tiny happy

Thank you for reading my previous post, and for your thoughtful comments! I loved reading them. I also had some great chats on Instagram and want to thank everyone who shared their thoughts with me.

Mostly I was just wanting to express the strange way I have been feeling lately. I don't think I will ever stop being creative and making things with my hands. It's very important to me and really a huge part of my life. I also love to share my work with others. 

My lovely friend Felicia wrote under my last post: Especially now when things are feeling so overwhelming, we have a need for grounding, for solidity and for intentional materiality. We have a need for active engagement over passive consumption. We have a need for purposeful work – even if that purposeful work is now an optional activity.

I love that thought – that rather than be dissuaded from what we love, we can instead take the opportunity to use our passion and skills in more meaningful ways.

I do think though that I will try and make some small changes in how I work. These are my ideas for 2020:

 * Make more gifts. I've always loved to make gifts, especially for babies and children. This year I'd like to make more of them, even if they're just small acts, such as knitting socks for my kids and partner and Dad and father-in-law, newborn baby socks and booties from the leftovers. Stripy baby cardigans from small amounts of precious yarns. Wee winter hats for my nieces.

I was invited to give a talk about making gifts at Soul Craft in 2018. In her comment, Felicia wrote: "The reason I asked you to talk about giving your work away last year is because I believe that this is part of the answer for all of us life-long makers. I don't need another frock but there is someone I care about who needs a pair of handknit socks. So many of us are needing comfort and the things we make offer us this by reminding us of our connection to others. These socks remind them each time they put them on of our connection in a way that a transient phone call or a store-bought gift cannot because they represent my time and intention. The material has a semi-permanence that offers us the solace of connection in the absence of the actual human."

* Make more and stronger connections with others. Share my materials, knowledge and skills more freely. Make more time for meeting up with other makers. My friend Bonnie wrote me a lovely message about this. She said: "I make because it's how I express myself. Making is my way of contributing positive energy into the world. I know we end up with 'things' in the process. But when we consciously make something with intention and meaning, it becomes more than just a 'thing'. It becomes a connection in some way. I think there is a big difference between mindless making, and creative making. One has ego and disconnect and the other seems to bring us into the present moment with a desire for purpose and meaning."

* Work my way through my ''saved'' craft materials. I've realised that over the past few years, acquiring materials has almost become a pastime separate from my actual making. I don't regret that. I have had so much fun and enjoyment talking about yarns with friends, going to markets, online shopping, op-shopping and planning my purchases. But I'm also aware that I now have enough yarn, fabric and other supplies to keep me busy for the next year or two, and I really do want to use these lovely things, rather than just collect them. So I am going to start using up my very favourite supplies, in particular, the ones I have been ''saving''. After all, that's why I bought them in the first place.

* Keep re-using, recycling and buying secondhand wherever I can. Catherine left an excellent comment about this on my previous post. She wrote that she's now aware of having a well-stocked wardrobe, so instead of making something completely new, she'll consider embellishing an existing garment, such as embroidering a shirt, etc. She also mentioned that she tries to slow the making process down, in order to enjoy it more and be less material-focused. For example, feeling okay about un-ravelling knitting if it's not right, or re-doing something. I would like to work on this as I can be very impatient with my work at times. Another reader, Laura, wrote: "Mindfully creating and repurposing and reusing materials is great and I hope you continue to make things that bring you joy." She mentions the way children draw over and over on paper that may or may not end up in the recycling bin, as an essential way to express themselves or even just to pass time and practice mark-making and pen-holding. On a very similar note, Felicia has an interesting post on her blog: Craft as a project vs craft as a practice which is definitely worth a read. As is all of her blog.

* Start again slowly. I'm trying to re-introduce some creative practice each day, and not put too much pressure on myself to start/complete or even make much progress on projects.

If you're feeling the same way these days, I hope these ideas might work for you too. Thank you as always for visiting here.