Crag2Crag Creativity

This is me, lately!  Leaping from crag to crag, idea to idea, project to project.  With the arrival of snow, I declared yesterday, “A Making Day”…and it looks like today will be that also.  It was delightful: whirling from lime green knitted sweater, to crocheted hexagons and owls (pattern for latter forthcoming:), to sketching, to pattern writing, to ideas for some fun fabrics…to…oh my, what’s a girl to do?  Of course, interwoven in the midst of leaping was also laundry, shot-giving, breakfast/lunch/dinner-making, etc.  But all in all, it was a lovely day of crag2crag leaping!

Julia Cameron speaks of this in her books on creativity.  She probably mentions it more than once, but here’s what she says in her book Walking in this World (my favorite that I read over and over):  “The creative imagination leaps crag to crag and does not chug up the mountain like an automated chairlift.  If we treat the creative self like a young and curious animal, we will get the right idea.  A young animal pokes its curious nose here and there.  Our creative animal must be allowed the same freedom.” (pg. 80)

I’m not sure I feel like an animal, but more like a kid:  going from markers, to doll-making, to clay, to dancing, to…oh goodness, there’s just so much I want to/love to make!!  Julia says elsewhere in that book, “The truth is that as children,…We had dreams and desires and inklings of delight and full-blown passions.  We practiced ballet in the living room, we sang wildly, we loved the goo of finger painting.  We loved, period–and love is a passionate and energizing force…Instead of chiding ourselves or allowing ourselves to be chided into an “adult” solemnity, we must regain our right to be goofy, earthy, even silly.” (pg. 97)

So here are each of the crags I’ve been leaping to and from lately:  *my favorite color (lime green) in an inexpensive yarn to make a knitted, knock-around-the-house sweater, oversized, big & bulky.  It is near finished…I might finish it today:)  *Hexagons, made according to Lucy’s tutorial, in Bernat Cotton Tots yarn.  I had a bunch of this sitting around and I’m dreaming of spring and the colors of spring.  Perhaps it will be a baby blanket, perhaps larger…no need to have an end in sight…just enjoying making these shapes. *Owls…oh, my these owls.  I’ve made four of them thus far, with other variations as well.  I’ll have a pattern up for these soon–they are SO cute, SO easy to make!  *The fabrics (intended to line my basket and for birds:) under the owl, I found at Hobby Lobby in High Point.  I went last week for the first time, and it is now a favorite haunt for all things crafty!!  They even have their own line of yarns which are just begging me to make them into something.  Well, I have to finish some things first before that *In the square pottery vessel (I made a while back with my potter friends in Reidsville), are various buttons, brads, and clasps which are just waiting for things I plan to make soon.  Of course, I’ll share…

I’d just love for you to join me leaping from crag 2 crag!

A Place for All of Them

Well, almost all of them.  There are several of them still sitting in baskets or bags of in-progress projects and, I’m sure, there are stragglers in the sofa cushions and maybe out in the bowels of our cars.  Seriously, do I really need all of these?  But of course!!  Can you guess what they are?

Yep, crochet hooks of all kinds, aluminum, plastic, Bates, Boyes, unknown origins.  Lovely things when all put in a row like this, don’t you think? I got the idea to make this from another crocheting blogger favorite of mine, Handmaid Liset.  She makes these colorful pencil/marker holders and sells them in her shop.  I just loved them!, but needed something for my hooks, not for my pencils…well, not yet anyway…I AM thinking of another holder for all my drawing supplies, both pencils and pens and brushes…oh my!

Anyway…I used stuff I had on hand:  bits of Cotton Classic in various colors and a button.  In a couple of cases the amount of yarn I had dictated how wide the slot was going to be.  I briefly considered lining it with fabric…I may end up regretting I didn’t.  Nor did I make the top long enough to fold over the hooks, which I may regret later also if they all drop out of the holder in transport.  But I do like how it turned out!  So much more cheery than the one I had before, which only held a few of my hooks.  If you crochet, it is simple to tailor make this to suit YOUR crochet hook needs…I could have made it much smaller, to hold fewer hooks.  Likewise, I could have kept on going (since you crochet this side to side) to make room for more.  Simple single crochet is all we have going on here.  Oh, and weaving in ends.  Of the weaving of ends, there is no end!

