Crafts keep me calm. I am so busy thinking about being creative, I don't worry about silly other things.

In cooler months I knit while watching movies, in the warmer months I garden - flowers in the front yard and veggies in the backyard. I love to knit for my grandkids, they like sweaters and warm mittens best. Keeps my hands moving - Motion is Lotion

Contesting - it's relaxing and there's nothing better than winning things!!

I started knitting about 10 years ago as a way to stop snacking while watching television. I lost weight and had numerous sweaters, dishcloths, scarves, etc to show for my effort.

Knitting is something I look forward to in free time. I find it completely relaxing and it puts me into a state of meditation. I love looking through magazines and drooling over the luxury yarns. I also am a water colour painter this takes total concentration and shuts out all other thoughts. Tai Chi is another hobby, if you can call it that.

Gosh, I love to knit, crochet, play piano, make jewellery, cook, sew...it is so wonderful to create something...what a sense of accomplishment one has...also, what a wonderful thing to give and receive a handmade gift...very special :)

i'm a distance runner and cyclists, so it's definitely the thrill from endorphins and the satisfaction of accomplishment. I love the fresh air and pure exhaustion from some of my days on the road!

My hobby keeps me from dwelling on stressful things I cannot change!

I do a lot of crafts. Mostly scrapbooking and making cards. I find it relaxing and peaceful.

My hobbies keep me happy because I am producing something that I make that is unique.

I love to knit little hats for premmies from all the scraps of wool and donate them to the Maternity Ward at the local hospital

Knitting,and other hand crafts are relaxing and when done you have something to show and give away that is useful

A great painting tip for young children is to mix a small amount of liquid soap into their paint. When they are finished any messes will clean right up.

Crafts are part of my life. I have loved them from a young child and still do them today. I can't imagine not crafting, it is part of me.

I try to find something that I enjoy that relaxes me. I tend to like doing crafty things, that way you can always see the benefits of it in front of you!

I love doing gardening and cooking because it lets me be creative and I am proud of what people can look at and taste.

My hobbies, knitting, water colour and sudoku and cryptic crosswords (I always carry a book of them when I know I shall have to wait anywhere) give me something to look forward to in my down time.

I like to knot and sew, they keep my fingers busy and my mind calm

I love to knit because it is so handy. You don't have to set up anything. I keep my knitting by my wing chair so it is easy to pick up at any time. I also love drooling over the projects and beautiful yarns in the knitting magazines. Water colour is another hobby of mine but this is challenging and takes total concentration. When I want to get close to nature I work in my garden and talk to my plants!!!

they keep me relaxed!

I like solving crosswords and sudoku puzzles. They are fun and beneficial for the mental health.

Thanks everyone for your great comments, and congratulations to Jackie Woodard for winning the Patons prize pack!

I play tennis and the physical aspect is a great stress reliever. However, the better part is the friends and acquaintances you meet on the tennis court. Everyone has a story and when you get off the court, you are so relaxed, you share your life experiences with others. Happiness is sharing good and "not so good" experiences and learning that your cross is always lighter than someone else's!

Happiness comes to me in the sleek curve of a garlic clove, the joyful bouancy of gnocchi, and the somewhat intrinsic need to share warm, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. I love my quiet preparation of dinner each night, sometimes the only solitary time of my day. Often I use it to center myself and meditate -'cut the carrots just to cut the carrots'. I love how a simple sprinkle of sugar on anything drops kids out of the woodwork and into my kitchen space. Private or shared, there is happiness in the process and the result of my hobby, cooking.

I have several hobbies and I love them all.I think knitting and crocheting are my most relaxing hobbies.Then,my sewing is also rewarding when I can admire my curtains on my windows.I,m involved in Christmas craft fairs so I have several projects which are also my hobbies.I have a couple garden plots on the seawall where I live and that is a relaxing hobbie.I.m retired and still love working casual,could be a hobby?

When I'm feeling stressed out, I'll get out my fabric and patterns and start cutting out and stitching small items like hats, aprons or bags, that end up being sold at our Church sales. I find that taking the time to match fabrics with appropriate trims turns my mind away from my problems and towards making the nicest items that I can. I often even end up humming - a sure sign that I'm winning against the stress. Everybody wins - I can forget about my stresses, and the church benefits from the sale of my donations.

I love playing board games or other games with my friends. It's time to get away from the kids and "real life", and hang out with other adults. This is the only activity where we laugh so hard while playing charades that we're in tears!

My mind is still going 100 miles an hour when I get home at night. I get more stressed from the drive home than I do at work these days! I've picked up my knitting sporatically for the past few years, but now I'm dependant on my 'down time' at the end of the day before bed. I'm most comforable sitting in bed with my cat by my side and my Grandmother's knitting needles clicking away. My grandmother taught me how to knit when I was about 8 yrs old and I was amazed at how she could take a ball of wool and turn it into something magical! It is actually relaxing to knit socks and slippers from some of her old patterns in front of the TV.

I enjoy crocheting scarves while watching tv or chatting on the phone. It helps to keep my hands busy when I'm stressed and it helps me keep my mind off of negative thoughts. In the end, I have scarves to give as gifts or to donate to good causes.

I enjoy sitting down after a long day at the office with my knitting needles. I pick patterns that are easy so that I can just knit away. I must admit my favorite part is to watch my cat flip the ball of wool around the room (mind you I am the one that has to re-roll the ball).

I enjoy knitting and have come back to this craft after many years of me thinking that I had no time for knitting. Work, raising 2 sons, and spending oh so many hours in hockey rinks, traveling on buses to the rinks for games and practices, and taking care of a home, left me little time to think about crafts. I had forgotten how portable knitting is, how relaxing knitting can be, how meditative the rhythm of the sticks and the flow of the yarn through your hands can be, the feeling of accomplishment when you complete a hand knit item. Knitting soothes the soul.
OK.........so sometimes it goes wrong and you have to frog it, rip, rip, rip. but starting again is a new beginning and you always learn something new from a mistake.

I knit hats for relaxation. The activity provides me not only with calm relaxation but also an exercise for my fingers and an opportunity to clear my mind so that I can compose and rearrange much of my writing ideas. I enjoy knitting hats because I am developing an inventory either to offer for sale towards a good cause or to give to a good cause. I love the creativity of combining colors, crreating perfect stitches and paying attention to detail. The smaller a ball of yarn gets, the more challenging is y task of finding a niche for it in a new creation as a border or a stripe where it looks stunning against the background.

I relax and stay calm and happy by doing my cross stitch, it takes me away from stress and I love to watch the picture appear on my canvas. My cat, RIPLEY aka, my shadow is beside me on the couch helping, NOT, tv is on down low and I just lose time and relax. Love it ..........

I just love to scrapebook....if I get lonely or depressed just go into my craft room and start to scrapbook. Will bring tears and laughter doing the pages.
Especially when I have been around my grandkids and do pages of them. A whole day can go by doing this.
A fun way to relax and unwind. My daughter and I also get together and will do a mother , daughter day scrapebooking.
The granddaughters will even join in so it just so much fun....

I love working on 2 hobbies - 1: cross-stitch projects as gifts; it is lovely to present a picture; chart; birth or wedding samplers to friends and family. It gives me great joy. The second is gardening - I have discovered that I love working in the Garden in our spring and summer - playing in the dirt is a great way of destressing and a great form of meditation and presenting a bouquet of flowers to someone is great also.