Friday, May 25, 2012

The motif journey.



It's a really funny one this craft project with no end plan. This journey with no destination. It's so not what making something is usually all about.

Mostly, when I dream up a new crafty plan, there are all the fun aspects of planning, drafting or choosing a pattern, collecting the materials, and then making, making, making. But always the end result is there: How snuggly it'll be, how great it will look, how functional, how much I'll enjoy gifting it, how much fun...

It's the same with cooking the yummiest dinner, baking the best bread or cakes, building a chook house, and drawing a picture. It's all about the end result.

But this crafty project has been very different. My motif a day in May has ONLY been about the journey.

I am asked so many times a day what they will become at the end of the month. In fact when I see the growing pile of squares on the kitchen table, it is hard not to wonder myself.

I know they will not be a blanket because I have used too many different sized hooks and yarns plies. But other than that I have no idea. And I am trying my hardest not to.

The motif a day is about the doing one thing everyday for a month. It is about discipline and routine. It is about learning new crochet patterns. About colours and stitches.  And it is about taking time.

Come June the motifs might find them selves tucked into a drawer, they might be given away, they might get stuck up on a wall, they might become face washers and dish clothes. I don't know. We'll see. Time will tell.

This week in my over emotional state as all my children started to take giant leaps forward (Miss Indi with her high school orientation, Miss Jazzy with her slide shows and sculptures and Miss Pepper with her school preparation), I have tried to take deep breathes, to not cry too much and to focus on the right here and now. The journey.

The destination is inevitable...unless I tuck them up into a drawer with the squares...

In the last few days I have crocheted the Stained Glass square.

 The Red Heart square.

 The Daisy Chain square.

And the Sunray square.

All the details are on my Ravelry project page.

I wish the happiest of happy weekends to you and yours.

It'll be wet, wet, freeeeeeezing cold, wet here.

We'll be snuggling inside mostly, but venturing out on occasion to get to know our newest farm hand alpacas. A black boy and a white boy. They'll be guarding a flock of chooks, but also growing organic fleece for me to spin and knit. Hooray!! Welcome boys. (As yet unnamed).

So how about you, are you destination obsessed?
Or can you just sit back and enjoy the ride?
Do you ever make things just for the sake of the creating?
Are your children growing up too fast?
Are you having a great May?

Later. xx

PS. For my record: My big girl nearly had a heart attack this morning when she read ultrasound on my calendar. She was VERY relieved to hear that it's for my sore shoulder and not for a baby.

28 comments:

  1. Beautiful crochet as always Kate and beautiful ponderings about journeys and such. And, oh my, yes. My children are growing up too fast!! My (probably) last baby is talking up a storm reminding me her infant days are really coming to a close. My middle baby started school this year and my oldest baby is turning into a little man child. And they would all hate me calling them babies in this public forum. Sigh to the max!!

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  2. I'm a little of both...destination obsessed at times but at others able to sit back and see where it takes me. This month has found me creating just for the sake of it and it's been wonderfully relaxing.
    Our first babe turns 20 at the start of the New Year and here I am at times wishing he was still a babe in arms...the years have certainly flown by.
    Enjoy your weekend Kate..am rather envious that you will eventually be spinning your own yarn :)
    xx

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  3. So excited for you and those beautiful alpacas! A constant source of lovely soft wool is a dream!

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  4. I think them framed individually or in little groups would look lovely x

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  5. B1 and B2 -not very original...I've been spinning vanilla alpaca and silk today. It's fun, creative and calming.

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  6. Absolutely adore your Stained Glass Square. It will be fun to see what you do with your squares ... when ... if ... I'm definitely destination focussed, but trying so hard to enjoy the right now moments!! Although right this very precise moment, I'm bloomin' cold!!!! Enjoy your weekend.

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  7. Kate I had to have a little giggle when I read about Indi and the ultrasound mention! Your alpaca boys look beautiful, especially Mr. Blackie there. I hope you have fun making your own yarn too. I have been thinking about trying to spin which I think would be very fun. Your motifs are great and I am sure no matter where they end up you will find something wonderful for them. I hope the transitions with your girls go well and you dont cry too much. I keep thinking that my baby will be in high school after next year, and where has all that time gone. It is hard to watch them grow up so fast but also amazing. Hope your keeping warm Kate and snuggled up with your family. It is very cold here but I am sure much colder where you are.

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  8. we miss the alpacas we use to drive past and awave at when busy was little. How lovely they are. Like giant goats!

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  9. What fun! I think we can get too destination oriented. Sometimes it is about having a little faith that there will be a destination somewhere down the road which we can't see as yet. This makes the journey all the more enjoyable!

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  10. Kate, my littlest no.3 started school this year and despite cheering about it last year at kinder, it is now half way through term 2 and I'm still a bit lost.
    Probably not what you want to hear - sorry.
    Although yesterday I spoke to a lovely Mum at school who's smallest is in grade 6 and she kindly assured me that "you will find your place without them and it is a good place to be."
    And , you're right, maybe that place is in the journey not at the end of it.
    Have a nice "beside the fire/heater" weekend!