But it’s worth it in the end, don’t you think?

To Hogwarts and Back Again

Well, not quite Hogwarts.  Our family went to the Grandover Resort & Hotel in Greensboro on Friday for a JDRF family conference.  JDRF stands for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.  We had been telling our older kids (I call them The Teens) all week about this, trying to cast the very best light on it, and still met with resistance as we were driving over on I-40.  Maddie couldn’t wait.  She knew that a friend from school, who also has diabetes, was going to be there with her family, and that there was a pool indoors.  Even the pool didn’t seem to be too much of an enticement for The Teens.  But as we rounded the corner, one of The Teens, said, “Is it that castle over there?” And we all turned and said simultaneously, “WOW!”  Someone dubbed it Hogwarts.  It was indeed Grand, with lush interiors, beautiful rooms, lovely pool (but so packed with kids, The Teens refused to swim until late at night:), and good food.  ANY food is good when I have not had to make it.

Coming home late Saturday, my head and heart were full!  Head was full of information, some which I could absorb and some which I could not.  My heart was full from meeting so many people, so many families from across our state who were living with diabetes just like us.  It was encouraging to say the least.  There were blood sugar monitor kits, pumps, insulin shots everywhere.  What has seemed so UNordinary to us in these first weeks was so ordinary there.  Everyone there had walked this path, was walking the path, and facing the future with the same hopes and fears as we were.  We were amazed at this organization called JDRF.  All of what our Maddie receives today, is a direct result of the fund-raising and research that JDRF has done over the years… from the types of insulin, to the blood sugar monitors and test strips, to the knowledge about carbs and exercise, to the pumps, and even to amazing things in the works for the future: a once-a-day insulin (called Smart Insulin), an artificial pancreas, and SO much more.  Incredible things are happening in the research area for Type 1 Diabetes.  We are so thankful to be living in an era where so much is available for Maddie’s health and vitality.

But the icing on the cake was to come home to all your lovely comments and thoughts you left for me in my blog “mailbox”.  I had sent out that last post about Maddie’s quilt just before leaving for Hogwarts the Grandover Hotel, and had no idea so many of you would visit and be moved to comment on that lovely gift.  Your comments were yet another lovely gift to help settle my overwhelmed head and heart.  Thank you so much!

A Honey of a Gift

Last Sunday, my youngest daughter received a gift that nearly knocked me over…in a good way, of course.  A lady in our church family, whom I knew to be a quilter, made an “I Spy” quilt for Maddie.  I came upon the two of them after the service, over in a corner, with the quilt spread out on the floor, and Maddie’s head bent over the quilt earnestly searching for…two tinkerbells, a row of only Christmas, a teacup, four princesses, etc.  This dear woman had spent countless hours making something beautiful, engaging, enjoyable, and hoping it would be a needed distraction from the daily diabetes routine.  Wow!

When someone gives a gift to your child, it feels like a gift to you, the parent.  It meant so much to me, that she would love my little girl in such a tangible way.  But when another creative person gives a gift from their creative wellspring…it means more than anything!!  I KNOW that every stitch was woven with love and prayers.  Every piece sewn together with thoughts and well-wishes for my daughter.  Every “tumbler” chosen with Maddie in mind.  It is not just fabric, thread, and batting…it is tangible love.

Maddie carries this bit of tangible love around with her just about everywhere.  In the car, she drapes it over her lap.  At the table it sits on the back of the chair.  When she gets her shots, she sits on it.  When she goes to sleep, she asks me to put it on top of her and her covers.  She is constantly asking someone in the house to play “I Spy” with her.  She now has all the tumblers memorized.  She loves to give you just three chances to find what she spies.

I know a little of what goes into making a quilt.  I made one many years ago, before children, using up some fabrics from which I had made dresses for myself.  But I would not claim to be a quilter.  I had never heard of an “I Spy” quilt.  I had never heard of “tumblers”…I had to ask what she meant by that word.  Definitely a word quilters use to refer to the shape of each piece of fabric.  But what I DO remember about making a quilt, is how time consuming it is!  Hours bent over a machine, adding batting, basting, hours making teeny tiny stitches with bleeding thumbs (until I learned to wrap them in bandaids), and then the edging…goodness me, the edging!  I think it takes just about as long as the rest of the quilt put together!  This dear woman thought it worthwhile to spend that kind of time, effort, energy, and creativity…on my daughter.  Wow.

