Recapturing creativity

I've been having a very frustrating few weeks, where I just cant seem to settle and complete a project. Actually I've hardly been starting them, I'm not sure how many times I've cast on and then 'frogged' it, you know (rip it, rip it, rip it - as row after row comes undone) or 'tinked' it (knit backwards, as in undo what I've stuffed up). I was starting to feel really down about my creativity going out the window and getting sidetracked doing lots of not much. 

                                          BUT then........

I had a panicked phone call the other day from a friend , the mother of our adopted grandson with the news that the person who was booked to make the birthday cake cancelled. I said to her don't worry we will make it, forgetting that young Stanley had 'ordered' a blue t-rex dinosaur cake. Well I made a hurried visit to my dear friend 'Mr Google' for inspiration. I then had a vision in my head of how the cake was going to look, I was a bit worried when my middle child didn't catch the same vision at all, and kept looking at me with that 'you are out of your mind' look. Well much to my relief the cake on the plate ended up the same as the vision in my head. Stanley thought it was wonderful as did his mother and all the family and friends that were there for his 4th birthday party. But most importantly to me, I felt that creativity creeping back.

It's been very cold here in North-West Tasmania but today was spectacular, the sun was out and the sky was clear. Absolutely perfect day so we also took our aspiring photographer Mikayla to a few locations to do some snapping, check out her photos http://www.redbubble.com/people/mikaylahouse I am so proud of her!! Mikayla is visually impaired (actually legally blind) and yet her creativity shines through in her captures

So after all that ramble the point I'm trying to make is that if I feel my creativity dwindling I WILL look to the enthusiasm of the 'little people' in my life, with their blunt honesty and imagination intact and to my creative daughter who defies her 'disability' at every click of the camera. I also will not let pain, fog and all the other annoying symptoms of Fibromyalgia dampen my creativity. If you read this and wonder if I'm actually creating something feel free to question, I think I'm going to need the accountability :)

After all this I'm off to sit near the fire and Knit!

Camels and Cantelopes

I was at a Sistapreneurs meeting this week and a visitor said to me "oh you knit like I do" which took me awhile to decide if it was complimentary or not. I was taught to knit by my Father and I've never managed to be able to knit like my Grandma and all the clever older women in my life who can, like magic flick the wool around their needles without taking their hands off them. I have tried and tried unsuccessfully and all I have achieved is a mess of knots and tangles. I've been reading a book this week called Things I Learned From Knitting by Stephanie Pearl- McPhee, I love the humour and the ability to laugh at ourselves. The quote that has set me free this week is "The act of knitting is unlike almost any other human activity in that two people who are as different as camels and cantaloupes can take the same pattern and the same yarn and do their own thing with it, and they both can walk away happy".........."There's more than one right way to knit, and you don't have to be perfect or even good at knitting to have it work out for you. That's pretty unusual, because there really aren't a whole lot of other hobbies where you can relax, be imperfect, and still have a wonderful time..... just ask rock climbers"
  I love that idea that I can use the same yarn and pattern as someone else and can knit with my individual unco-ordinated 'skill' and still end up with an item that I am proud of.

I live in a town where the only felted knitted items you are likely to find are in the local op shop because someone hasn't read the washing instructions on their clothing properly.  It will be interesting to see the reactions when I felt the bangles and necklaces i have knitted and display the lacy knitted coffee cup sleeve and the knitted wire and beaded bangle. But in the meantime I will keep reading Stephanie's books and blog http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/ and keep gaining confidence and feel her cheering me on, even while hearing my son say "you are NOT taking your knitting!"
OH YES I AM!!
Till next time I wish you the finest yarns and no unintentional dropped stitches

Its all about the dash!

Hi, I've been doing some reading and looking at other blogs today. Its made me think about what's important to me, what I value and what makes it worth getting up in the morning (I'm so not a morning person)
I found this poem and I'm going to HAVE to buy the book, will probably end up sharing a lot more snippets from it.

                                                                 LIVE YOUR DASH

The line etched into a headstone between the dates of birth and death represents each step we take on earth and every single breath. To many, it is but a hyphen marking the time between years, but in that little dash is a lifetime of laughter, love and tears.
We each create the legacy our dash will someday represent, and decide if the life we're given is truly lived or merely spent.
Some deem themselves successful  if they can spend large amounts, but how you live your dash is all that really counts.  Because success should not be measured in what you will buy or own.  But in the pride you feel in the person you're with .... when you're all alone.
Time steals our days and hours before we recognize the theft and we live each day not knowing how much of our dash is left.
Responsibilities of daily life; the bills, the job, the cash, affect the way we choose to use the important little dash.
Life uses special moments much like a poet uses rhyme, to engrave upon our hearts and souls single, precious blocks of time.
We often overlook these gifts, thought we may not mean to do it; we walk right past a special moment, instead of walking through it.
These memories in the making are happening now and happening here, If we don't take the time, to make the time ... they quickly disappear.
To experience each moment ..... to laugh, to love, to live, to learn just how much to take from life and just how much to give.
For when our time on earth is ending we wont remember everyday, but we will recall those moments we chose to live along the way.
Consider your lifetime as a novel -- you, the sole author and creator, writing and living each chapter for those to read and cherish .... later.
Will they say you lived your dash with worry, stress and chatter, or know you seized every chance you had to make every moment matter.

Linda Ellis

I guess that's all that's consuming me at the moment, thoughts of making the most of every moment and making moments special for the people in my life. For truly living intentionally in the moment.
Well this didn't have much to do with knitting other than making me wonder why I am knitting with a colour i really don't like! But it is some of the ramblings of a knitter.

Till next time, may life be full of good wool and no dropped stitches

Where this all started

Hi, I'm really not sure who I'm writing this for? If anyone is going to read it, or if its just for me to let off steam, think out loud (which unfortunately I'm very good at) or if it will as I hope at times speak to someones heart.
I feel like I've jumped in at the deep end and not sure if I'm going to sink or swim. At the moment I'm doing a good impression of a duck, looking all cool calm and collected on the surface and paddling like crazy underneath.
For the last year or two I've been struggling with fibromyalgia and figuring out what I can and cant do. Living in cool, OK at times very chilly Tasmania, I've spent quite a lot of time knitting near the heater. About two months ago I was talking with an acquaintance about my knitting and she said they were organizing a local shopping night. It was to raise money for Ronald McDonald House in Hobart, and to showcase local homemade crafts etc, and she suggested I have a stall. So I have gone from knitting to keep occupied and my hands moving, to registering my business name, Ruby York Designs and making a website http://www.rubyyorkdesigns.com/ and a facebook page www.facebook.com/rubyyorkdesigns and now a Blog and in between all that knitting some gorgeous creations for the shopping night which was a resounding success! So I think after that first ramble I will be off to bed so that I can get back to what I truly love tomorrow ..... Knitting