WEEK 6
This week I have been really busy as its the last week of classes before holidays. I have found it hard to make time to do a lot of knitting this week. I have however spent a small amount of time knitting with my flat mates. I wont upload a photo this weeks as I havent made enough progress on my scarf to show off. I will upload a picture of my progress next week when I have more time. In class this week we meet up with our framework groups. I really enjoyed this as the four of us have made our own small community. This community we call needlework. Three of us have chosen knitting as our occupation and the other member cross-stitch. It is really great to to get together and discuss out occupations and talk about our simliar interests and our creations so far. We have decided as a group to use needles and thread as our main feature for our frame work. We are using needles as a representation of the supports involved in this occupation for example environment, equipment,history, community and space etc. The thread begins in a ball of wool and represents the transition we have gone through to become a needle worker. The thread is going to weave its way around the words "doing", "being", "belonging" and "becoming." On the way to "becoming" there are knots in the thread which represent occupational disruption, occupational deprivation, stigma and disability. I am really pleased with the idea and design that we have come up with. It has been shaped by the lectures and turotials we have been to and is realted to our learnt occupation. It is based around meaningful occupation of needle-work. Being apart of this group and creating this framework has given me a deeper understanding of my occupation while creating new sense of community within my group. I am looking forward to finishing the final product and presenting it to my class. Next week is our first week of holidays. I am working this week but am hoping to take some time out to do soem knitting. As I am away from Dunedin I wont be participating in my knitting group however I will contact them to find out what I missed out on. I will update my blog at the end of my holidays with an update on my knittting.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
WEEK 7&8
These two weeks have been my holidays and have been really full on. I have been working and studying and havent had huge amounts of time to relax and catch up with my knitting. Over the two weeks I havent been a part of my knitting group. I have found this really hard as I miss the weekly catch ups and discussions over how we are going. My progress is slow however I have found the time I have spent knitting of benefit. I have found it very relaxing and a nice way to have study break. I have also found time to show my Mother what I have been doing and teaching her the knowledge I have learnt in relation to class lectures and tutorials. She has really enjoyed this as she has been able to see how much I have improved from when she initially taught me how to knit. I have found it really beneficial for myself to be able to give back to her for teaching me. I have also been youtubing some more knitting videos and have found some awesome ones. I really like this music video that shows the extreme side of knitting. The video clip is by the band stereogram.
These two weeks have been my holidays and have been really full on. I have been working and studying and havent had huge amounts of time to relax and catch up with my knitting. Over the two weeks I havent been a part of my knitting group. I have found this really hard as I miss the weekly catch ups and discussions over how we are going. My progress is slow however I have found the time I have spent knitting of benefit. I have found it very relaxing and a nice way to have study break. I have also found time to show my Mother what I have been doing and teaching her the knowledge I have learnt in relation to class lectures and tutorials. She has really enjoyed this as she has been able to see how much I have improved from when she initially taught me how to knit. I have found it really beneficial for myself to be able to give back to her for teaching me. I have also been youtubing some more knitting videos and have found some awesome ones. I really like this music video that shows the extreme side of knitting. The video clip is by the band stereogram.
I have also been working on my framework so that when we go back to class we are able to finish it off ready to present it to the class. I am looking forward to getting back to Dunedin to take part in my knitting group again. I am also looking forward to using knitting as a stress release tool for exams that are coming up. It will be a great way to take time out of our busy schedule to relax and reflect.
WEEK 5
This week I have spent a lot of time on my knitting. Now that I have mastered the skills of knitting I am saying good bye to the wool that I began with and moving onto some new wool to begin creating my first ever product. I am going to make a scarf for another member of my knitting community. We are going to knit one each and then swap when we have finished. We are working really well as a community and are having alot of fun. I find this time together to be very worthwhile. I also have found time to do some knitting alone. This has given me some time out from stressful situations and has relaxed and cleared my head. I am now beginning to see the therapuetic side of knitting and the postive effects that it can create.
In class this week we have focused on disruption, deprivation and transition. I feel that now that I have been knitting for a few weeks I am transitioning from someone who had no idea how to knit to being a person who is competent in knitting. I nwo know that the more I practise and learn the more I will move through tranistions. When looking at occupational disruption or deprivation I realised how much I would be affected if I was disrupted or deprived from being able to knit. Prior to going to my tutorial I thought about the following questions and these are the answers that I came up with.
What would be the consequence if you were deprived from participating in your chosen occupation? I would feel frustrated and upset as I have finally got the hang of knitting. It would interupt my weekly routine and I would be deprived of my time out. It would also mean I would be missing out on social interation with my peers and I would no longer be a part of a community. I would lose my own indentity personally and also within my community.
What would be the effect of deprivation on others (communities) who exist around your chosen occupation? They too would experience similar feeling to what I have explained in the first question. If my community was deprived of this occupation then it would no longer exist. The community was made purely due to the occuaption.
Are there factors which restrict certain people participating in your chosen occupation?
-People with no fine motor skills or functioning may find it difficult.
-Stereotyping around age and gender. stereotypical view that knitting is for elderly women only.
-Loss of hand function/ Injury in hands with prevent people from participating in knitting.
The more I reflect on what was taught this week in class in relation to my own occupation I am able to see the huge impact it would have on me if i was disrupted or deprived of my occupation.
