CRAFTNICITY

5 Ways to Finish with Steam

2010-03-11T09:51:25-05:00

Looking around at all of my unfinished projects is sobering. I see you and I know what the problem is. I have "startitis," craft attention deficit disorder, or what the Yarn Harlot calls "frenzy of intention."

And I am not alone.

I know of only a few crafters who complete a project before starting another. Most of us juggle between several projects, working on a little bit here and there. But that makes sense to me.

Small portable projects, like a pair of socks, can be worked on while in waiting rooms or in the car. Larger projects or those that require more intense concentration are worked on at home. Okay, it works when it's manageable. But that's not all we have going on.

The real issue is that we're over-stimulated. We search online communities, buy craft magazines, electronically download patterns and go on yarn crawls...a lot; always drawing our attention to the next project.

For those who'd like to curb this craving, there is hope, here are a five ways to manage "start-itis":

Reduce the Stimulation
Limit yourself to reading craft magazines, visiting yarn or fabric shops, or pattern "window shopping" until you've completed a project.
Don't Queue
I love the online knitting and crochet community, Ravelry. One of its coolest features is that you can find projects you intend to work on and queue them. But they end up sitting there ready for you to start, calling your name, (kind of the way chocolate chip cookies do when you're watching what you eat). Rather than have a long list of queued projects (or cookies in the pantry),use the favorite feature (another cool feature) and queue only the one that is truly next when you get to it. It's less tempting to stop what you're working on and start something new.
Cross "Train"
I've found that I tend to put a project down and look for another one when I bored, e.g., doing repetitive stitching,or when the piece requires too much concentration, e.g., reading a colorwork chart. To stop the urge to start another project, We may want to take a page in the athletes' handbook.In the same way that bicycling may help an athlete's performance in skiing (building the quadriceps), reading a craft-related book or working in a different medium may stimulate you enough to come back to a project and complete it.
Make it a Game
Create a challenge that rewards you along the way from start to finish. During the Winter Olympics, Ravelry ran its very popular and creative Ravelympics. During Ravelympics, which had the same beginning and ending date as the 2010 Olympics,knitters and crocheters picked a project or projects and entered events in the hopes of joining fellow crafters on the podium of finished projects.

And, I did it. I'm a Ravethlete. I chose Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts and finished them, something I probably wouldn't have done had I not joined. Challenges like this are great fun and they work! It felt great to cross the finish line and get my medal. Look for fun opportunities that challenge you (and give out cool medals).
Anticipate Your Project's Goodies
Carefully select or create projects that give you something to anticipate from beginning to end. If you love knitting lace, for example,work on a project where the lace comes at the end. With the Endpaper Mitts I just mentioned, the pattern called for beginning and ending techniques that I had never done before.

By developing a few simple routines and strategies, you'll be able to reduce the number of works-in-progress and create excitement about finishing.

(Photo courtesy of mdove64)

Kids Just Don't Understand

2010-02-10T08:42:45-05:00

At home, I'm a free spirit. I laugh and joke and do silly dancing with my boys. It's freeing, playful and fun. My intention this year is to bring that sense of joy and abandon to my creative life.

But, that was until my 5-yo son got hold of some scissors and cut my knitting.

I knit a two-stranded hat. All that was left for me to do to finish it was to weave in the ends of many strands of yarn and make ties for the ear flaps.

It happened so quickly.

"Look mommy!"

He stood at the top of the steps -- hat on his head, scissors in his hand. He had cut off all the ends -- ends that will unravel the entire hat if you pull it just a little -- ends that were about six inches now cut down to one inch.

Okay, it's not that major. I looked up how to weave in the ends when they are too short. The instructions were to simply weave the tapestry needle through a few stitches and then thread the needle and pull through. Easy enough. But that's not the point.

I thought everyone understood the rule -- don't mess with mama's knitting.

My 15-yo understands. The other day he said, "I bet if I fell 50 feet, you'd say don't fall on my knitting."

