Work in Progress

Creation can be in multiples

What do I have on the table today?!

I find myself constantly having multiple projects in hand. There are loads of memes about this online and lots of jokes made about “crochet grannies” “crochet addicts” “batty yarn people” who take a break from a massive project on hand by working on a smaller yarn project on the side. Ha ha. Hilarious. But it’s the truth, isn't it?

I find myself constantly in a state of needing to make something. If I’m not crocheting one thing, I’m crocheting another. And while doing so (unless its a brand new technique I’m trying out for the first time), I’m thinking about the other project I’m not doing wondering if I’d have been making more progress on that and if I should be working on that instead of this. Could this be attributed to my GAD (generalised anxiety disorder), or ‘lack of discipline’ or not having a conventional 9-5 job? Honestly, I don’t agree with any of that. As I create things - be it drawing, felting, embroidery or crochet - I feel a part of my brain awakens that doesn’t necessarily get understood or heard too often otherwise. It’s like having that one thing you do for yourself - for some, it could be a long hike, or a bike ride on their own. It’s a meditative space that is not necessarily all about the silence, but about a rhythm that resonates with your inner chord. For any of you who have been to a space where chanting is practiced, you may understand what I mean. It’s using your natural tone to echo one note either alone or with a group of people that feels like you’ve tapped into your core energy stream. If done right, you can feel the vibration thrum right through you - and thats what people refer to as collective energy, or the sound of your soul. I love the rhythm of creating - of making. It’s work, but its also play. It’s music and silence. Its conversation and solitude at the same time. 

So what do I have on the table today?

I’m creating new inlay crochet patterns. 

I’m also trying my hand at tapestry crochet. 

I have a massive landscape piece I’m working on with needle felt, and 

I’m working on a baby blanket with Tunisian crochet. 

I also have to blog, and do some social media work, and this perhaps is the only thing I would consider a chore only because it takes me away from all my physical making. 

I’d be as happy as a pig in poo if I could just make and have someone else handle the rest of the admin work - the marketing, the visualising, the selling, the connecting. Honestly - I’m not exaggerating here. The joy of being my own boss and having my own brand is that I get to focus on creation, right? The downside of it is that I also have to do all the other stuff which means I don’t get to create as often as I like. So perhaps that is another reason to have multiple projects at one time - its so that I can make up for all the time I have to do the ‘other stuff’. 

Additionally, its a way for me to express all my thoughts in my head without necessarily needing to articulate them into words. It’s weaving every thought out, punching through questions, embroidering new ideas and knotting ends to let go of and move on. 

Maybe its a form of escape too, then. Sometimes, I find having to interact with people and politics and opinions to be quite overwhelming. Maybe its the time we are in, but I feel there is so much aggression out there, and everyone is either defending something or advocating something or propagating something… maybe if we found a different way to express all these thoughts and feelings we had, it could be calmer? It could get the world to listen using other senses rather than definitive words? Or am I oversimplifying things? Possibly. Its a nice thought, though.

So I’m going to take my ruminating back to my table and mull over it while I make. I wish you a peaceful weekend ahead where you find your own unique way to mull through and resolve thought threads for yourself. Lets catch up next week and share what our thoughts created?

xN.