Stash Less - A challenge.

The series where we talk about having a thoughtful stash.

First up today I want to say a big big thank you for all your suggestions about classes for next year. Many things you suggested are already on the list but there other things I hadn't even thought of. So thanks. We start planning for next year this weekend....

The winner of our giveaway - that receives the lovely Tessuti pattern bundle - was Robin Spencer. Congrats Robin - I will be in touch!

Stash Less - A challenge.

So one of the things that came out of being away this year was some thought about, and awareness of, the daily choices we are making about the way we live. Living out of a bag, a tent and a car meant we were often thinking about stuff; what we needed, how much we needed, and what we could do without. Arriving home a week ago brought into focus the stark contrast between the tent and our home, and highlighted that at home we have been perhaps a little less conscious about what we are bringing into our lives. Walking in to my sewing space clarified that there need to be some changes. Today's post is about one of those changes. I'm starting a year long challenge to stash less. I want to talk about how stashing helps and hinders us, and I want to regain my consciousness. And I'm taking you along for the ride - in part to keep me accountable but also to further the discussion about "stuff" through the lense of handmaking.

But first a little bit of context.

Consciously creating objects of utility and/or beauty for myself and my family has been part of my life now for nearly ten years. I think something up, a combination of materials and a form, and then I make it. Sometimes I don't even do the thinking part. I pick something up as I walk past the sewing space and find that 5 minutes later I have a hat on the needles. There are sparkly things in that room. Things that sing to me as I walk past to hang out the washing. So much possibility.

The lovely Maura from Folk Fibers recently captioned an instagram post with "In the presence of good materials, hopes grow and possibilities multiply."

And I truly believe that is so so true. But I also think that there can be too much of a good thing. And that maybe that is where I am at.

When I started making things I started with nothing - no materials, no supplies in a cupboard. I remember purchasing my first pattern, yarn and needles in a department store in the UK and setting off on my first project. I was excited and light. I didn't even own a knitting bag as there was no way I could knit anywhere other than my couch due to the sheer force of concentration required to get the string around the sticks.

But then slowly something happened. Over time I made things and wanted to make more things. I purchased a metre of fabric here, and some yarn there. Sometimes it was on sale but more often because it was pretty and I wanted to make X with it. And sometimes I purchased even though I knew I didn't have time to make the X, because I wanted the option to make it as soon as I had the time. But the time never came.

And things add up. And now there is a room. And there is stuff. Too much stuff.

Stating the obvious - daily life involves many choices. Choices of how to spend our money, what to bring into our home, what to eat, where to buy our food from. We talk about it a lot in our family; one of the main messages we are always trying to get across to our kids is that "Stuff doesn't make you happy". The excited feeling you get when you get something new only lasts a fleeting moment for most things. And then you start feeling desire for something newer.

And that is the thing. I know this and yet for some reason where crafting and craft supplies are concerned I give myself a free pass. I'm not conscious. I am not considered. I make decisions based on desire. And I want stop because I think there are problems associated with where I am at. Problems that affect my creativity, the feeling I get when I walk into my sewing space but also simply how I feel about myself when I am purchasing. It's starting to not feel so good.

Many an article has been written about the optimal size of a stash. And I believe in having one. But I know for me I will feel lighter having gone through this process and I believe it will do good things for my making, forcing me to be more conscious about my purchasing choices and the materials I use to create.

I'll explain the details of my challenge next week - I have set myself some rules to follow - but in the mean time I'd love to hear your thoughts about stashing. Do you do it? Do you like/love it? Do you feel overwhelmed by it? Does it affect your making?

I'll be back tomorrow with a new weekly-ish segment. Happy days.

Felicia x

In an atmosphere of growth.

The best source of books we found while travelling was in secondhand bookshops in capital cities. It makes sense – they are places where there are lots of English speaking travellers. A couple of weeks ago while perusing what was on offer, I stumbled across The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It was published in 2009 and the jist of it is that Gretchen spent a year testing out different theories around how to be happier. Pretty early on in the book she comes up with what she calls her First Splendid Truth. 

“To be happier, you have to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.”

— The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

That last bit struck me as a really interesting part of why I (and you?) make and create. It’s the learning. The nutting stuff out. The not-understanding that then becomes understanding. Such an all-consuming, sometimes frustrating and ultimately joyful process. 

A lot of the craft that I’ve done while I was away was craft as comfort. Easy, thoughtless, habit based craft. It’s kept me company and helped me stay calm through the chaos, and lately, the queues that have been part of many of our every days. 

But the craft that really made my heart sing was the colourwork jumper. I made mistake after mistake (I’ll show you some of them another day in a post about colourwork) and the finished product is far from perfect. But I learnt things about colourwork technique (which at the start I didn’t know anything about) and about combining colours. The exciting part was not that I achieved perfection (I didn’t) but that I worked it out. As my friend Anna’s friend Gina would say – It was the piece you need to make, so that you can make the piece you really want to make.

Something else I heard in a podcast this week was that "clarity comes from engagement not thought". Such a useful idea. I often spend way too long thinking about projects rather than getting starting. While project planning is really important, it was a great reminder that I can’t always learn what I need to learn, to make what I want to make, just by thinking about a project. I often have to make to learn, and through the making the idea takes shape. There is something about the physical process of working with your hands to make an object from materials, that clarifies an idea in a way that just thinking about it can’t. Even if that means that the thing I really want to make is still one more project away. Practicing in the gap has taken me a step closer.

Growth requires focus and in the focus we find the joy.

Felicia x

PS. There are only three days to go!!

The post with some swearing.

Alrighty then. So this isn't what I was going to post about AND I don't want to actually say it out loud, but it was suggested to me (by my friend Tiger) that maybe if I blog about it I might feel better. I'm sorry to say that I can't see how that would be possible but I am going to give it a go. 

I bl*&dy well just totally bl$#dy f*&king well felted my favourite ever knit. Just now!!

I spoke about James here but you don't even need to go to that post to see just how perfect she was. She was the perfect sweater. I wore her all the time. All the time! I loved her and I am sad.

And just a tad angry with myself. An experienced knitter and handwasher and I f#$king felted her. FELTED!!!

Perfect fit and she was made from Blue Sky Metalico which is the most beautiful naturally shaded Alpaca Silk blend.

Perfect amount of flare.

I know all of you lovely knitters must have done it at some stage in your knitting life. So I'm putting the call out -  can you please tell me some felting stories to ease my pain…. Make them painful. Make them funny. I don't mind….

yours in solidarity and pain.

Felicia x

Making as a habit

I often get asked how I make so many things….. “especially with the three kids and the travel – I don’t know how you do it?” A while ago I wrote a blog post that describes many of the ways I fit in crafting time. But last week I read something that made me think that that blog post had missed something rather important. Yes - all those ways to fit in craft are totally true. For example I do craft on-the-go and make sure I have things dotted around the house. But I think there is a better way to sum up my productivity and that is – I have made craft a habit.

This year I have been trying to start running again. Since having my third kid (many years ago!) I haven't been exercising regularly and I really want to fix it.  I try in spits and spurts but nothing really sticks. Then this week I came across this article in an old magazine about this idea called #runstreak. With #runstreak you commit to running a mile a day, every day, for as long as the streak lasts (some people do a year, some a month etc). No days off. Part of the idea is that by making a commitment to do the streak, you turn off the internal “should I, shouldn’t I, maybe today I will, or I won’t” rubbish that goes on when you have days off, and over time running becomes a habit. Now I know this internal dialogue is a barrier for me – I find excuses and make it hard when it doesn’t need to be. It is as simple as a. put on sneakers then b. walk out door. 

I got to thinking that while at the moment running isn’t a habit, making and crafting totally is. I always pick some craft up on the way out the door along with my keys, wallet, mobile and camera. I pick up some craft when I have my mid-morning coffee or am watching a movie, or when I have completed a good run of housework. I always knit at school pickup, while the kid is at violin, while I am a passenger in the car. I always try to sew a few seams while they are in the bath.

Making habitually is littered throughout my life. Almost like breathing. I just do it, without thought. It really is just part of my everyday. 

That is not to say that everything I make is like this. Obviously some things require thought and planning, time and space, but I always have projects underway that can be done without thought. Which is how the majority of my making happens.

Taking photos for me is now also the same; habitual. The camera is often in my hand as we travel, and I do it almost without thinking. Sometimes I consciously put it away in order to make sure I don’t take photos and am able to just be. And it is the same with my craft. If I want to be sure I don't pick it up then I need to put it away as the habit is so ingrained.

One of those times when the camera was put away on purpose. This photo was all I took when walking from Vernazza to Corniglia in the Cinque Terre.

I cast on the cowl in the photos for this exact purpose – to have something to make habitually. At the time everything else I was working on required thought. The cardigan was also made in the same way. Easy knitting to be done with my fingers and not with my head.

Suggestions for how to make crafting a habit.

 1. Start small

One of the articles I found while reading about #runstreak gave 29 ways to successfully ingrain a new habit. The jist of the article was that habits are hard to change and so you need to start small and only try to change one thing at a time. Start with just 5 minutes a day of your new activity. The idea is that the new habit would slowly become like having a shower or brushing your teeth.

2. Choose a trigger activity

Another suggestion from the article (when adapted to crafting rather than running) was that you should choose one thing that you want to be a trigger – tv, cartrips, school pickup. Just try to have a project ready for that activity each time you do it.

You will be surprised what you achieve by doing a single stitch here and there.

Is your crafting habitual or do you try to carve out crafting time?  For many of you I am guessing that like me it is both?

Felicia x

But "why"?

So I was on a bridge the other day when a woman complimented my girls on their frocks. My middle kid started telling the woman that her mum made them, and that I make most of their clothes*. And the woman ……well she said “why?”

Because you are reading the blog I’m going to assume that you understand why. But as I’m totally feeling the craft joy over the last few days I thought I would list a few just in case you want some easy answers if you are ever asked. I’d love to hear some more in the comments.

I've started two new projects in the last week and both of them are totally doing it for me in different ways. Project 1 is the Brooklyn Tweed Shale Baby Blanket and Project 2 is another version of Granny’s Favourite but with colourwork rather than the lace.

Without further ado here are my reasons “why”!

The pure happiness you have inside when lost in making

I talked about it a little bit in my last post – about the thrill of doing something you get lost in.  I saw this TED talk the other night which was talking about when we are truly happy. She said that it was often when we weren’t caught up in our ego and were totally lost in what we are doing. There are other places in my life where that happens but craft is the biggest.

The joy of starting something new

After finishing something big I often give myself permission to get my cast on (it would be my sew on too except that I am still far from home without a hoop or sewing machine). And humans seem to love a bit of new don’t they.  Pure excitement.

The sensual thrill of working with beautiful materials

I’m using Pear Tree Supersoft to make the yellow baby blanket in the pictures. This yarn is probably my all time favourite yarn but sadly the company is no more. However after extensive stalking of people’s Ravelry stash, due to the fact I love the yarn and due to the fact my SIL loves this colour (she is the one having the baby!), I finally turned up some of more of this yarn. I don’t even want to think about it’s transport miles, but the feeling of this yarn, the softness, the thick, the thin running through your hands is pure sensual joy! It truly is supersoft and yet it retains it’s sturdiness and has structure. It has a special place in my heart and so every time I am working with it I am aware of its qualities. It is all in the fingertips.

The meditative joy of making something for someone special

The baby blanket to me is also much more than the joy of working with the beautiful yarn. Attached to it is all the sentiment and love for the new person who will be born and receive it. Thoughts about that baby (and his/her lovely older sibiling) mean that knitting this blanket is a meditation of sorts on the love to come.

The absolute excitement of coming up with an idea that sings

We have been travelling for over four months now and one child has done that growing thing in spades. Her only cardy has sleeves that are almost at her elbows, so I thought I would whip her up something before I headed home for The Craft Sessions. I have been enjoying colourwork so much I wanted to do a little more, but when choosing from my box in the car I had super limited options. I used two yarns I wouldn’t normally have thought to pair and I made a little magic. By accident. I cannot put this thing down I am so excited. 

What have I missed?

Felicia x

*possibly not entirely true anymore as there are three of them and they seem to be growing quicker than I can keep up…