"We are thrilled to release these insights into craft yarn purchases, which provide a comprehensive look at the behaviors, attitudes, and motivations of crafters who use yarn to knit and crochet," said Jenny Bessonette, Executive Director of the Craft Yarn Council. "The data underscores the important role that crafting plays in mental health and community building and highlights the key drivers of purchasing decisions in the yarn industry. We look forward to continuing to support and serve this vibrant and growing community."

A competition is underway for those who love a good yarn. Called The Great Yarn Challenge, it's a virtual competition centered on fiber, open to anyone who wants to compete, whether you've mastered a complicated Fair Isle sweater or are just dropping your first stitch.

Daley is not alone in using yarn crafts like knitting and crocheting to help deal with stress and anxiety. The Craft Yarn Council, a trade association for yarn crafts, conducts surveys every year to find out who knits and crochets, why they do it, and to ask about the benefits they feel they gain from yarn crafts.

“We’re excited to announce that ‘Intangible, A Fiber Fairytale’ will be extended through the summer of this year,” Keeton says in a release. “This installation was created by a national group of female fiber artists, in partnership with Craft Yarn Council, and incorporates more than 2.5 million feet of yarn. There are 11 colorful immersive art installations to explore, and we’re so thankful to everyone who has come out to support local art.”

Browsing yarn can be both thrilling and overwhelming. For your first yarn purchase, it's essential you get the correct yarn "weight" (aka, thickness.) Balls of yarn, or if the yarn bundle is in more of a burrito shape, "skeins" of yarn, are sorted by a 0-7 scale standardized by the Craft Yarn Council of America — which, yeah, is a thing!

There are 53 million Americans who know how to crochet or knit. Staying home during the pandemic has provided a new opportunity to revitalize their interest in crafting and use the hobby as a stress reliever. According to the Craft Yarn Council, yarn sales have soared to meet their demand.

A 2018 Forbes article said that “repetitive creative motions like knitting, drawing or writing help activate flow and are all tasks that create a result. And when you succeed at creating a result, no matter what it is, your brain is flooded with dopamine, that feel-good chemical that actually helps motivate you.” The Craft Yarn Council also quotes studies that knitting can relieve anxiety and depression.

"The exhibit is incredible because all of the fiber artists started working more than one year ago to create their installations and a Craft Yarn Council member donated more than 2.5 million linear feet of yarn to make this possible,” Keeton says.

Intangible, A Fiber Fairytale was originally named with a sense of irony, as the fiber art exhibited is actually an extremely tangible form of art. Even though you’re not allowed to touch the yarn on display, you wouldn’t have been allowed to in a world where Covid-19 doesn’t exist anyway, so you’re not missing out on anything on that front. You’re also given a small yarn pom-pom at the beginning of the tour in order to get out any urges to put your hands on everything soft in sight.

Through a survey that now has over 3,500 responses, we've found that 63 percent of respondents said current events are causing them stress. Eighty-five percent of the respondents said they're currently creating with yarn to relieve stress. Ninety-four percent also said that knitting, crochet and other fiber crafts help them slow down from their daily routine and the things that are stressing them out," she added.

Turns out, recent research as well as history confirm our hands-on observations. The Craft Yarn Council’s 2019 survey of almost 3000 people, “Stitch Away Stress,” wove together the connection between yarn crafts, self care, and stress reduction: 97 percent of knitters and crocheters used their crafts to slow down from their busy lives; 93 percent experienced a feeling of accomplishment; and 68 percent felt an improved mood after they knit or crochet.

They started creating their pieces in late 2019 and early 2020 using 2.5 million feet of yarn donated by the Craft Yarn Council, a Dallas-based nonprofit trade association of yarn and accessory companies. They were on track for the April opening when the world shut down.

In fact, more than 38 million people in the U.S. are taking up knitting needles. Of those, 94 percent say they use their fiber art as a form of self-care, according to the Craft Yarn Council.

Created in collaboration with the Craft Yarn Council (CYC), Intangible will be “a colorful fiber fairytale you can sink your hands into.” Sarah Guenther, public relations coordinator for CYC, says her organization has been collaborating with Sweet Tooth Hotel for over a year to pull the project together.

Knitting’s meditative, repetitive rhythm has been shown to reduce blood pressure, lower depression and anxiety and increase a sense of well-being. Manipulating soft, soothing yarn has been compared to yoga in its ability to create a relaxed state. If you start now, you’ll have a head start on the Craft Yarn Council’s “Stitch Away Stress” campaign in April.

Lawrence is also among the youngest fiber artists to make the 2020 fiber arts exhibit titled “Intangible” at the Sweet Tooth Hotel in Dallas. The hotel presents the exhibit in conjunction with the Craft Yarn Council. The council is an association of yarn companies — Red Heart, Lion Brand Yarn and Yarnspirations the biggest among them.

The Craft Yarn Council of America reports that more than 38 million people, many under 35 years old, admit they love to knit. That’s 1 out of every 10 Americans.