A honey of a gift…a perfect example of how our creativity impacts others…I’m so glad to have been the recipient of this tangible love.

Upcoming plans…

I’ve grown quite fond of each of you who reads my blog.  It is a bit mind boggling that anyone would want to read my musings, thoughts, and ramblings, much less see images of my paint and fiberwork.  But you are here, whether it is by stumbling upon this site, or whether you are an EDM artist, or a yarn lover, or  you just like visiting, I’m so grateful you do!  And I hope you keep visiting!  And if you leave comments: an extra THANK YOU! to you.  I do love hearing from you and I realize it takes precious time to leave a comment.  I do read each and every one and wish I could comment back to each of you.  Those of you who also have blogs, I really enjoy visiting YOUR space in the cyber world!  Please keep dropping in from time to time…I have several things in the works for you.

First up is to offer sets of cards created from my artwork over the years.  I’m starting with a set of 4 images (2 cards each of 4 images…one of which is the above ice cream painting:) that will be purchasable through the yarnworksbyjennifer shop.  I will let you know when that happens (my hope is in the next couple of weeks) AND to offer a free set to a randomly selected person who places a comment on the day (or couple of days after) I offer the free set.  So please keep checking by…even if it’s just for the possibility of receiving something FREE! (I love free stuff, don’t you?)

Also, stay tuned to see the first of several fiber paintings! I have, at long last, completed the first of these babies.  The idea has literally been swimming around in my head for a couple of YEARS!  A few feeble attempts, and now I’ve got one to show you, and offer for sale.  They are so fun…images painted with yarn!

And, last but not least, I do plan to return to pattern writing!  I have so many designs that are scrawled in sketchbooks just dying to be shared with you!  Pattern writing takes a tremendous amount of time and concentration, so I haven’t had much of that recently what with all the family goings on…but soon, I’m hoping to have some other patterns, both for sale and for free (there’s that great word again:)

In the meantime, I’ll keep drawing and blathering on about art & life, and frivolous things too.  I do  believe my little brain tends toward the philosophizing too much…you’ll just have to bare (bear?) with me.  At any rate, thank you again, for visiting my little space here.  I do hope each of you have a perfectly marvelous day!

A la Lucy

There are certain folks whom I think are pros at recognizing and recording the unexpected and unforecasted lovelies in life.  In the drawing world, Danny Gregory is one of my favorites who continues, through his books, to inspire me to chronicle the little things of my world in images.  Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy is another who chronicles the simple beauties of everyday life through photography.  I have visited her blog for a couple of years now and I always enjoy seeing the lovelies in her life, both big and small.  Another gal who inspires me to see the loveliness of every day, is Lucy of Attic 24.  She has a rainbow palette with which she both views the world and infuses into her world.  Everything from the socks she putters around the house in, to her Little People’s artwork, to buttons, to papers, to decorating, to baking, and of course, to crochet.  You can’t help but be infected with the colors!  Infection it is…in such a good way…bright, bold color to cheer up the dreariest of winter days.  You really must visit her slice of the world in England!

So the other day, when I needed a pouch for some 3 x 5 cards, I pulled out all my leftovers whose colors were in Lucy’s palette.  Bits of Noro, Lamb’s pride, etc.  Simple single crochet, a button I made a year or so ago, and voila!  Instant joy!  The pouch sits with my daily writing journal (which is also littered with line drawings) and greets me each morning with its sunny colorfulness.

Isn’t it funny how we affect each other like this?  Even though I’ve never met her in person, her creativity impacts mine.  And my creativity impacts others.  And your creativity impacts those around you.  I continue to think about snowflakes and their individual uniqueness.  Part of what makes up our uniqueness is what we find ourselves fascinated by.  Snowflake Bentley was fascinated with snowflakes. I’m so glad he was, because we have all benefitted from his fascination. We have been enriched by his individuality.  Our individual uniqueness is MORE beautiful in community with others.  So share your unique creativity with others…share what fascinates you…either through blogging or exhibiting or teaching or just showing it to a friend…it is infectious and you may never know what an impact it will have!

