February a bit lacking for me creatively. That happens when you spend most of the month on the road. I had high hopes for our trip. I planned to make progress on the handstitched periwinkle stars; and, more hopefully, I wanted to get the two and half fabric collection ideas out of my head and into a digital form. I failed on both counts... astoundingly failed. Neither of these projects were touched at all.
What I did do was manage to do was crochet these little guys in time to share them with friends. Black embroidery floss for the eyes is the only thing that foiled absolutely completion. Kira the Kangaroo is a part of Lalylala's wonderful crocheted critter range. I stumbled on the range when I was looking for a fox pattern. I own both the fox and kangaroo pattern, and really want to make the cactus boy!
Quite honestly, our trip kept us hopping, and I found far less time for creating that I'd expected. I'm stoked to have finished this one using the last of my Avril grey yarn along with some Rowan cotton in my stash. I realized though that I needed to rethink my creative discipline.
In the back of my head, I remembered Rachel recommending Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit. I picked up a copy and hope it will help me get past a few of the mental roadblocks that I've been having as I extend my creative work.
Luckily February is short and March seems to be on a better course. Today, I finished another row for my value-based Bargain Basement quilt. Theoretically this quilt should have been finished and quilted in October before our quilt along. I knew it needed more, so I went back at with some of the new prints that I picked up during my vacation. I popped this row onto the quilt on this morning. I'm going to stew on it a bit more and decided what more it needs before bordering it up and quilting it off.
Do you find yourself struggling at times with creative discipline? I always meet deadlines with rare exception; but when things aren't schedule driven, I fall apart. I'm really hoping The Creative Habit will help with both discipline and confidence while I try new things. Do you have a tried and true secret?
I love The Creative Habit. Fabulous ideas, and well written too.
ReplyDeleteThe mama and baby kangaroo are so sweet, and I actually quite like them without faces! Maybe because you can imagine them with any expression at all.
ReplyDeleteOn creative discipline, I almost think the struggle is part of the process. That said, I've been reading your blog for a while, and I hope you don't mind me saying, but I think you have very high standards and can be quite hard on yourself. In many ways that's great, because you produce really beautiful, precise and well thought out work. But I know a need for perfection can paralyse me a bit. Maybe a gentler approach could help?
just bought the creative habit, lets se if it is any good!
ReplyDeleteHi Amy, could you please tell me the brand of yarn you used for Kira. I am attempting to make Loni but can't find suitable yarn. Cheers, Shanna
ReplyDeleteHi Shanna - what I used will be hard to come by, I'm afraid. I bought it Avril in Japan. It's also sold in New York under the Habu banner. It is one of their cottons. You can find the exact details on Ravelry, let me know if you have troubles seeing it there.
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