It startled me to find my last post was in 2016. It’s so easy to let ourselves be distracted by the shiny things and the squirrels. I’ve been thinking a lot about that recently, this conflict between output and inflow: output is our own creative production, and inflow is the overwhelm of media consumption. I’m certainly not the first person to talk about this; Adam Alter did a TED Talk on screen addiction in 2017 that you can check out, here.
Any veteran journaler will tell you, it’s the questions that are the key. Asking ourselves good questions can be the difference between skating along the surface of our thoughts and diving deeply into them. WHY do we step away from craft? Why do we stop writing/making/playing? What moves us off our center? It’s easy to blame something outside of us, but as author and creativity specialist Julia Cameron points out in The Artist’s Way, we use crazymakers to block ourselves or to stay blocked. At some point, we have to put the responsibility (note I did not say blame) where it belongs, and take it back for ourselves.
Hence, this post.
My friend Sunita, over at ReaderWriterVille, does a thing she invented called “Weeknotes.” In them, she converses about her week. I love the tone of them: compassionate toward the self, optimistic toward the future, and supportive of positive, outward productivity. It’s in that spirit I offer today’s post.
It’s not like I haven’t knit or made anything for three years. A lot has happened in that time: the American presidential election disaster; my husband nearly bled to death (he’s okay now); all three of our publishers went out of business; we moved cross country 2,000 miles (about 3,200 kilometers); I started a new job that turned out to be a horrible fit and then got a new job (which I love); and I had a cancer-scare (I’m all right, but found some other stuff and am in the process of getting well). Making, of necessity, became smaller – was it “of necessity” because of something external, such as me deciding it to be that way? No. It just organically happened, because I couldn’t really focus on anything larger. I did nearly finish the Hue Shift Afghan in the Jewel colorway (available from KnitPicks as a kit, highly recommended and I’m making the main rainbow tinted one next); but need to finish one final edge in black. I made Rachel a vest, but need to finish sewing it together (it literally is half-sewn along one side seem; WTF?). I learned pin loom weaving (which is actually loads of fun and there’s a fun online community, here; and I just found a rigid heddle weaving school today online, here). I started designing not one but two lace shawls (those of you who know me are probably nodding and saying, “Of course you did, Noony;” I get it, I really do), and then stopped, completely, until all I was doing was pin loom weaving.
Slowly, I’m edging back toward making. I’ve learned some things. For me, a stable home and a stable day job are necessary for creative output. I find they settle and ground me in ways I don’t always understand. I wish I was happy-go-lucky, totally Zen and able to produce in any season, but I have found through long experience I’m not really one of those people. I do knit, and have done so through serious adversity, but having a stable home (which includes my family) and job (so I am not scared about where rent is coming from) is critical.
So what have I been making? Well, I don’t have a ton of pics in one place, which is part of this attenuated interregnum. But I do have a semi-circular shawl I’m designing on the needles and the name makes me laugh. I was thinking one day recently about vegetables, and manifestation, and how I want to eat more veggies and like them. I want to want to eat more veggies, is probably a more accurate statement. Then I thought about manifestation, and practicing the reality that I want to bring about. I had the yarn in my hands. The yarn is green. Then the squirrels took over and…
The I Love Broccoli Shawl Is Born
It’s going to need some serious blocking, but this is a semi-circular shawl based on Elizabeth Zimmerman’s “pi shawl” formula. The yarn is from Australia and is a lovely cotton blend that looks like it’s got mohair in it, but doesn’t.
I’m using a size 3 circular after quite a bit of trial and error as regards needle size. This is a yarn that color pools but even so, is quite lovely in stockinette; however, I think this type of faggotting really shows it to advantage. The predominant stitch is from Barbara Walker’s Volume I stitch dictionary, and is “Vertical Lace Trellis.” It’s only a four row repeat, two of which are purl across, so it’s much easier to work than it looks.
Other than that, I don’t have a whole lot of insights to share or profundities to drop on you. I just really miss blogging, writing, publishing, knitting, and making all the things. My squirrels got into the grain bin and have pooped on the good sheets in the linen closet. For the most part, I think I’ve gotten them wrangled, but I’ll refrain from any sagacious pronouncements of “I’m back and this is what I’m doing;” I’ve done that a couple times during this latest interregnum and have regretted it because it presages a dry spell.
So for now, I’ll close with this: thank you for visiting, and reading, and leaving a comment or two. I’m glad to be here, and I’m glad you’re here. Now. Let’s go make stuff, shall we?
