At Michigan Fine Yarns, our mission is to nurture the creativity and well-being of all makers through the fibers arts, or healing arts as we call them. We strive to be a resource to provide makers with the tools to assess, reflect, set goals and track their progress in regards to their mental, emotional, physical and social wellness. 

We have dedicated this page as a home for collecting information, links, documents, and more as we continue to educate ourselves and share our findings. We have also crafted a digital journal as an avenue for you to rejuvenate your whole being. Click below to download the free product.

It is probably safe to say that many of us realize we relax while we craft - extra difficult sections of patterns excluded of course! - but the benefits of making have a deep impact on our mental wellness. Learn more from our article focused on The Mental Health Benefits of Crafting. 

Our deep dive into maker wellness began in 2021 as we started the year in a global pandemic. We have always believed that the fiber arts are healing, but quarantine gave us the opportunity to really consider the science behind our beliefs. Our article on Crafting During a Pandemic looks at both how we can use our crafts for our mental health and why making is so valuable to our health.

If you've been making for awhile, you've probably seen the results of heightened emotions play out in your projects; tension gets out of whack, stitches are too tight or too loose, entire sections of a pattern have to be frogged and re-worked. While these scenarios aren't fun to deal with, the act of crafting can truly affect our emotional wellness for the better.

Learn more from our article focused on The Emotional Health Benefits of Crafting. Making has also been shown to have a significant impact on dealing with grief. Understand how this happens by reading our article How the Fiber Arts Propel Us Through Grief.

It's easy to forget that our beloved fiber arts can be hard on our bodies. Yes, you read that correctly! Crafting of all sorts can become very repetitive with the motions we use which can result in wear and tear on specific areas in our bodies. Most crafts are also very sedentary so we miss out on stretching and moving for long periods of time.

Learn more from our article focused on The Physical Health Benefits of Crafting as well as our feature on The Ergonomics of Knitting which is just as applicable to crocheters, weavers, punch needlers, etc.

Our collective social health has been hit hard over the last few years, and sometimes life can feel like a tangled ball of yarn; the harder we pull, the tighter the knots. Having a group of makers to connect with allows us to ease out the knots and rewind the ball. Broaden that community via cell phones, tablets and the internet, and our ability to form bonds is virtually limitless. Even through unimaginably difficult times, we never have to feel alone!

Learn more from our article focused on The Social Benefits of Crafting.