Many of us who make, make in a variety of crafts. My obsession is mostly with fibres and yarns these days, in previous times it was in fabrics and thread.
No matter what crafts I am doing, it’s not the end product that gives me the most joy. The product for me is like icing on the cake, it finishes the whole process off. I’m not a maker for the the end product. I make for the joy that the making process itself brings.
Challenging myself to learn new techniques, playing with colour and textures, constructing and making in new ways. This is the reason I make. It keeps my brain engaged and learning. Ensuring that my brain continues to be healthy and growing making new pathways and connections. I recently read ( via Audible) Habits of A Happy Brain by Loretta Grazziano Breuning. A great listen that made me reflect on my own mental health and how imporant Knit Spin Weave is to me, connecting me with other creative people and inspiring me to continue to make.
I love the challenge of trying new techniques. This week I started my very first Graphgan. I’m a very visual learner and get most of my instructions from a Google image search. I’m not one to sit through videos, I prefer to see the big picture in one image rather than wade through a video. We all learn in different ways, something I really see in many of my workshops and classes. Some of us, just need to be shown, others need the step by step spoken directions, others need to have me guide their hands. One of the joys of being a teacher is seeing how others learn and knowing that we are all so unique in how we do things.
I found this site very useful in understanding how to work a Corner to Corner (C2C) crochet blanket:
And this is where I got the graph from for the sailboat:
I agree with the process-over-the-product. Someone once told me that spinning thinner yarn and plying three strands together was “a waste of time” over spinning thicker, tow-ply yarn. Not for all the enjoyment and relaxation I got out of it!
And learning new techniques? Yep!