Sweet Tooth Hotel was giving a preview of its next installation, a collaboration with TONI&GUY USA and Craft Yarn Council called Intangible. Making its debut on “I Love Yarn Day,” October 12, the sneak peek showcased interactive fashion and art to announce next year’s exhibit, which focuses on fiber fashion.

Sweet Tooth Hotel will collaborate with Toni & Guy USA and Craft Yarn Council for Intangible: A Night of Fashion and Art, featuring a fiber fashion show on I Love Yarn Day. This is the ninth year of "I Love Yarn Day," founded in Dallas by Craft Yarn Council as a call for all fiber fans to share their affection for yarn.

Separate studies done by the Craft Yarn Council, the Association for Creative Industries and The National Needlearts Association extol the benefits of knitting, which include feeling a sense of accomplishment, reducing stress and eliciting calmness, among others.

Yarn crafts appear to be gaining in popularity along with the do-it-yourself movement in general. The Craft Yarn Council, a Texas-based trade association, estimates that 38 million Americans are active crocheters or knitters. The group’s executive director, Jenny Bessonette, says the number has grown in part because of the development of new yarns, including faux fur, “rumple” and multi-colored “cake” yarns.

Yarn crafts appear to be gaining in popularity along with the do-it-yourself movement in general. The Craft Yarn Council, a Texas-based trade association, estimates that 38 million Americans are active crocheters or knitters. The group's executive director, Jenny Bessonette, says the number has grown in part because of the development of new yarns, including faux fur, "rumple" and multi-colored "cake" yarns.

“My love of yarn began when my grandmother taught me to crochet," Vanna told Craft Yarn Council. "Now, my daughter and I love to shop for yarn and crochet together."

“My love of yarn began when my grandmother taught me to crochet," Vanna told Craft Yarn Council. "Now, my daughter and I love to shop for yarn and crochet together."

The trade group Craft Yarn Council estimates that 38 million people knit or crochet in the U.S. A recent survey found that 94% knit or crochet simply as a form of “self-care.” “People are using this for relaxation and don’t necessarily have the end-product in mind,” Jenny Bessonette, the group’s executive director, told the paper. The Craft Yarn Council has been promoting its “Stitch Away Stress” campaign since 2014.

The trade group Craft Yarn Council estimates that 38 million people knit or crochet in the U.S. A recent survey found that 94% knit or crochet simply as a form of “self-care.” “People are using this for relaxation and don’t necessarily have the end-product in mind,” Jenny Bessonette, the group’s executive director, told the paper. The Craft Yarn Council has been promoting its “Stitch Away Stress” campaign since 2014.

Some 38 million people knit or crochet in the U.S., according to estimates from the Craft Yarn Council, a trade group that since 2014 has promoted a “Stitch Away Stress” campaign. In a survey last month of about 3,000 people, 94% said they knit or crochet as a form of “self-care”....“People are using this for relaxation and don’t necessarily have the end-product in mind,” said Jenny Bessonette, the group’s executive director.

“My love of yarn began when my grandmother taught me to crochet," Vanna told Craft Yarn Council. "Now, my daughter and I love to shop for yarn and crochet together."

And it’s popular again, too. “There has been another boost in knitting in the last couple years, with the ability to share and document work on social media platforms, particularly Instagram,” says Jenny Bessonette, executive director of the Craft Yarn Council. “The rise of the ‘maker movement’ on social media has also led to an increased interest in knitting and crocheting and yarn crafts in general.”

What knitter didn't feel a camaraderie with the Norwegian skiers, who knit during the Olympics before their downhill runs? Or to anyone they see knitting? People from all walks of life derive benefits, a message the Craft Yarn Council wants to impart with its Humans That Yarn campaign. In the group's 2014 survey of more than 3,100 knitters and crocheters, for instance, 83 percent experienced reduced stress with their craft.

Jackie Lawrence, model, participates in a photo shoot and poses inside the Rosemary Bus, which is full of yarn during I Love Yarn Day at The DIME Store. The Craft Yarn Council, a Carrollton nonprofit, hosted the photo shoot to mark the holiday on Tuesday in Denton. The Craft Yarn Council invited the public to take part in its photo shoot, taking pictures with a yarn-filled bus and posting them on social media using the hashtags #iloveyarnday and #humansthatyarn.

Whether it is knitting or crocheting, some people might look at yarn crafting as a hobby that is only suited for certain kinds of people. However, the Craft Yarn Council, a nonprofit trade organization, has been dedicated to breaking that stereotype for the last 35 years.

According to the Craft Yarn Council, "85 percent of people who knit or crochet experience stress reduction," and "68 percent of people claim that their mood improves after they knit or crochet."

Young knitters and crocheters, ages 18 to 34, are learning the craft at about twice the rate of those aged 35 to 54, according to a recent survey by the Craft Yarn Council, a trade group. “Young people are looking for community and yarn crafts provide that,” says Jenny Bessonette, executive director of the group. Most yarn crafters say it gives them a sense of accomplishment and helps them cope with stress, she says.

Knitting can, according to the Craft Yarn Council (as well as knitters everywhere) "improve your mood, mind and body." It can help you sleep, and lead to "significant improvements" dealing with eating disorders.