H eadlines
Knitting Nonprofit Promotes Healing,
One Stitch at a Time
L OCA L
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
ELLEN RUBIN KNOWS
knitting is often thought
of as a hobby for the elderly,
but she believes the craft has
something to offer everyone.

“I like to think of myself
as the Pied Piper of the thera-
peutic benefits of knitting and
crochet,” she said. “It helps
with stress, anxiety, depres-
sion, PTSD, drug addiction,
alcohol addiction and more.”
Her passion for the fiber
arts led her to open her
store, Luv2Knit & More, in
Jenkintown in 2017. Last July,
the 52-year-old started her
nonprofit, Therapeutic Crafters
on Call, to educate volunteers
to lead their own knitting and
NG !
SI NO
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M Name: Residences at The Promenade
Width: 5.5 in
Depth: 7.38 in
Color: Black plus one
UPPE R DU BLI N
Comment: JE-ROP
Ad Number: 00093515
crochet classes.

Rubin’s fascination with
knitting’s therapeutic benefits
stems from her career as a
scientist; she worked as an
immunologist for pharmaceu-
tical firms. When a difficult
pregnancy put her on bed rest
21 years ago, she taught herself
to knit.

She kept her needles moving
through the illness of a close
UPSCALE LIVING
STEPS ABOVE IT ALL!
Designed with luxury in mind, The Residences at the Promenade
off er lavish apartments situated above a beautiful town center.

• Park Trails
• Dog Parks & Washrooms
• Bocce Court
• Pool with Sundeck
• Fitness Center • Media & Game Rooms
Amenities too many to mention!
• Clean Juice
• Sprouts Farmers Market
• lululemon
• Fine Wine and Good Spirits!
And Other Fine Stores & Restaurants
Welsh & Dreshertown Roads • Dresher, PA
833-238-1100 ResidencesUD.com
A Bruce E. Toll Community
6 FEBRUARY 25, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
Ellen Rubin in her store, Love2Knit & More
friend and during a grueling
divorce, finding solace in the
meditative activity. She began
teaching others and saw how
it helped them work through
their struggles with anxiety,
stress and pain.

She taught a friend who
had major surgery and said
it helped her through the
recovery process when reading
and even watching TV were
difficult. She volunteered to
lead an enrichment program
for second-graders and saw
how it soothed children coping
with emotional issues. She led
workshops in her store and at
community centers for fatigued
health care workers, foster
Courtesy of Ellen Rubin
children, children with autism,
deaf and blind learners, mater-
nity patients and others, while
collecting journal articles and
studies about knitting’s ability
to help people manage pain
and stress.

So what is it about knitting
that makes such a differ-
ence? Rubin claims it helps
the brain produce dopamine
and serotonin, hormones that
create a sense of pleasure and
relaxation. “It’s not exclusive to
knitting, certainly. You get into
this meditative state with other
things that could be drawing
or gardening, but what’s great
about knitting and crochet
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H EADLINES
is they’re portable, and most
importantly, you make things
you can donate and use to help
other people,” she said.

Before the pandemic, Rubin
taught classes at her store.

Now, she holds them over
Zoom and off ers one-on-one
or two-on-one lessons with
masks and distancing.

Deborah Glanzberg-
Krainin started taking classes
with Rubin while dealing with
health issues and looking for a
creative outlet to make her feel
grounded. She said Rubin was
a natural educator, which was
helpful when she felt confused
and out of her element.

monotony of so many hours
spent at home.

“The nice thing about
knitting is you look at it, you
do admire the work you’ve
done and you have something
to show for it,” she said.

Rubin has taught workshops
at Beth Sholom Congregation
in Elkins Park as well as for
Jewish Family and Children’s
Service of Greater Philadelphia.

“Th ey were learning over
Zoom, which isn’t necessarily
easy, so sometimes if someone
wasn’t picking up a certain
thing, I actually drove out to
that person’s house and sat
with them outside before it got
I like to think of myself as the Pied Piper of
the therapeutic benefits of knitting and crochet.

It helps with stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD,
drug addiction, alcohol addiction and more.”
Name: HCR Manor Care/Arden Court
Width: 5.5 in
Depth: 11 in
Color: Black plus one
Comment: Jewish Exponent
Ad Number: 00093587
Virtual Dementia
Support Groups
Specially Designed for Families and
Caregivers on Zoom
The 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the Month
March 2 and March 16, 2021
10:00 am - 11:00 am
Joining is easy!
Call 215.321.6166 or e-mail Yardley@arden-courts.com
to register and receive the link to join the support
group. You do not need to download the Zoom application
to join the event.

ELLEN RUBIN
Memory Care Community
“She just made it very
inviting and very easy and
made me feel like mistakes
were a part of the growth,”
she said.

Glanzberg-Krainin enjoys the
intense focus knitting requires.

“It just calls for absolute
attention in the moment,
which is a very healing place to
be,” she said.

Toni Taterka took up Rubin’s
knitting lessons in December.

She was looking for something
that would help her relax while
caring for her elderly mother
during the pandemic. She
already knew how to knit,
but wanted to learn how to
use diff erent patterns to make
clothing. Now, she’s working
on a neck warmer using the
knit and purl stitch.

Feeling productive has
helped her cope with the
too cold and showed them,”
she said.

She said meditation and
mindfulness play an important
role in her Jewish spirituality,
and that knitting’s meditative
aspects complement prayer
and her desire to make the
world a better place.

Glanzberg-Krainin and
Taterka praised Rubin’s
accessible teaching style and
her emphasis on embracing
mistakes as part of the learning
process. Rubin tells her
students her teaching abilities
stem from 21 years of her own
errors. “I always say to them, ‘You
know why I’m really good at
fi xing mistakes?’ Because I’ve
made a lot of them,’” she said. ●
If you are caring for someone with dementia,
who is caring for you?
You are not alone. This virtual informational, supportive
group will help you to learn more about the disease as well
as understand their feelings about the changes dementia has
made on their daily lives. Support groups can also help you:
• •
• •
Learn practical caregiving information
Get mutual support
Learn about your local community resources
Find solutions to challenging behaviors
arden-courts.org spanzer@jewishexponent.com;
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JEWISHEXPONENT.COM JEWISH EXPONENT
12/18/20 12:04 PM
FEBRUARY 25, 2021
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