In Betty Hechtman’s series of cozies organized around the exploits of a crochet group, the Tarzana Hookers, Molly Pink, the intrepid protagonist, has come to crochet as the result of some particularly excellent homemade caramel corn.

In Dead Men Don’t Crochet, Molly explains:

I’d reasoned that if I could occupy my fingers with something besides ferrying caramel corn to my mouth it might help.

As it turns out, this is exactly the kind of advice, Katherine Applegate, Ph.D., might give to Molly Pink.

Dr. Applegate works at the Weight Loss Surgery Center (Bariatrics) at Duke University providing psychological services for prospective patients. Surgery is just one component of bariatric treatment; another component is helping patients learn replacement behaviors that will allow them to have a better quality of life after the surgery.

As part of that, the patients are assigned the task of identifying the common triggers that lead them to over eat. Usually the triggers fall into one of these four, broad categories:

Boredom
Stress
Anxiety/Depression
Comfort/Reward

As any crocheter (or knitter) knows, fiber crafting reduces boredom and stress, eases anxiety and depression, and provides both comfort and reward.

Once patients have identified their specific triggers, they are then tasked with the job of creating a list of potential substitute behaviors that aren’t calorie-based and that they can afford to do.

Dr. Applegate (who is herself a knitter and crocheter) said that crochet and knitting are not silly hobbies to be pooh-poohed, but can be helpful tools that should be considered for inclusion in a weight-loss plan. Either will keep your hands occupied, and if you’re doing one thing (crochet), you can’t be doing another (eating).

As for me, I will simply paraphrase Billy Currington, “A bad day of crocheting beats a good day of anything else.” Here is what I worked on today: