Life as craft
I’m an unfaithful crafter. During my recent cleaning and re-organizing of the craft supplies, it came to light that I have substantial amounts of materials for the following hobbies:
1. Knitting (duh)
2. Spinning (also duh)
3. Crochet
4. Dyeing
5. Shibori
6. Calligraphy
7. Watercolor painting
8. Acrylic painting
9. Sewing
10. Beadwork
11. Embroidery
12. Scrapbooking
13. Ukranian Pysanky
14. Soft-glass lampworking
I knew in a vague sense that I had a lot of crafting material, but reorganizing it all really brought it home to me. And the thing is--I'm not very good at any of them. Oh, sure, I can knit 3/4 of a sweater or a pair of socks. I can crochet afghans, I can dye cotton and wool and silk. I can produce the odd painting or calligraphy for a Christmas gift, I can sew and bead and embroider (Ugh. I hate embroidery.). But I never really take the time to master anything. I never get to the "art" level. I steam ahead into every new project, but I peter out at the end.
I need to learn craft commitment. My new goal is to really master something. Knitting, to be specific. I want to get really, really good at it. That's going to require a lot of work, most of it in the form of finishing the many UFOs that are lying around the house. I hereby pledge that I shall finish one UFO in between every new project I start. I know I can't promise not to start things, but if I give myself an every-other-project diet of UFOs, I think I can make a dent in this thing. It'll be tough, but I shall persevere.
P.S. If you like history, don't forget to check out PastCast.net, where every week my husband and I produce a new historical podcast. This week's is on Douglas MacArthur. See you on the radio.
1. Knitting (duh)
2. Spinning (also duh)
3. Crochet
4. Dyeing
5. Shibori
6. Calligraphy
7. Watercolor painting
8. Acrylic painting
9. Sewing
10. Beadwork
11. Embroidery
12. Scrapbooking
13. Ukranian Pysanky
14. Soft-glass lampworking
I knew in a vague sense that I had a lot of crafting material, but reorganizing it all really brought it home to me. And the thing is--I'm not very good at any of them. Oh, sure, I can knit 3/4 of a sweater or a pair of socks. I can crochet afghans, I can dye cotton and wool and silk. I can produce the odd painting or calligraphy for a Christmas gift, I can sew and bead and embroider (Ugh. I hate embroidery.). But I never really take the time to master anything. I never get to the "art" level. I steam ahead into every new project, but I peter out at the end.
I need to learn craft commitment. My new goal is to really master something. Knitting, to be specific. I want to get really, really good at it. That's going to require a lot of work, most of it in the form of finishing the many UFOs that are lying around the house. I hereby pledge that I shall finish one UFO in between every new project I start. I know I can't promise not to start things, but if I give myself an every-other-project diet of UFOs, I think I can make a dent in this thing. It'll be tough, but I shall persevere.
P.S. If you like history, don't forget to check out PastCast.net, where every week my husband and I produce a new historical podcast. This week's is on Douglas MacArthur. See you on the radio.
posted by Lorraine at 3:15 PM
2 Comments:
Personally, I think that if one's projects are all completed then it's time to die. If this is true then I'll outlive Methusela... along with most of the people out there with knitting/craft blogs. Besides, remaining faithful to loved ones is more important than remaining faithful to a project. (I use this argument on my husband when he starts complaining). Happy knitting, crocheting, quilting, painting, needlepoint, spinning, dyeing, etc.!
You, Cindy, and I should have a craft closet bazaar where we can trade supplies. Oh yes...
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