Over this past weekend, I was able to get away from everything with a few girlfriends to spin, knit and eat to my hearts content. We had decided to do the trip back in the Spring but with hectic schedules, you always worry that it’s not going to get off the ground.
As the weekend progressed and we each worked in our own corner on our projects we’d brought, I began to think about the idea of work in relation to craft. We talk about it all the time – if you listen to any podcaster, whether audio or video, they will inevitably mention this phrase, “Since I last recorded, I worked on …” How is it that spending a week working on projects that are new, languishing or ongoing is relaxing? And as the weekend progressed, I found myself dreaming of the projects I wanted to cast on (or start spinning) once the current ones were finished. For the first time in a very long time, my mind was free to wander to other places, rather than being caught up in the “what time is it? is it pick up time yet? am I late? what’s for dinner? do we have anything in the fridge? why aren’t there leftovers?” rat race of life. Because of this, I was able to free up my mind to drift and dream. It’s a lovely thing when that happens! And lo and behold, things actually got done because I could commit the time to them.
There were a few projects I threw in at the last moment that I’m so glad I did – this one was the first! Remember the Hallowe’en batt I’d made just for fun at the end of October? By the way, I’ve had a couple of questions about the music – it was meant to be utterly ridiculous so I hope you thought it was hysterical too!
I decided to throw it in at the last minute and spun it up as a gradient.
I almost didn’t and would have brought it home had I not thought, “Oh, just spin it already. You won’t wreck it.” So I did! And I am so glad I did. I like it so much that I have dreams of a Hallwe’en vanilla shawl! My plan is to spin up a bunch of purple and green for the body and use the batt as the boarder to finish it off. I’m excited about the prospect!
I spun up the SweetGeorgia Yarns’ fibre club this month, which is the second-to-last instalment as the company moves on to focus on other things. I’m excited about the yarn in the end, although it was a rocky start! After beginning to spin, I decided to make it December’s enhanced content since it’s a difficult spin due to the difficulty of colours – there’s just something off about how the colours play together. If you’re interested in learning more, you can have a look here to learn more about How I Spin on Patreon.
Lastly, I started a rather interesting shawl. It is for the project my friend Katrina and I have been working on. I managed to cast on and rip out 7 times! The life of a designer, right? Except I’m not a designer so it makes me uneasy to say the least. Regardless, Katrina tinked back for me so that I wouldn’t have to rip out again and I started knitting again. This time though, I think I’m on to something and it’s working out nicely. I’m excited to share it with you when the time comes – the pattern is obviously meant for handspun and maximizes the skein of yarn you’ve spun.
Lastly, I worked on some gift knitting and personal knitting. Some of it I’ve shared and some of it I haven’t had a chance. I crocheted up a toque for James’ kindergarten teacher and I loved it so much that I’m in the process of making my own! As well, I finished my Veronika Cardigan by Shannon Cook, which I’m still on the fence about whether I like it for my body or not but I’ll leave it for now. I also made some progress on another vanilla shawl (utilizing the yarn pictured above – my SweetGeorgia Yarns’ SW BFL that was an anomaly colourway) that I’ve added garter stitches to and I’ll share that on the next episode of the podcast!
What are you working on? How do you free your mind up to wander and dream about your projects?
“Just Spin It, You Won’t Wreck It.” We should all have a plaque made with that on it and hang it near our stashes.