{"id":127,"date":"2011-01-06T18:29:48","date_gmt":"2011-01-07T02:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/?p=127"},"modified":"2011-01-06T18:29:48","modified_gmt":"2011-01-07T02:29:48","slug":"practicing-creativity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/?p=127","title":{"rendered":"Practicing Creativity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s theme seems to be about creativity.\u00c2\u00a0 It seemed like everywhere I clicked on the interwebs or each blog feed I read had something to say on the subject.\u00c2\u00a0 I tend to sit up and take notice when something keeps popping up.\u00c2\u00a0 So I thought a bit about it as I was doing the laundry, putting dinner on eight hours early (slow cookers are fabulous!), and cleaning up the house.<\/p>\n

I used to be in a creative profession.\u00c2\u00a0 A “designer.”\u00c2\u00a0 Though really, even then my employers relied more heavily on my technical abilities so that it wasn’t all about being creative.\u00c2\u00a0 At that time I crocheted – a lot.\u00c2\u00a0 I churned out afghan after afghan for my close and extended family.<\/p>\n

My work life has progressively gotten less creative.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t get me wrong, problem solving creativity and that kind of thing is still present.\u00c2\u00a0 I mean in the artistic sense.\u00c2\u00a0 When the balance finally tipped toward work being non-creative, I unconsciously took action to balance it outside of work.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s when I started regularly attending a knitting\/crocheting meet-up and being creative on a schedule.\u00c2\u00a0 Meaning that at least once a week I made myself sit down and stitch on something.\u00c2\u00a0 That hasn’t stopped either.\u00c2\u00a0 Every time I moved to a new city, the first thing I did was seek out a group of like-minded stitchers to join.\u00c2\u00a0 Even if I only work on a project at the meet-up, that dose manages to undo most of the stress and frustration of the past week.\u00c2\u00a0 And if I get to squeeze in two<\/em> meet-ups in a week…Whoa!<\/em><\/p>\n

I can also see my stitchy creativity evolving.\u00c2\u00a0 I love directions and how-to’s.\u00c2\u00a0 When I began crocheting I always<\/em> followed a pattern.\u00c2\u00a0 Then I slowly began to be comfortable with how the stitches combined to make different designs in the fabric and I took cues from patterns but didn’t follow them exactly.\u00c2\u00a0 I finally got so brave as to create something without a pattern.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I think I am finally at that first evolution point with my knitting.\u00c2\u00a0 After the whirlwind of productivity over the last several months, I have enough projects under my belt to feel comfortable with the stitches and construction.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m ready to take cues and branch off the pattern pages.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve already taken a few baby steps.\u00c2\u00a0 I worked this Kindle sleeve using a stitch pattern for the cable as a cue and making up the rest.\u00c2\u00a0 It required several tries and lots of ripping out, but I like the result.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I did the same for this hat.\u00c2\u00a0 Though I’ve done enough hats now that I didn’t need to rip back very often.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I want to keep pushing myself in this direction.\u00c2\u00a0 I want to rediscover how to brainstorm a design, draw it out, and then create it.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s painful to say, but I think I’ve forgotten how to draw or doodle.\u00c2\u00a0 There is a blank notebook just for this purpose within easy reach, and next to it are my trusty pencil and eraser.\u00c2\u00a0 Have I used them?\u00c2\u00a0 No.\u00c2\u00a0 What’s stopping me?\u00c2\u00a0 No idea.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe that darned practical voice in my head is louder than it used to be.\u00c2\u00a0 It keeps saying that I can’t just doodle, drawing has to have a purpose, and my doodles aren’t artistic enough.\u00c2\u00a0 Like everything I draw has to be perfect or something.\u00c2\u00a0 Silly, isn’t it.<\/p>\n

So here’s the plan.<\/p>\n