Learning from Snowflakes

I’ve been thinking about snowflakes recently.  We all have memories from childhood of cutting out snowflakes, learning about these fascinating “crystals”, oohing and aahing at how each and every one is unique.  I do not remember studying about a man named Snowflake Bentley, but I was recently introduced to this fascinating individual…who is fascinating because he himself was fascinated by…Snowflakes!  He photographed hundreds and hundreds of them.  Devoted his life to documenting their individuality.  We hail the uniqueness of snowflakes…we all love knowing that we, too, are unique creations, no two of us alike. Sparkle Snowflake, Sparkle!  Yes, that’s what we love!

But there’s more for us to learn from these minuscule beauties.  I know the tendencies of my own heart, and here is where the snowflake helps me. I tend to err in thinking that it is up to me to create my own individuality, to fashion my uniqueness.  I’m pretty sure that snowflakes, as they are being formed, aren’t looking around them thinking, “No, I don’t want that trait, oh yes, I’d like to have that one” and then setting about making it happen.  Snowflakes are created.  Snowflakes just are.  Their uniqueness and individuality are in place, and they only have to BE what they’ve been fashioned to be.  My challenge is to submit to the uniqueness that has been granted to me; to celebrate it, and to be active in it.  No need to wish I was made like another, thus obliterating the unique aspect.  In fact, it seems, that when I get pulled into comparing myself to others around me and trying to fashion my own individuality, I only end up marring the original unique design that was given to me.  Lovely lesson number one.

The other lesson comes in realizing that though I enjoy seeing the up close design of ONE snowflake, it is when they are “en  masse” that my delight is at its peak.  You’ve heard in theater of a “one man show” and that is all well and good.  But if we only had a “one flake show” we would be so disappointed.  When snow is forecasted, if any of us ever saw the first flake travel to earth, there would be excitement to be sure!  But only because it would be the promise of more to come!  Then as the number of snowflakes increases, so does our excitement, as we switch over to hushed tones of awe as the snow falls in clumps and masses so beautiful we can scarcely stand it.  These individual, unique creations are made more glorious in the company they keep.  The more of them traveling together, the more glory and beauty descends.  Such are we…our uniqueness made more glorious TOGETHER than alone.

I don’t want to be a “one-flake show” (ha! no pun intended).  Thinking of snowflakes… their individual beauty made more beautiful by their togetherness… has really helped me with my “If only…” problem.  I’m reveling today in the throng of unique flakes I live with and know personally as well as those of you online flakes who have become my friends as well.

Let’s be our unique selves together and bring beauty to the world!

Simplicity Shawl II

Well, this would actually be Simplicity Shawl III.  My very first version was made out of a lavender linen and cotton yarn with a flower pin made from flowers I found in one of Kristin Spurkland’s books.  The pattern for the shawl was popular with crocheters at Knit One Smock Too, but was not the best written pattern.  Last fall I finally revamped the pattern and added a rosette pin of my own creation…Simplicity Shawl II.

KOST now has the new patterns and I made this version (III) out of Noro Silk Garden Lite for the shop to display.  Oh how I love Noro yarns! Love, love, love how the colors work with this stitch pattern…lovely stripes of gorgeous color.  I even made the rosette from different colors all available in the ball of yarn.  I used the I hook called for in the pattern.  Though I got gauge at the beginning, it ended up a smidge smaller than the pink shawl, so I might suggest using a J hook if you want the fuller size.  Of course, you can add more stitches to start off and that would make it larger as well.  I plan on blocking it a bit–should loosen up the fibers some and make it bigger.  But I like it just like it is.

Hushed Bliss

Snow was falling at the beginning of my walk this morning…bliss!  The kind of bliss that is all fluttery on the inside and peaceful on the outside.  The kind that makes you say to your husband and kids, “Isn’t this lovely?” in hushed tones, almost like reverence.  It was not expected nor forecasted.  A “petit cadeau” to start the day with a bit of wonder, a bit of hushed bliss.  Yet as I walked, a small sliver of aqua opened up in the laden clouds.  That small sliver has now multiplied and chased away the flurries.  I wish it had lasted longer.

