Getting Creative

You know what I love most about the creative process? Seeing something come together from bits and pieces of other stuff.

I love to make stuff. Some days I make words, stringing them into sentences then sentences into paragraphs and paragraphs into stories. It's less visual than most creative projects, but no less satisfying. I love when I hit my rhythm and the words just flow. (Fascinating concept from psychology about Flow or being in the Zone.)

But some days my brain just won't make words. I stare at the blank screen or re-run the last couple of paragraphs of whatever I'm working on but nothing comes out right. A lot of times, I can push through it. If I start getting words down, eventually it will flow. But not every day.

So I have other projects.

I piece quilts. I love playing with the different colors and patterns. I never quite know how it's going to work out until I unfold the finished block or quilt top and see how it all goes together. The sum is definitely greater than the parts. Most of the time it looks gorgeous. Sometimes, though, I chose the fabrics poorly and it just isn't what I expected.

I also love crocheting. Taking skeins and balls of yarn and turning them into fun things. I do a lot of little animals, which are fun to make but can also be a pain to stitch together. I pick and choose the patterns. I'm currently making an afghan and having a ball choosing colors for each row. I'm only following the pattern for the stitches, the colors are all mine. (If you're into crocheting, knitting, or spinning, check out Ravelry.com. It's an excellent resource. And you can find me under vampiresquid. Send a friend request. I'd love to chat.)

And then there is the jewelry making. It can be fun, but mostly I just love playing with all the sparkly beads.

The kitchen is also a great place to get creative. Most of the time I make edible food. Sometimes, it's fantastic. And every once in a while, I cook something awful.

Being creative fills a need. I need to do something with my hands. I love to see quilts I've made on the beds. I love to snuggle under afghans I've made. I love to see people enjoying the food I've cooked. And I love to hear from people who have enjoyed my stories.

What do you do to get creative? What types of things do you enjoy making?

Yarn is My Weakness

I love yarn. Every time I walk into a craft store or the megamart, I have to find the yarn aisle. I drool over the colors. I touch the skeins to feel the texture. Is that yarn as soft as it looks? Is that one scratchy? How thin is that one? How fat and lumpy?

I adore the ombre yarns, the multicolored ones. Most of them are loud and scream, "I escaped from the seventies!", but that's what I love about them. When I work with them, I never know how the colors are going to turn out. That's part of what attracts me to them. They're chaos and anarchy in a bundle of fiber, but not really. There is a pattern to them, an order, but the only way to really see it is to make something with them.

This is where I run into problems. I get all fired up with ideas of what I'm going to do with that yarn. I know the exact thing I want to make from that gorgeous shade of lilac, or from that skein of mixed blues and purples and oranges, or from that whole pile of easter egg spring pastels. So I buy the yarn and bring it home. And it sits in my yarn bins because I either ran out of time or energy or I got bored with the idea or I can't find the pattern I was hoping to use.

Every once in a while I go on a burst of crocheting energy and finish stuff up, though. Yarn gets used. I work my way through skeins, leaving nothing but small balls of leftovers and finished projects behind.

My house would be overrun with crocheted doohickies except I've found ways to sell projects or give them away. It's all good. I keep the ones I really love.

I rarely crochet intricate things or fiddly patterns and I rarely use fine yarn and small hooks. Partly because I don't like fine work; my eyes are going bad and my coordination isn't the greatest. Crocheting little threads with tiny hooks is hard work, not what I'm usually craving when I sit down to crochet. I like to use thick yarn and big hooks and make things that work up quickly. I like to see progress.

Most of what I make are amigurumi - crocheted toys shaped like big-headed people or animals. It's fun, not too taxing on my eyes or brain, and people love them. Babies, especially, love the texture of the yarn and the squishiness of the toys. As long as I avoid using buttons for eyes, I'm good.

It's a creative escape. I get to play with fun colors and feel the yarn and end up with something at the end. The actual process can get boring, which is why I tend to stick to small projects. Working stitch after stitch of single crochet gets repetitive in a hurry, but sometimes that's what I crave. It's soothing. I get into a rhythm and just keep it going. I can see whatever it is I'm crocheting growing under my fingers. It's tactile, not intellectual.

And it gives me an excuse to buy more yarn. I really need more of that rainbow ombre...