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Friday, October 2, 2015

In Over My Head







I'm like the majority of writers, always busy. When I'm not writing, I'm involved in some craft or other and making all sorts of things. I've been knitting and crocheting all my adult life and every now and again, I decide it's about time to learn a new craft skill.

It started several years ago when I found out the community I live in holds a Chinese auction every spring. I started making afghans. At first I made them for single beds, but eventually downsized them to lap afghans.  During the winter I can get three or four done. At least one of them has to be a new stitch pattern, something I haven't done before. I don't get into fancy stuff because it would take up too much time and goals wouldn't be met. A couple one pound skeins usually works out well for each one.

Last year I started a new project of making pet blankets. Twice a year I make 6-10 of them. They're not very big but the local pet shelter says they're the perfect size for washing. I took a guess at two super saver skeins per blanket and it turned out just right. Generally the yarn is left over from a bigger project and I might have to get an extra skein of a particular color to make a full blanket. Multi-colored yarn is the best for this. A simple crochet stitch and watch the colors form a pattern. Some of them are wild and others look like lego bricks stuck together.

Then there's the king-size quilt, the embroidery and cross-stitch, red work (black, blue, or green) that's just waiting to be needled. The toughest part of it all is not having sufficient space for supply storage or to get the work done. It's a constant challenge to reorganize and find more room, especially when the dimensions of the room itself are a constant.

I may be in over my head with all the projects I have lined up. No matter how many there are in the queue, I'm always looking for new challenges. If the project is simple and the work repetitive, then part of my brain likes to move on to other things. Like working out plot problems or fixing some dialogue I don't like. There's nothing conscious about it, no thinking, "Okay, I can do this in my sleep so let me think about writing." It just happens. And that's when I come up with the brilliant ideas to fix or advance my story.  Or maybe I found something for the heroine to do.

The newest projects were started early in the summer when I got interested in beading.  Some of the beads are small enough they don't want to go onto the beading needle. With them I might as well be playing Tiddlie Winks. Hit the beads just right and they go flying. With dark gray carpeting, they're hard to find, until you step on them. They don't hurt, you just know you've found them, and fortunately, they've all been recovered.

Time is the biggest enemy. There are only so many hours in a day to accomplish what you want to do. Unless you're willing to give up, say... eating or sleeping. Having chatted with others, (some aren't writers) there's one thing we all have in common. We can't wait to get to the next craft project, try out the new pattern or experiment with materials we've never tried before. The biggest challenge waiting for me is learning to knit lace. I have yet to do it right. I've got the right yarn, the knitting needles and the books. All I need is a sufficient block of time to concentrate on it.

So maybe I am in over my head and a lot of what I'd like to do will never get done while the list of future projects gets longer. It might be crazy but it keeps the creative juices flowing.

What keeps your creative juices flowing? Leave a comment and share your favorite interests.