The strange thing is that I awoke with a snowflake design in my head wanting to get out.  I sat in the early morning with coffee in one hand and crochet hook in the other while my middle schooler got himself ready to catch the bus.  I was inspired by this snowflake hanging in one of Alicia Paulson’s windows, and wondered if I could crochet something similar in shape.  I’ve been thinking a lot about snowflakes lately…was asked last week to talk to the students at the school where I teach art; and snowflakes is the “theme” for the first grader’s chapel this Friday.  I’ll share those thoughts with you in an upcoming post.  This must be why I woke with a snowflake design flurrying around in my head.

There are many things, it seems, that come into my life unexpected and unforecasted.  Some of them are not fun, not beautiful, not what you would call hushed bliss.  But there are so many MORE things that flurry briefly or lingeringly into my life that I simply don’t take the time to appreciate, to savor, to hold onto, to revel in.  I’m going to look for some of these today, and tomorrow, and I hope, the  next day.  I’d love to hear what some of your unexpected, unforecasted lovelies are.

P.S. I plan on writing up how to make this snowflake for a free little pattern for those of you who crochet:) I’m not huge on blocking crochet (or knitting) into perfection…I like the wonkiness of the handmade piece.  But for those of you who like to block, I hope you can imagine these snowflakes blocked into perfect little picot wheels. Ooh, I like that. Picot Wheels…makes me think of  pinwheels…childhood favorites.

If only…

There’s a voice that bangs around in my head sometimes.  Usually it is quiet and simmers in the background.  Some days it is loud and testy.  The volume slowly turns up when I haven’t had hardly any time to create, to paint, to draw, to knit or crochet.  If I’m not careful, it will be full volume soon and nothing short of becoming a recluse and creating up a storm will quiet the words…”If only you had a different life, you could do/be so much more!”

A friend of mine gave me a CD of John Gorka’s music a few years back…I love his music.  One piece in particular goes, “Am I a fool, at this late date To heed a voice that says, You can be great? I heard it young, now I hear it again…it says, You can be better than you’ve ever been.” I may be misunderstanding this song, but it seems to be wrestling with the same thing that plagues me:  If only your life looked different from the one you have, you could really be something.

It’s such a shame, this voice.  I, (and it seems John Gorka also), dearly love my life that is rich with family, friends, community.  Yet it seems that these are the very things that I’m apt to blame for holding me back.

If only I had more time…I could attend some of the figure and portrait drawing sessions at Scott & Sue’s studio.

If only I had the time…I could get more of my patterns ready to offer.

If only I had more time…I could paint more shape paintings.

If only I had more time…I could make those fiber paintings I’ve been wanting to make.

If only I had more guts…I would paint more abstracts.

If only I had the resources…I could attend the Knit & Crochet conference and meet editors and other designers.

If only…I could…

“If only I had more time” often gets translated, if I didn’t have to cart kids everywhere, if I didn’t have to “work”, if I didn’t have to clean the house, if I didn’t have to cook for 4 other people, if I didn’t have to…so many things.

I wish there was a movie, like It’s A Wonderful Life, for artists.  The main character would be given a glimpse of what his/her life would be like if he/she actually HAD all the time in the world to pursue his/her artistic dreams.  This life would be devoid of a spouse, kids, friends, community.  I think the movie would only last about fifteen minutes.  The artist would lose not only his artistic desires, but probably his desire to live.  I know I do NOT want that kind of life.

Could it be, that the life we live while we are making plans and dreaming dreams, is actually the FUEL for those dreams?  Could it be, that the love of spouses, children, friends; the mundane chores of cleaning, organizing, cooking, carting are actually the bedrock for our creative plans?  Could it be, that WITHOUT those things, our creative juices and ideas would shrivel up and die? Could it be, that a kite cannot really fly unless it is anchored to the ground?  This last thought comes from another song…one written and sung by my brother and sister-in-law who sing in a Pittsboro based group called Trilogy.

If I Laid My Burdens Down

If I laid my burdens down like they told me, what’s to hold me?  I might fly right through the sky without some boundary to wrap around me.

If I took that leap of faith, shook myself free from what’s held me…I might leave the earth underneath and I’ve never been there up in the thin air.

Wild and free and lost at sea; these wings have always longed to be…high above the safety that I love…the things I’ve to thank for being my anchor.

What’s to keep me on the ground if I lay them down?

If only I could rid my head of that insidious voice…

I think I’ll go fold some laundry.