Miss E sometimes surprises me. In this case, I gave her free rein on decorating a zippered canvas bag I just finished. Her usual drawings are busy and full. In this case they are simple and sweet. There are just two little butterflies, one on either side of the bag… both circling a happy little sunflower button.
I was reading online where someone suggested that 5 was the optimal number of projects to have. (I’d share a link, but I was lost online and can’t find the link anymore. Story of my life.) The premise was more than five projects slowed down your progress to the point of frustration and less than five left you without something to do at critical times. She suggested having different types of projects for different situations… fancy lace for alone thinking, small projects like socks and hats for travel, idiot knitting for social times or tv, etc.
I had been feeling lately that I was doing a lot, but wasn’t finishing much of anything; discontent was creeping in. I wondered what my actual number was. Was that driving my irksome feelings? I also wondered how having multiple crafts might change your number, and not necessarily for the better. Then there are those crafts you want to do next that weigh on your mind. I think they count too, since they don’t just fade away. They keep cropping up in your head over and over. Should I be thinning my projects? Do I fit the 5 project mold? What will I see if I account for what is currently in the works and on my mind? I took these questions and upended my various project niches in search of whatever I might find.
In the works:
Hand sewing kanzashi flowers for the painting. I’m dragging my feet on this, but I recognize the need for them on the painting.
Quercus Sweater (worsted/fairly easy)
Spectrum scarf (fingering/fairly easy/fairly small)
Kernel scarf (lace weight/dead silence required)
Spinning 2 ply fingering wt yarn (tv watching easy)
Sewing a zippered bag (some concentration)
Sewing a skirt for me.
Knit kimono sweater (easy, but needs ripping and adjusting)
Re-knitting blown out sock toes. (easy, just need to do) I’d just patch them, but the true problem is the socks just aren’t long enough. Try as I might, my hoofers are just not that delicate and small.
On the brain:
Spin some fiber for a friend.
Hand sew kanzashi flowers from plastic bags for giggles and grins.
Take hubbie’s ad laden conference bags and put fancy fabric on them to dress them up and hide the ads.
Recreate the baby sweater for the pattern/sweater found in FIL’s attic. Maybe from homespun…
Rip out wrap I don’t and won’t use… put yarn into something else. A blanket?
Embroider a felted black project bag I have.
Weaving with plastic bags. Coasters? Table runner?
Weaving a wrap.
Sewing a skirt for my daughter.
Sew and cut fabric class on Craftsy.com.
Weaving straps on the inkle loom for my Mighty Wolf loom.
Another Tunisian crochet blanket (of course).
Another post card abstract drawing with markers.
There are probably a couple of projects on the brain I’ve forgotten in the moment, but overall, this list was not nearly as heinous as I expected. While I obviously don’t fit the 5 project mold, I don’t really think I could trim down the list… as the brain loop would still kick in. I would be willing to lay money on the fact that most of my crafty friends have a list closer in size to mine than just “5″. The list is reasonable, and I’ve already acknowledged to myself what the next steps are for everything listed. While I wouldn’t change anything, I do find it a little comforting just accounting for what is “so” for me in this moment.
As to the discontent that’s been creeping in… maybe I just need a new project. (Hehehehe!)
Life just kept getting in the way for spin class the last couple of months… and honestly, I’d rather knit or draw. Cheeky of me, I know. However, there is this exercise thing I feel obligated to do on a semi-regular basis given my rather generous proportions (according to current medical guide lines). In the last year of spin class at 2x/week I haven’t lost any weight. I have no clue if I’ve lost any inches. But, I sweat buckets (I mean get dewy) and have amazing blood pressure now. Something is happening. Weight loss is just around the corner, right?! Snort.
That being said, I didn’t get to sleep until 3am this morning, and this was my first time back in two months. I am “wrecked” as my neighbor so delicately described it. I started a pastel drawing and kept fighting the urge to scout out horizontal spaces for a nap. Even the floor was looking good. My daughter Miss E graciously offered to sub for me today while I park my poor bootay on the couch and knit on that everlasting cowl. (I’m on the last skein. I will finish it soon; I promise!)
It tickles me how much energy is in this photo given my current state. Miss E did a wonderful job of portraying movement and excitement.
You were all so very kind not to point out that I missed a day. Ahem, well… I suspect given that this has happened twice in the first week, it will likely happen again. Sometimes it just may be poor planning on my part, sometimes just life getting in the way a bit. Hopefully, as I get used to this whole process, this will happen less and less. In the meantime, thank you so very much for your patience and good will. I will always try to catch up when time permits.
This is a quick, pastel, pen and ink sketch of an apple. Just had a need to draw an apple; there is no rhyme or reason. I like drawing produce in general, so you’ll probably see more.
This marker drawing is another of those trees, but this time I was taking from yesterday’s line drawing a bit. Rather than start with the circles like I did with the last tree drawing, I started with the trunk and branches. It definitely had a different “feel” and sense of movement overall, maybe even more fluid. I also limited the palette of colors to 4 + black giving it a more cohesive look. The shading in the background from the bottom up is an artifact of the picture taking process, but I love it. It is a happy accident that I will try to replicate going forward.
Happy Friday, everyone!!!
I realized today that I’ve now officially been blogging for just over a week, and that’s about a week longer than I ever expected to. I wanted to thank each and every one of you who took the time out of your very busy days to look at my art and read my various musings. Thank you also for the kind and encouraging words. Knowing you were going to be there has helped me to push through a few of those “I don’ wanna” moments I’m known for.
I spent most of the day trying to figure out what I was inspired to draw. Doodles like the one above feel a lot like “play” to me, so I ruled it out initially as not cool enough. Then, it occurred to me that it is really what I was feeling called to do. In not doing it, I was almost refusing to do anything else through my indecision. So I grabbed my markers and post card sized paper and started playing.
The colors, while not showing up well here, remind me a lot of how it looks when you play glow in the dark mini golf. My daughter loves it, but it is loud. Though this piece is not nearly as nice as some of the others, it was actually more exciting to me in some ways. I started it off with a black stair case line running back and forth horizontally through the picture. Then I added the occasional black square. With that backbone in place, I started using colored lines in pattern.
For the top half I mostly followed the line; for the bottom, the squares. It’s interesting to me how the lines show the movement and the squares give it solidity, even though it’s the same type of line for both.
Another thing that caught my attention was how I had to make different decisions when my lines ran into squares. Each space was different and required a different action…
Go around.
Go through.
Make a whole new road.
Absorb it.
Change the colors to add balance.
Like life?
It was this ever-changing process and I loved that aspect of it. I will have to remind myself of this as I go through this 365 day process. It’s ok if the road changes a bit from what I initially thought it might be. It’s ok to play and see where it takes me.
