crochet

ARE YOU A LOST CREATOR?

/ helbergfarmstories / 1 Comment

I am a creator, and I am lost.  I get so overwhelmed with the daily happenings that I have not had time to even step into my craft room (yes, I am in tears).  My crafts have been calling to me – LOUDLY!  I know that they all miss me, too.  I used to drift into my favorite room and get lost in there all day (sometimes several days – oops-haha). 

I have my yarnie stuffs that can keep me busy, but they are all for Christmas gifts right now and not as enjoyable.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE making stuff for loved ones for Christmas, but I have several other crafts I am longing for.

  • Card making
  • Beading & jewelry
  • Calligraphy
  • Drawing
  • Watercolor painting

Each of the above creativities pulls from my heart and soul.  I put meticulous moments into all that I do with them.  To me, they are my more creative endeavors. 

Don’t get me wrong, I do love my yarnie creations, but they all start with a pattern.  I say “start with” because I inevitably tweak almost every pattern I come across.  I thank the original creators for their awesome ideas, but it’s in my nature to make adjustments that just work better to me or for me.

When I am in my craft room (fyi – no yarnie stuff in there at all – not allowed!), my imagination soars!!

Lately, too many things have kept me away:

  • First, it was massive rains – I mean flooding downpours.
  • Can’t mow when it’s that wet, so had to hold off on that (yep, that came back to bite me in the butt).
  • Then, a major heat wave.  I am talking 100+ degrees – OUCH!  This, of course, caused the weeds to run amok.
  • Heat wave plus weeds equals more gardening requirements.
    • Special watering routine that now takes about 5-6 hours per day.
    • Special weeding to keep the bindweed away from the veggies.
    • Special pest control – the grasshoppers and cabbage moths are out of control!

I do have things we have done and installed this year to help:

  • Special driplines everywhere we can.
  • Natural grasshopper killer – only interests them and no other bugs (my ladybugs, mantis, and lace wings are safe).  We used to be able to order it online from a place in Montana (Planet Natural), but they changed hands, and with it, of course, went the good stuff.  I did find a very similar item online, but it has to be ordered in the middle of winter because by spring, it’s sold out.
  • Light cover cloth to keep the cabbage moths at bay.
  • We also installed five new plots this year to better target garden areas instead of having to handle a massive area.

Even with all the upgrades and helpful items, much of my day is still shot.  Noonish equals lunch and then the household chores: dishes, trash, setups for the next day, everyday day-to-day necessities.  By now, it is late afternoon and relaxing before bed (a whole other disaster-trying actually to sleep).  This is not the moment to try to pull out a creative mind.  This is also the time the yarn projects get worked on.  I can easily watch TV, relax, and work on a project without having to review the pattern continually.  Once I have the pattern down, it’s stuck.

That is one thing about being a yarnie I am thankful for, no-brainer pattern work. 

So, back to my original question: Are you a lost creator too?  What do you do to survive?

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SO WHAT’S WRONG WITH A YOUNG ADDICTION?

/ helbergfarmstories / 11 Comments

Don’t you just love a good addiction?  My first one started when I was only seven years old, and my parents put me into 4-H.  We had cattle, horses and lots of other farming things that I could have worked on and taken to the fair – but nooo – I chose to take a shot at knitting.  YES, with yarn – now how scary is that?

I have no clue what attracted me to it.  My mother would crochet once in a while (in a very long while), but it was not one of her passions.  I still remember the very first pair of needles I picked up.  I swear there was some type of chemical on them that the moment I touched them I became obsessed!  It was (and still very much is) an addiction.  The very first thing I ever created was called “The Pixie Slipper” – I won first prize – blue ribbon.  It was the ugliest thing anyone ever suggested for a pattern.  Real easy to do for a first-timer, but still ugly.  What brought all this up?  The pattern is back – EEEKKK!

You can find tons of all types of handmade slippers (and just about everything else) on eBay or Etsy.  I have searched and used both, but this one just made me giggle:

pixie-slippers

(you can click on the pic to take you to the site for more info)

Other than the major curling in the toes, it is pretty much the same old pattern.  Funny, the whole thing is just one big square?!?  If you go here: https://www.etsy.com/market/pixie_slippers  you can find a ton of variations to this project – who would have thought?

I remember putting such effort into that project.  There was just something about the feel of the needles that hooked me (yes, pun intended).  It then became the different feel of the yarns and fibers.  When I went to the fair after judging, I spotted so many other beautiful projects that kids just like me had done, and I was instantly drugged!  I would never be the same innocent me again – yarn – the culprit!

Now that I am older (notice I did not say wiser!?), I have come to realize it was not the yarn’s fault…it was the needles!  Well, it’s not really their fault either…it’s my tiny hands and fingers and MY PIANO TEACHER!!  Dun, dun, daaaa – the plot thickens!

hands-on-piano

Her method of teaching us (yep, little sis and I both had to take piano lessons – mom insisted!) was to wack the back of our hands if we didn’t reach an octave.  (Those that are lucky and have never had to, check out a piano some time – try to reach eight keys with your thumb on one and pinky on the other – that’s an octave.)  I couldn’t because of my short little fingers.  But, if I lowered my hand I could just reach the corners and make it – NOT ALLOWED – WACK! 

“You must pretend you have a golf ball stuck under your palm – this is how you must play!”  Wack – again…never did get that setup – BUT – I still tried.  Then on I was always sticking something in my hands, between my fingers (ok, sometimes up the nose – hee hee), working and trying to make them longer.  Didn’t work.  So, instead, I learned how to be more creative.  My favorite reading is “how-to’s” and love learning new things and techniques.  I love to write, draw, paint and all the other fun things you do with fingers…but the best, and most favorite, is still the original – KNITTING!

 

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