Thanks to LionBrand yarn, I found a blog post by Franklin Habit:
THIS.
2016 has been a contentious year. Many losses, thankfully, only a couple of a personal kind. Many confusions, mostly of a political kind. But there were many more moments of fun and kindness and happiness and creation. So I’ve decided to begin 2017 by celebrating those moments of creation. I cannot personally impact much of what worries me in the world today – at least not at this moment in time. Moving into 2017, I will try to focus on those things I can impact.
I apologise for my lack of blog-skills. I think this is something you learn as you go along. Kinda like life-skills 😉 As I continue to learn, you have my permission to continue to roll your eyes 🙄
The blanket above was made, with much love, for Les. Making baby blankets are a special joy. As I work, I can’t shake the “visual” of my creation keeping a very precious “little” snug and warm. This one is in acrylic yarn so it is (utterly and very necessarily) machine wash and dryable. Acrylic will also wear like iron. My niece (at 30+ years) reminds me that she still has the blanket I made her as a baby. It’s not in great shape … but the love it contains is still enclosed in it.
This may explain why I have such a problem making items for sale. I’ve attempted it many times in the past – decades ago, tried to create a home business via craft shows. But my heart wasn’t in it. I lose the joy of creation when I’m making 35 items-all-the-same. I have come to the personal understanding (and I hope I can explain this concept without sounding arrogant) that no one can afford to pay enough to “reimburse” me for the time taken to create it. Back in the day, when my income level hovered only slightly above the “dire” level, there was a local business who wanted me to do tabletop crochet “exclusively” for his business. I was overjoyed!! Until I did the math. I would work for approximately two six hour days and receive $12. And, as I paused to think the offer through, he began to reduce the price offered. And sitting for (literally) days on end at a rented table at a far away craft show, watching shoppers ignore my offerings or, even better, stand in front of me and steal my designs and then smile and walk on, was more than I could bear or afford.
This, in no way, reflects on those crafters who have a more positive mindset than mine. Bless you, bless you for offering your amazing items for purchase. You broaden the concept of “creativity” for me. I always enter a craft show with a sense of wonder at what I will see. I know that, in many cases, you operate under the concept of “do what you love and it won’t feel like work”. I thank you for your talent, patience, time, positive attitude and, of course, your creations.
What to do? What to do? Do I want to be a writer? Do I want to be a photographer? Maybe I’d rather knit? Crochet? Scrapbook? Go to a concert? … there are many more “What To Do’s” in my head. So I’ve decided to do All Of The Above. I seem to be waiting for Moses or Dumbledore to come down and approve/validate my “passion”. But I want to do all of them and most likely a great many more. And so I shall …
One of my favorite memories from college is standing just outside the practice rooms at Dort Music. If you listened actively enough, soon the various pieces being played would wind themselves around you like ribbons … some separate … some blending with unrelated tunes down the hall. A flute run over a vocal scale over a baritone line. “Chaos” has always been one of my favorite words. Maybe this is the reason?
My workday is spent in stressful chaos … too much to do in far too little time to accomplish any of the tasks completely or well or at all …an impossible task list due today … and then being held responsible for the lack of time given to create an impossible task. You, too? Stressful chaos … but not here. Creative chaos is a multitude of ideas … an ever changing landscape of possibilities … “let’s try this and combine it with that and move it from here to there and add just a touch of something else to make it something original/fun/crazy/inspiring”. It probably explains why I think/write with ellipses [Ellipsis is a series of dots (typically three, such as “…”) that usually indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text…]It’s holding the place for the thought that will return to that point. A wave. A pause. Chaos. But not.
Simply Devine Chaos begins today. I’m not certain where or what it will evolve into tomorrow. But the Beginning has begun.
Edited 02/21/16
Who knew I would need photos to highlight a blog post? Lucky for me, I have several 🙂