The fits and starts of creativity in my world have continued to be pretty wild, despite my best intentions…
And you know what they say about the road to hell ๐
When I started writing about my works in progress (WIPs) last year, I was filled with inspiration and energy…
Which ebbed and flowed and ebbed and flowed again.
Kind of like my writing here in general, but I digress.
I set deadlines for myself (Christmas for the embroidery, Spring for the crochet) and those helped…
I finished the thistle embroidery a few days before Christmas and was able to gift it as planned.
The new year brought all kinds of fun challenges but I found my final boost of energy over the last two weeks and completed the remaining two Make Along (MAL) crochet projects I’d committed myself to.
There are truly seasons for everything and creativity is no exception. Thank goodness the only timeline I’m on is the one I give myself.
The first to be completed was the Lacey Crochet MAL which involved not only crocheting lace for the very time, but also involved learning how to read a pattern. It all stretched my brain in ways I couldn’t have imagined and I’m super proud of myself for completing it.
I’m even fantasizing about another lacey creation… sometime in the future ๐
Next up was the Season’s Feelings MAL I committed to in November.
While I’d consistently tracked my feelings throughout the Holiday Season, I’d fallen off on crocheting the corresponding Granny Squares each week after week four.
And then I kinda forgot about it all as my yarn basket fell into the shadows…
Until a little over a week ago when I remembered my self-imposed Spring deadline and worked feverishly to complete the weekly squares, join them, and border it all to bring it all into one cohesive piece.
I brough it all with me to visit my bestie in Texas last weekend and sat weaving ends on the first day of Spring while we ate popcorn and watched Sinners (I highly recommend this movie if you haven’t seen it yet but, warning, it is an emotional watch).
Down to the wire, and done! Perfection!
It’s truly a comfy MAXI scarf at nearly eight feet long and will keep me so very warm if we ever experience a true Winter here again.
I also want to add how nice it has been to reflect on the Holiday Season and how my emotions shifted from day to day. It is affirming to see, in color, how few sad, mad, and scared days I had, amidst all the holiday and worldwide chaos, especially in comparison to all the powerful, joyful, and peaceful days I was enveloped by…
And, truly, especially considering the after-Christmas-slump-followed-by-injury-and-sickness I experienced.
Whew!
And so now I’m thinkin about what might come next on my creative journey!
I’ve fallen off of the creative journal illustration kick I was on for a bit and would like to find that groove again but am also thinking about a simple embroidery project. Whatever it is I decide on, it needs to be something I can put down and pick up again when I have a few minutes without carrying the weight of a bigger project since we’re heading into Growing Season and the warming soil is calling me outside.
What have you been working on recently? Any projects made their way from WIPs to Finished or imagination to reality? I’d love to hear all about whatever you’re creating these days.
Onward,
Melissa
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The lacy scarf is stunning.
Thank you! I’m so pleased with it!
Congrats for sticking with it on all of these projects! I’m so into that thistle. It’s beautiful, even in (especially in) that muted lighting.
Thanks, Jessica! I love having WIPs going, but I always seem to hit a point when they all.must.be.finished ๐ And now I’m itching to begin again.
Not really a crafter, but I do admire those who are. (All my creative energies go into reading and writing.) I really like that embroidered thistle. Lucky recipient! The shawl is beautiful and that is some scarf. Yes, Sinners is an excellent movie!
Thank you for your kind words, Laurie ๐ Reading and writing are fantastic directions to point your creative energy! Sometimes I focus in a specific direction, but there’s just so much I *want to do.
I got inspired to rewrite my WIP list (again) over the weekend. I’ve decided it’s much more exciting to make a list of projects and schedule them than actually do them. ha. I’m also remembering that I have too many projects actually in-progress at any given time, which is frustrating. So I’m working on that.
Your thistle embroidery is beautiful. My daughter has begun doing projects like this and it’s been such a fun way to create gifts for her friends.
I still haven’t seen Sinners but I want to. I’m concerned it’ll be too scary for me though. What do you think?
I love that you intentionally noticed how your emotions shifted. Such a good exercise.
It’s so hard to be so inspired, isn’t it? ๐ Just have to remind ourselves that the whole point is enjoyment, not pressure.
Sinners was more intense than scary, IMHO. The focus is largely on our personal relationships, our humanity, and how groups have done irreparable harm to other groups (and how power can be reclaimed). Vampires don’t make their way into the story until pretty far into the storyline and there are very few jump scares. If you are feeling solid and have some heart space available, I cannot recommend it enough.
Well, maybe I should Sinners a try! Thanks for the hand-holding. ๐ That’s what I needed to get me over the hump.