The last semester, one of my best lifelines during the chaos of studio and school and MIT and life was - other than my friends - crocheting. When I got too anxious or too tired or just wanted to cry, I'd put everything down and crochet a little granny square. It was an easy, mindless activity that took less than 10 minutes (per square), so it was a short enough break that I wouldn't feel guilty for taking some time away from my work.

The pattern I used is called something pretty which I found on Pinterest, and is linked here.

Soon, I had a little collection of squares accumulated in a wicker basket by my bed and my roommate called them my stress squares.

Originally they were going to be a blanket, but I didn't have enough yarn to make a full blanket so I had to change course. I had made 28 squares over last semester and hadn't touched them over the summer, but I had also bought some lining fabric over the summer and the perfect solution, obviously, was to make granny square pillows!

Some of you might remember that I made a granny square pillow last summer too while I was still living in the dorm, so it seemed fitting to add to my little granny square pillow collection and make a family.

Say Hello to my little granny square pillow family! The white one is from the previous summer, and the two matching ones are made from my stress squares. The little one is super cute, and might end up going to Hera!

For those of you who did the math, yes, I have 2 granny squares left over. I'm not quite sure what to do with them yet.

I think that it's important for everyone to have some short de-stressing activity they can do when life gets too overwhelming. I've found that sitting in bed with some music or Netflix in the background while I knit a row of seed stitch or crochet a square has been really helpful to my mental wellbeing. Of course, my friends and going to MIT Mental Health are undeniably helpful as well, but unfortunately those are not perfect solutions when panic attacks arise at odd times like 3 am.

If you haven't found a good outlet to destress yet, I really do encourage something like this! And if you do have an outlet, I'd love to know what they are.