issue and works to solve its root cause. The Girl Scout is asked to find an Advisor, a set of team members, and to lead the project and the team.  She is also asked to create a project that is sustainable for a number of years into the future.  My project's community issue focuses on School-Induced Anxieties and how to stay mindful, present, and grounded, when presented with these stresses.  For most of my life, until the age of 15/Sophomore year in high school, I was schooled at home, In the Fall of 2021, I made a decision to move to Public School in order to graduate with the friends I'd made through the Music Department of my high school through my involvement in Marching and Symphonic Band classes.  Upon entry into the Public School System, I began to pretty immediately realize the stre...

My name is Alani Wiist.   I am a recent graduate of Murray High School in Utah where I played the trumpet for 3 years in the Murray High School Marching Band, and was the Drum Major my Senior Year of High School.  I also played the trumpet in my school's Symphonic, Philharmonic, and Jazz Bands during High School.  I have taken my love for Marching and Music with me to the University of Utah, where I now march for the Pride of Utah: The Marching Utes!  I am a Girl Scout of 13 years.  I always loved financial and cooking badges. My favorite memories with my Troop were our summer daycamps.  I loved visiting the Farmer's Market, Water/Outdoor Play Days, and visiting a local Goat Farm.  I've taken my love of finance to the U with me, and am majoring in both Business and Music.  I began Girl Scouts as a Kindergarten aged Daisy, at 5 years old, in 2011, and graduated, in 2024, as a thirteen year, and fourth generation Girl Scout.  In 4th grade ...

 If you know how to make a slip knot and wish to skip this step, please do so. This slip knot is different than a usual one because it is designed to easily switch to crocheting in the round, which will not be discussed here, but the steps to make just a slip knot are the same. To start the slip knot, hold your hand out with your palm up. Take the end of your yarn and lay it between your thumb and pointer finger, with the end towards your fingertips. Keeping the yarn between those two fingers, turn your hand over so your fingernails are now facing up. Take the end of your yarn and wrap it around your pointer and middle finger together two times (there should be two strings on the top and one string on the bottom) Take your crochet hook, with the hook facing down and starting from your fingernails, place the hook under the first string and then grab the second string with the hook. Pull the second loop under the first loop and remove the hook Then, place the hook under the loop that...

The chain is the first step for all projects discussed here. Please review these steps as many times as you need to master the concept, and feel free to have fun with it! Once learned, the art of making chains can be super fun! Also, get your friends to learn chaining and play fun games like Speed Chaining or Chain Length competitions! I know it can be difficult to start, but fun is just around the corner!  Proper holding technique:  To start, place your hook (with the slip knot on it) in the hand you write with; if you can write with either, place it in your right hand. With your other hand, wrap the side of the yarn attached to the ball/skein around your pointer finger, with the side attached to the hook closer to your thumb. (the cut side is called the "tail" and will not be used for the remainder of the project) Loosely hold onto the rest of the yarn with your ring finger and pinky(this keeps) Take your thumb and middle finger and pinch the knot at the bottom of your slip...

 If you would like to create an UNWIND Kit in your own school, library, community center, or anywhere else you think they could be useful, I am providing the steps below.  UNWIND is not just about grounding and mindfulness, but also about literally unwinding the project when you are done, and putting it back in the kit for another person to use.  The Social Worker at one school suggested something I hadn't thought of, which was to send out the QR code to have children (and adults) learn the steps of crochet at home, then be able to use the kits when needed, or desired, at school with the booklet as a support and not for initial instructional purposes.  This will keep the project as it is meant to be: a way to UNWIND because there is previous knowledge of how to use the tool, while using it on campus.  It also creates other people in a child's life who are familiar with the steps (maybe a parent, sibling, or caregiver at home, or even their own teachers).  T...

 You'll see the following resource again in the "Make Your Own Kit" page, but here are some suggested ways to stay mindful and present as a practice, while you engage in crochet: Think about what mindfulness means to you Keep your mind focused on the present Let your worries go and focus on the steps There are 4 main movements in crochet, use these movements to. . . Think of 4 positive words/affirmations about  Yourself~Your World~Indoors~Outdoors~Family~Things You Love~ What you aspire to/want to be~Gratitudes~Things you want to let go of~Nature~ You can write a silly or special poem, song, or create a rhyme My Mindfulness Liaison was helpful in steering me towards a great resource for a specific practice in mindfulness which is within the DBT or Dialectal Behavior Therapy model.  I am providing a graphic here for simplicity, but feel free to look into DBT/Dialectical Behavior Therapy and research any number of websites for resources and information.  Credit for thi...

I'd like to thank the following people and entities: Paige Shaw, my Gold Project Advisor!  Without Paige's quick action any time I called on her to connect me with my local school district, my project would have fallen flat several times over.  Her encouragement, support, and kind words throughout my project were always right on time.  Jennifer Allen who helped me connect with Mindfulness ideas and resources. Julia Moench Parent, a local therapist and friend, who sat down with me to talk about the impacts of mindfulness as therapy and healing and who may use this project in the future.  Jennifer Clark who has helped spearhead the sustainability of my project through her work with the school district PTA and connecting me to others who were willing to commit to annual yarn drives in the schools where my kits are housed. My family for continuing to encourage me forward through my project, especially my mom, who kept me on track and ensured the dates were always on the ...