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  11. Hi Kate,
    I love your crochet work - your motifs are so beautiful, you're very talented. The stained glass square reminded me of our City Cathedral's Rose Window which was damaged in the Christchurch earthquake - as were almost all of our most beautiful, historic buildings. One of the most heartwarming things to come out of the devastation caused by the quake was the random acts of creativity and craft popping up everywhere. One particularly hard day, while dodging wrecking balls in the main street just to get some milk for home, I caught sight of a pink felt heart stitched to the safety barrier with the word BREATHE on it. A simple thing, but it really made a huge difference to my state of mind (and heart) that day. A little ray of hope in an otherwise disturbing scene. One once-stunning seaside suburb is now lined with ugly shipping containers to stop the cliffs from falling on the township...check out this crafty act of community cheer, i thought you might like it.
    http://happyzine.co.nz/2012/05/16/container-love-in-christchurch-new-zealand/
    Love your blog Kate, because its not just craft, but true-blue heartfelt feelings too - and thats what really important.
    Teresa x

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    1. Great NZ article link. I like the concept of a container cosy! What a mammoth undertaking. At the same web site was a nice article of random acts of craft about a group of women who hand make small items and then leave them with a note around the city for people to find. The project is called 'lost and found'. The generosity of crafty people is inspiring. Thanks for the link Treesa, K8

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  12. I don't have crochet skills (yet!) and I am so impressed at the wonderful squares you have done, they are marvelous. Time does fly past so quickly with kids-mine too are growing up fast but I love seeing the people they are becoming and the interests they are developing. It's bittersweet I guess :)

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  13. Ooooh love the alpaca boys (and the crocheted squares are very pretty too - you could perhaps make them into a crazy rug if you added black orders to one or two sides of each block to fit them all together - I saw something like this in a japanese crochet book). We recently visited a beautiful nearby alpaca farm in Red Hill (on the peninsula) and I have a couple of kilos from two gorgeous smileys to spin. But we really want to buy our own - we are hoping to do so soon on agistment. Have a lovely weekend -perfectly windy and wild weather to sit cosy at home with our needles and hooks.

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  14. Oh boy they are growing way too fast for my liking that's for sure! I'm enjoying may & doing my squats every day which is helping me feel great! May has been a very unsettled kind of month, though I've been loving the season, the sights & trying to just go with the flow a bit more. Your motifs are so beautiful, I love seeing them appear on IG..x

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  15. You could keep your fleeces for when your last daughter heads off to school, and then immerse yourself in the frustration and ultimately satisfying process of learning how to spin. You have to concentrate and keep at it but eventually it becomes second nature and a total joy. I joined our Beaufort Spinners group and was welcomed by a lovely group of women who have taught me so much more than spinning. We grow our own alpaca fleece and I cannot spin fast enough to keep up with it. I find that the quality of yarn I want to produce requires a high level of fleece preparation before I even sit down at the wheel. Alpacas like to roll so the fleece accumulates a lot of dirt and vegetable matter. Hand combing and carding produces a finer quality yarn if you have the patience. Enjoy that journey Kate. Nothing better than giving or wearing something you really have made from scratch, K8

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  16. I once went through a phase of knitting blue diamonds in every shade of blue I could lay my hands on. It completely consumed me. I got halfway through sewing t all together but never finished edging it and now it's in a black binliner in the loft. I think sometimes it's just about the journey not the destination.

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  17. Yes I often forget that the journey is what I really have!:) as for the destination... Who knows?:)

    Selby

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  18. I hope your weekend is not too wet, cold and horrible. The alpacas should add some cheer. Are they friendly? I love your crochet. The stained glass one looks especially clever.

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  19. I've got visions of a very funky scarf!

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  20. ALPACAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sorry Kate I was all ready to comment on your gorgeous post, but am now completely distracted with sheer excitement at your ALpacas. THat's the most exciting thing since, well I dunno.
    ANd big love and hugs to you Miss, change is hard, and sad as well as good and well inevitable. Even though the girls may be growing up they will always be your girls xo

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  21. oh my gosh, alpacas!!! all that wool!! spinning, and dying, and knitting!! hurrah!!

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  22. I am so enjoying all of your squares. I love all the randomness of the colours and designs. Sometimes it's the thrill of the make that keeps you going...not the finished product!
    Laughed outloud at the ultrasound story!

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  23. I love your square a day idea...I need some discipline like this and your new boy look gorgeous...and functional of course!

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  24. With crafting I am afraid I am rather (impatiently) destination obsessed. I used to only do projects I could finish in one sitting, because I was so afraid they wouldn't get finished. Knitting has taught me to be a little more patient.
    There are some incredibly beautiful squares. If you had the room they would make a beautiful garland.
    Hope that shoulder is on the mend soon x

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  25. That stained glass square is gorgeous, stunning, beautiful and I am so envious of your talent!! Think I would frame them!
    Cutest Alpacas ... and I hope the ultrasound went ok.

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Thanks so much for stopping by...

I do read every single comment you leave and appreciate it very much, but I should let you know that I can be a wee bit on the useless side when replying to comments, that's just me, everyday life sometimes gets in the way....so I'll apologise now, just in case.

Kate XX

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