Keeping tinnitus hands busy

One of the best ways that I have found to distract from my tinnitus, particularly in the evenings, is to focus on tactile creativity. Working with wool and felt is perfect. So, tonight I set about making a collection of friendship bracelets from local hand-dyed wool. I made the one above for my partner, Jeff. He loves the Tibetan silver dragon bead because the dragon is our National emblem.

I mention this because I know that many visitors to my blog are from other countries and may not know our National flag , here in Wales.

But my most favourite of all things to make are my little Heartfelt Books within which I write my stories and poems. There is something so sacred about taking so much time to make something so small and yet so loving. And I love the risk of it, that I might make a mistake when handwriting in my poem or very short story ... 

That's one of my top tips for for anyone learning to live with tinnitus. Expand upon your other senses. I quite often have essential oils on in my diffuser whilst creating with wool and felt in the evenings, or combine the two as both wool and felt absorb the essential oils really well.

I hope that is helpful advice. It can be hard to come to terms with tinnitus. By sharing what works for us, we might help others.

From Flock to Friendship

 

It feels both very beautiful and deeply poignant to put all of my love into making Friendship Bracelets. What started as a tactile therapy for my tinnitus, has become a deep rooted healing of self within the cultural context of where I live in West Wales. I have fallen in love with wool.

My wonderful Circle of Friends have been helping me to re-build my life by sharing their woolly skills and knowledge .

Bev, my neighbour and friend, gifted me a fleece from her flock which, to Jeff's horror, I then washed in the bath. I trimmed it all up myself in our shed, infusing the wool with a wild concoction of essential oils.

My friend Caroline visited me at Quiet Space Studio and taught me to drop spin, followed by my dear friend Susan, who taught me to twin ply on a spinning wheel.

The deeper I have become lost in the process of putting love into my little bracelets, the more my soul has become found.

And then a woman called into Quiet Space Studio to chat to me about spinning and she told me how she kept her own flock so that she knew where her wool was coming from. How utterly wonderful. It was as if Mother Earth herself had sent this angel with a message. 

'Jeff ... ' I said tentatively that evening, 'I have a burning desire.'

'Oh no, now what,' he teased.

'I have a burning desire to keep sheep.'

And so the seed is planted. I have set an intention that I will have 3 sheep. I have no idea how to take care of them nor where I will keep them. I do not need to know. All I need to do is trust that the Universe has a plan and these desires have come from me letting go of knowing why.

Resident Crafter at Quiet Space

When I was waiting for my hearing aids from the NHS, I was very poorly and couldn't go out of the house becauseof my hyperacusis, my friend Caroline Lane from Hembra Crafting visited me at home to share her passion for wool. 

Maybe it is because she, herself has a hearing impairment that she understood what I was going through, or maybe just because she is a lovely friend, either way she brought sunshine into my life. Since then she has been back and for teaching me all manner of traditional skills and generally being a wonderful support. She has totally inspired me and sparked my imagination. 

That's why I have invited her to be Resident Crafter at Quiet Space Studio. Last week Caroline came to teach me drop spinning and members of the community popped in or watched through the window as they passed by. Next month she coming to teach me hand dying with local mountain flowers. How exciting. 

Caroline now has an Exhibition Box at Quiet Space Studio filled with woolly lovliness. Her company Hembra Crafting that she runs with her friend Anne Batye, runs workshops and attends events. 

Caroline has very kindly offered to take my Circle of Friendship Bracelets to West Wales Wool on October 14th & to Llandovery Sheep Festival on September 23rd & 24th. This means that even though I am not well enough to get there myself, a little piece of my creativity is still out there in the world, and that feels very special. Thank you Caroline. 

Friendship, for sure, is a beautiful yarn to weave within the fibre of life. This week my lovely friends Susan Berry is coming with her spinning wheel to Quiet Space and teaching me to spin. I don't know if my hyperacusis will cope with the sound of the wheel, but unless I try, I'll be none the wiser. And it is my hearing aids that give me this knew found confidence to try.