Martine Rolls: Woolly good way to make others smile

In Greerton Village, yarn bombing is a popular pastime.Photo/File

The yarn bombing Greerton Guerrilla Knitters are at it again.

If you don't know what yarn bombing is, it's the activity of putting knitted coverings on statues, posts, seats and other public objects, often secretly and without official permission. In Greerton Village, they have bombed the majestic cherry trees.

Although there is very little point to yarn bombing except to brighten up people's day, what more do we need on a gloomy winter's day than an appreciative smile on our faces? It's an uncomplicated and colourful act of feel-good community cosiness.

Maybe because comfort is all we can think about in winter time, but hand-made woollies are definitely back in fashion. Crochet and knitting are not (just) for old ladies anymore either.

The recent comeback of crochet and knitting has touched on young and old, men, women, and kids. Even my extremely trendy fashionista friend who lives in Sydney posts photos of her creations made from wool on her Facebook page.

I remember watching my Oma knit socks with 4 needles. She did it fast, and the clicking sound of the needles was strangely comforting. It was fascinating to watch her work.

Unfortunately, my grandmother's talent for yarn craft didn't rub off on me. I remember putting together a seriously ugly and prickly bright yellow scarf once.

It was meant to be a present for Mother's Day and took me ages to complete.

The result was so disappointing, it was the first and last thing I ever knitted.

Maybe I shouldn't have given up so easily, because knitting is said to be good for your health. The rhythmic movements of knitting offer many of the same type of benefits as meditation. Knitting is even praised by psychologists as a "constructive addiction" that replaces habits like smoking and binge eating. As an added bonus, you can freely and happily do it in public.

On news site washingtonpost.com, I read that crafters have long recognised the therapeutic value of activities such as knitting and crocheting. A 2013 survey of more than 3500 knitters worldwide found that 81.5 per cent of respondents rated themselves as feeling happier after knitting.

Walk into The Incubator at the Historic Village at any given time - which is a must-do by the way - and you won't just find the artists in residence working on their paintings.

It is also possible to find some people sitting around chatting while working on fibre art creations with needles and hooks.

Don't we all long for a few moments in time when we can be so completely absorbed by an activity that nothing else seems to matter, and wouldn't it be great if the activity of choice is not a computer game?

Think of all the things you could create with wool, and the feel-good factor that comes with it. Imagine how appreciative your loved ones will be with your handmade gifts.

Unless everything you knit looks and feels like the horrible scarf I once made, of course.

You could start with an easy pattern and look around on Pinterest for inspiration.

It might be an idea to knit little hats, booties and vests for premature babies and gift them to Bay-based charity Early Buds. This in an organisation that supports parents of premature babies in care and they posted on Facebook last week that they are running low on donations.

They would gratefully accept your lovingly knitted creations.

If your Nan is not around to teach you and if you're not confident enough with the needles, hooks and yarn to join the local Ninja Knitters just yet, you can teach yourself the basics with a YouTube video.

If you are looking for an activity to give you a break in your technology-saturated life, this could be it.

Just do what makes you, and others, happy.

Oh, and do make your way to Greerton Village in the next six weeks to check out what the yarn bombers have done to the trees.

It's guaranteed to make you smile.