WEEK FOUR
This week I am doing really well with my knitting. I am beginning to enjoy it as I now find it a lot easier to do. My skills and knowledge base is growing and I am moving on from doing to being. I now consider myself as moving towards becoming a knitter. The more that I practise knitting the more I am working towards becoming a knitter. A quote that I have related to this week is; “Our occupational experiences and motivation to engage in particular occupations shape our sense of self, personal and social identify. Active doing contributes to becoming who we are and is intimately connected with a sense of being, our essence and what is distinctive about us.” (Boniface & Seymour, 2012, pg 174) The knitting in which I am taking part in is starting to shape me as a person and is giving me a sense of identity. My flat mates this week have also decided to start to knit aswell. They are also really enjoying picking up a new skill and in return I am really enjoying teaching them. We have decided to all get together once a week and take time out to all do some knitting together. Although they are my friends and already a part of my community we are getting together to create new community within us. The sense of community in which I am feeling links back to what is being taught in this weeks tutorial in class where the focus is on place an community. This brings me to a quote from the reading for this week that gave me an understanding into communities. “Human communities consist of groups of people who do things together and individually. People participate collectively through shared interests and activities (occupational pursuits) in work, sports, hobbies, volunteerism, home life, and civic involvement. Bonds that draw and keep people thinking about each other and occupied together may include share beliefs, shared geography, shared interests, shared experiences, shared traditions or shared kinship. (Christensen & Townsend, 2010, pg 176) We are hoping as a flat to widen our community by inviting others around to knit with us and hopefully one day have a range of people as a part of our community and be able to knit things together and then swap what we have made.
References:
Boniface, G. & Seymour, A. (2012).Using occupational therapy in practise. UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Christensen, C. & Townsend, E.(2010). An Introduction to occupation: the Art and science of Living .New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
This week I am doing really well with my knitting. I am beginning to enjoy it as I now find it a lot easier to do. My skills and knowledge base is growing and I am moving on from doing to being. I now consider myself as moving towards becoming a knitter. The more that I practise knitting the more I am working towards becoming a knitter. A quote that I have related to this week is; “Our occupational experiences and motivation to engage in particular occupations shape our sense of self, personal and social identify. Active doing contributes to becoming who we are and is intimately connected with a sense of being, our essence and what is distinctive about us.” (Boniface & Seymour, 2012, pg 174) The knitting in which I am taking part in is starting to shape me as a person and is giving me a sense of identity. My flat mates this week have also decided to start to knit aswell. They are also really enjoying picking up a new skill and in return I am really enjoying teaching them. We have decided to all get together once a week and take time out to all do some knitting together. Although they are my friends and already a part of my community we are getting together to create new community within us. The sense of community in which I am feeling links back to what is being taught in this weeks tutorial in class where the focus is on place an community. This brings me to a quote from the reading for this week that gave me an understanding into communities. “Human communities consist of groups of people who do things together and individually. People participate collectively through shared interests and activities (occupational pursuits) in work, sports, hobbies, volunteerism, home life, and civic involvement. Bonds that draw and keep people thinking about each other and occupied together may include share beliefs, shared geography, shared interests, shared experiences, shared traditions or shared kinship. (Christensen & Townsend, 2010, pg 176) We are hoping as a flat to widen our community by inviting others around to knit with us and hopefully one day have a range of people as a part of our community and be able to knit things together and then swap what we have made.
References:
Boniface, G. & Seymour, A. (2012).Using occupational therapy in practise. UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Christensen, C. & Townsend, E.(2010). An Introduction to occupation: the Art and science of Living .New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Week 3
This week is my first week of carrying out my new occupation. I have decided that each week I will spend 2 to 3 hours knitting. The time will be spread out during the week and some weeks I may spend less time depending on my work load. I have all the equipment needed that I found at home. This week we have learnt in our tutorial the importance of occupation in realtion to our identity. From this tutorial I now look at my occupation of knitting in a different way. At the moment it is a new skill I am learning and seems difficult however I know in the long run it will help to shape who I am and will become a part of my identity. A quote that I really like from our tutorial was “doing, being and becoming are integral to occupational therapy philosophy, process and outcomes, because together they epitomize occupation (Wilcock,1998, p.249). I now understand that I am in the initial stages of creating a new occupational identity. This stage is the "doing stage". Doing incorporate words of "action, engagement, personal initiative, activity and tasks, they refer to what people 'do'." (Hasselkus, 2002 pg.16). At the moment I am beginning to knit, I have gathered all my equipment, my mum has taught me the basics and have resources by my side to help when I get stuck. I am now beginning to "do". The resources that are guiding my doing include the book Crafts and Creative Media in Therapy by Carol Crellin Tubbs and Margaret Drake and the following youtube clips.
Next week I will be moving on to the stage of "being"!!
References:
This week is my first week of carrying out my new occupation. I have decided that each week I will spend 2 to 3 hours knitting. The time will be spread out during the week and some weeks I may spend less time depending on my work load. I have all the equipment needed that I found at home. This week we have learnt in our tutorial the importance of occupation in realtion to our identity. From this tutorial I now look at my occupation of knitting in a different way. At the moment it is a new skill I am learning and seems difficult however I know in the long run it will help to shape who I am and will become a part of my identity. A quote that I really like from our tutorial was “doing, being and becoming are integral to occupational therapy philosophy, process and outcomes, because together they epitomize occupation (Wilcock,1998, p.249). I now understand that I am in the initial stages of creating a new occupational identity. This stage is the "doing stage". Doing incorporate words of "action, engagement, personal initiative, activity and tasks, they refer to what people 'do'." (Hasselkus, 2002 pg.16). At the moment I am beginning to knit, I have gathered all my equipment, my mum has taught me the basics and have resources by my side to help when I get stuck. I am now beginning to "do". The resources that are guiding my doing include the book Crafts and Creative Media in Therapy by Carol Crellin Tubbs and Margaret Drake and the following youtube clips.
Next week I will be moving on to the stage of "being"!!
References:
Hasselkus,
B.R. (2002). The meaning of everyday occupation. USA: SLACK Inc.
Wilcock, A.A. (1998). Reflections on doing, being, and becoming. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65,
240-256.
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