We live in a world were we no longer seem to celebrate the concept of mastering a craft or in celebrating the beginning of that journey.
There is nothing wrong with intermediate, but that is not a place where we get to sit while putting down the beginners or scoffing at the journey of further improvement.
I will likely never be a master, but I will never stop improving, nor will I ever forget the joy of beginning. The process of self-improvement, even when it is diminutive improvement, is where the joy truly begins. For in that small, simple advancement of the skill, we are rewakening the memories of our first glorious attempts at something that inspired us to try something new.
After spinning and vlogging every day for nearly a month, I was fairly worn out. However, I also felt mentally energized. It seems the daily challenge of getting at least one creative task in before slumber helped me combat the fatigue the state of world affairs seems to generate.
I have long known this to be a truth – creativity combats mental fatigue. Finding the way to fit creative pursuits in daily is not always an easy thing. Demands of life can disrupt even the fiercest determination. Setting a goal or focusing on a gift for someone else can help keep one on course. With this in mind, I have embarked on another creative challenge.
The Christmas Countdown Collection. It would be more aptly be called the Holiday or New Year’s Day Countdown Collection, but I liked all the Cs. To be completely honest here, I was only going to do a Christmas Countdown Collection but I had too much fun dyeing fiber. Yes, I admit, I just couldn’t stop until the rainbow was well covered.
So what is the Christmas Countdown Collection? Well it is nearly 10 pounds of dyed wool roving that I now must spin into nearly 40 skeins of yarn. Each skein will be divided into two sections. Each section will be wrapped in festive paper. Each package will be unwrapped one at a time beginning on Thanksgiving Eve and going through until New Year’s Day. Due to the need to send one set of squishy packages overseas, all of this must be done as quickly as possible. Yes, it occurs to me that I should have stuck to 25 braids of roving, but the joy of dyeing overcame rational thought.
As my daughter pointed out to me, if I spin one braid a day, and ply multiple skeins every few days, I should have plenty of time to finish this spinning challenge by the end of Tour de Fleece 2.0 (or in non-spinning terms – the end of September).
So let the challenge begin (okay, so it actually already began, but I am just now getting a video posted).
Oh, and for inquiring minds – the yarn is going to be used by my kiddos to crochet Granny Square afghans.
Enjoyment from sharing bits and pieces of one’s life can be the very salve needed for the wounds daily life can inflict.
I enjoyed sharing my Tour de Fleece 2020 journey though film, but making daily videos was more insane than spinning four pounds of wool during TdF.
Spinning yarn is a tremendous therapy for me, but it is something I often do in spurts. Many types fiber and fabric projects beckon to me, and my wheels can gather dust as I pursue other textile art.
With this undeniable truth in mind, I came up with the idea of sharing snips of creativity under the general umbrella of Fiber and Fabric. It will likely be a winding path rather than a direct course that I will follow, but hopefully it will be one that provides enjoyment or amusement… or maybe just a bit of respite.
Oh the wonderful things my daughter says. We were having a very intense (pleasant, not contentious) discussion on a topic both confounding and current, when she summed up the situation in fabulous fiber artist form.
“It may be called a Cashmere Rabbit, but that doesn’t make it cashmere.”
Sometimes you just have to do the housekeeping. In today’s case, it consisted of washing skeins and prepping more fiber before starting a new spinning projects.
Another crafting year is nearing an end, and the 7 days of peaceful rest is upon us. Christmas Day marks the beginning of that period of rest – when all the gifts are finished or relegated to the “maybe by next Christmas” pile. In honor of the crazy rush to finish that we all seem to go through, here is an annoying little tune to hum as the sleep-deprived, caffeinated insanity rules our days.
Having seen a number of these little guys buzzing around Facebook recently, I decided I needed one for myself. Meet Lil’ Miss Boobee and ornament for the season.
Requests for her pattern followed quickly after she made her debut. So gathering up my courage, I have tried once again to write a pattern. You can download the pdf here Lil Miss Boobee
Unlike the pattern for the little fruit posted the other day, this one is not necessarily basic. It requires a couple new stitches and a bit more careful reading. Nothing too hard, but certainly not nearly as simple as a sphere. Yet, the fun this one brings (especially as people say her name out loud) is worth the extra work.
I have found that basic patterns are sometimes the hardest to find, especially for free. This can make teaching a skill troublesome when simple and basic are required. Young and old, there are times when a bit more step-by-step help is needed in order to gain success. I know that on my fibro fog days, I require an easy-to-follow pattern, one that can act as a check list to cross off as I go.
Years ago I worked up a few dozen quilting patterns that I could use when I was giving tutorials on basic quilting for beginners. Now I find I am doing the same thing in crochet. So here is my first pattern and I hope a few more will arrive in the next weeks and months.
The pattern has instruction for the fruit, but the bat wings and cat ears can easily be made from craft felt or free form crochet.
I also made a lemon by adding an extra round of single crochet at the beginning and the end to make the ends pointed.
I hope my efforts help others, and that more skilled pattern writers and crochet artisans forgive me for any bobbles and flubs this pattern may contain.
A final note: In case anyone wonders, the white one is a snowball. Not a fruit, but he was lonely all by himself.
Pithy Ponderings 