Central Iowa VA<\/a>, started the group wanting to provide a connection for Veterans to work on projects together. In May this year, Buster\u2019s idea became reality and now has several attendees per week.<\/p>\nBuster graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in recreation therapy before beginning an internship at VA in 2012\u2014and eventually being hired on. \u201cThe Veterans for sure led me to work here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Buster had seen how much Veterans gave and wanted to give back to them, feeling she could not do what Veterans have done. Yet Buster would go on to become a client systems technician in the Air Force, serving two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese Veterans inspired me and told me I could be a part of the \u2018club\u2019 too. That\u2019s another big reason I joined the military as well, all of the inspiration around here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Service experience helps her connect<\/h2>\n
While crocheting a square of an Afghan blanket, Buster described how her own service has helped her connect with other Veterans and be able to understand military-related conversation as only Veterans and those serving can.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy favorite part is the friendships and connecting,\u201d said Tammy Reynolds, who served as a hydraulics mechanic in the Marine Corps. \u201cWe can talk about anything with each other. We have the commonality of the military. Stress related things we have trouble with are often because of the military, so we understand each other. Nice to know that we all have that in common and we can all relate very well. I\u2019ve made really great friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the women of the group, some who\u2019ve knitted or crocheted since they were children and some just starting out, there\u2019s a tangible sense of community and laughter to be shared.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnitting is just a stress reliever and helps with anxiety, and sometimes I can\u2019t bring myself to do it at home,\u201d said Zoe Schorr, who was a cyber operations officer in the Army. \u201cIt\u2019s just nice to do it at a scheduled time and to get out of the house to do relaxing things and to be around other weirdos like me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Between sips of coffee, shared woes and stitches, Yak and Yarn is the place to be for Veterans looking for an easy way to connect with each other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Each Tuesday, a small group of Veterans, dubbed the Yak and Yarn, meet at the Grounds for Celebration caf\u00e9 to knit or crochet while sharing conversation and coffee. The meet-up is an opportunity for camaraderie and a chance to engage in a shared hobby. \u201cKnitting is just a stress reliever.\u201d Jerra Buster, a recreation therapist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":26694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,655],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-recreation-therapy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26692"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26700,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26692\/revisions\/26700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![<\/a>\u201cKnitting is just a stress reliever.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nJerra Buster, a recreation therapist with Central Iowa VA<\/a>, started the group wanting to provide a connection for Veterans to work on projects together. In May this year, Buster\u2019s idea became reality and now has several attendees per week.<\/p>\nBuster graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in recreation therapy before beginning an internship at VA in 2012\u2014and eventually being hired on. \u201cThe Veterans for sure led me to work here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nBuster had seen how much Veterans gave and wanted to give back to them, feeling she could not do what Veterans have done. Yet Buster would go on to become a client systems technician in the Air Force, serving two years.<\/p>\n\u201cThese Veterans inspired me and told me I could be a part of the \u2018club\u2019 too. That\u2019s another big reason I joined the military as well, all of the inspiration around here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nService experience helps her connect<\/h2>\nWhile crocheting a square of an Afghan blanket, Buster described how her own service has helped her connect with other Veterans and be able to understand military-related conversation as only Veterans and those serving can.<\/p>\n\u201cMy favorite part is the friendships and connecting,\u201d said Tammy Reynolds, who served as a hydraulics mechanic in the Marine Corps. \u201cWe can talk about anything with each other. We have the commonality of the military. Stress related things we have trouble with are often because of the military, so we understand each other. Nice to know that we all have that in common and we can all relate very well. I\u2019ve made really great friends.\u201d<\/p>\nWith the women of the group, some who\u2019ve knitted or crocheted since they were children and some just starting out, there\u2019s a tangible sense of community and laughter to be shared.<\/p>\n\u201cKnitting is just a stress reliever and helps with anxiety, and sometimes I can\u2019t bring myself to do it at home,\u201d said Zoe Schorr, who was a cyber operations officer in the Army. \u201cIt\u2019s just nice to do it at a scheduled time and to get out of the house to do relaxing things and to be around other weirdos like me.\u201d<\/p>\nBetween sips of coffee, shared woes and stitches, Yak and Yarn is the place to be for Veterans looking for an easy way to connect with each other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each Tuesday, a small group of Veterans, dubbed the Yak and Yarn, meet at the Grounds for Celebration caf\u00e9 to knit or crochet while sharing conversation and coffee. The meet-up is an opportunity for camaraderie and a chance to engage in a shared hobby. \u201cKnitting is just a stress reliever.\u201d Jerra Buster, a recreation therapist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":26694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,655],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-recreation-therapy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26692"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26700,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26692\/revisions\/26700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/1-lady-yarns_r1-4.jpg\"){kind=link}