Doesn't he know that I'd check to see if he was hurt after I rolled him off my knitting? Gosh!

Paper Crafts: 10 Stylish Cards to Make and Write On

2010-01-22T22:09:32-05:00

Last week, I got a handwritten notecard from my younger son's teacher in the mail. In the age of emails and texting, it was a welcomed surprise. I was actually pretty tickled by it.

January 23rd is National Handwriting Day, a day observed on John Hancock's birthday to encourage handwriting. In its honor, I decided to act on my new respect for paper crafts and make a vintage collage notecard.

Tomorrow, I'll write the teacher a note and put it in the mailbox. I even plan to hand-address it (instead of using Stamps.com) and put a stamp on it -- gasp!

In case you're feeling a little vintage and crafty, I thought I would share the links to 10 simple, stylish cards you can create. There's nothing nicer than to hand-write on something hand-made.

From Craft Stylish:

Review of Collage: Vintage Notecard Kit

2010-01-21T20:37:49-05:00

Fiber or paper?

I've always thought I had to choose. And if I had to choose, fiber and fabrics would always win out. Thank goodness there is no winning in mixed media and collage.

Collage: Vintage Notecard Kit by Maryjo Koch includes all the tools you need to create unique notecards -- over 90 decorative papers, notecards and envelopes, an instruction booklet, and even a glue stick.

What really makes this kit unique is the proportion wheel.

The proportion wheel is a resizing calculator. So if you want to create a collage project that is larger (e.g., a placemat) or smaller (e.g., a gift tag), the proportion wheel calculates a percentage. Entering in that percentage into a copier or scanner tells it how much to increase or decrease the size of your original collage.

I love that Koch thought of that little detail, a detail that could have scared away inexperienced crafters (or me -- I can do without copy machine drama).

The instruction booklet gives instructions for 12 additional collage projects and decorative technique tips to try.

What I appreciate most about this little kit is the way it has stimulated my imagination. I now look at paper, wallpaper, buttons, stamps, ephemera, fiber, and other household flotsam in a much more creative way.

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Available from Amazon.com

What Does Your Most Creative Year Smell Like?

2010-01-19T16:35:33-05:00

How creative do you want to be this year?

I guess the better question is how will you allow your creativity to manifest itself this year?

Creativity is natural, but we all know that it can get stifled by life's circumstances -- no time, no money -- whatever.

Last week, I listened in on one of Artella's member teleclasses called "Creative Calensure." It focused on ways to move intention to action in order to ensure that we would have our most creative year yet.

We were encouraged to look at what having the most creative year of our lives would feel like, look like, taste like, smell like, and then plan a variety of projects for each month. It was a cool way to look at setting intentions and goals.

It helps me move forward when I'm part of a group with one intention. I like the structure of having a group or class, as long as you can do what want within the group. Having a little bit of structure in my chaos works for me.

Here are 3 ideas that may help you have your most creative year:

Creative Every Day Challenge
What I love about this challenge is that it forces you to widen your definition of what being creative is. From the website, "It doesn't have to be something art-related. Your creative acts could be in cooking, taking pictures, knitting, doodling, writing, dancing, decorating, singing, playing with your kids, brainstorming ideas, gardening, or making art in the form of collage, paint, or clay...or whatever!" Love it!

Fiber Arts/Mixed Media 2010 Monthly Experiment
Play with a new art technique each month. If you have a lot of magazines and books, this is a great way to actually use some of the techniques to create something that stretches your imagination.

Set a Submit Schedule
It may be time to take your "big girl/boy pill" and submit your work (play). I have always been interested in the ArtBra calendar and exhibit by A Way to Women's Wellness. By the way, the deadline to submit to the 2011 calendar is April 1.

It seems like everyone is looking for submissions. Once you figure out things you're interested in, you can look for projects and check each one's submission guidelines.

(Photo courtesy of laffy4k)