Friday, March 18, 2011

Is it bad...

.... that the thing I'm most careful to pack on a Confirmation trip is my knitting projects? ;-)

Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Other Things

For three years, knitting has consumed my free time. I'm not complaining - it's been a wonderful thing, and the companionship of needles and yarn is surpassed only by the new companions I've found through this craft.

However....

When the squirrel invaded us this week, I went up to the third floor to ascertain how "Nutsy" had gained access. What I discovered (other than that he came down through the ceiling of one of the front rooms) was a much neglected craft room. Stacks of fabric, jars of beads, tubes of acrylics and oil gathering dust next to lampworking material and scrapbooking supplies. And, in the center of it all, my sewing machine and my 45" loom.

It all looked so lonely.

My heart jumped a bit. This was a place that for many years had offered solace as well as nurtured dreams.... and it was all simply sitting there.

It's not that I don't love those other crafts, I've decided. It's simply that those other crafts are far more portable and sociable than knitting. Still, the balance of finding solitude alongside companionable knitting is attractive - especially during Lent.

So.

I'm going to continue to knit and spin. Those still bring me joy and allow me to spend time with wonderful women with incredible talents and a similar passion for the yarn. But I'm also going to spend time apart - on my third floor, reclaiming my craft area and using some of the non-yarnish stash that I've gathered there. It will mean less knitting at home, and at this juncture, that feels as it should. I've got two small projects (fuzzy feet for Dad and a Misselthwaite for a friend) that need to be finished, but after that? Who knows what forgotten jewel I'll re-discover?!