Today I can be found...

...Guest posting over a Happy Hearts Reads, sharing my love of adult coloring books.

Hotter Than Hot Glue

Hat tip to Michelle for the link.

Crafty and Linky Notes

I am knitting, but a combo of tired, and a sore shoulder has me going slow. The shoulder does not hurt when I knit, but it does hurt if I carry the knitting around on that shoulder.
Football season starts soon! Tomorrow in fact! Through the Football Along, I have a fantasy team again and I got some good players, so we'll see how it goes.
My Knit 1 Tea 2 Swap-ee doesn't know it, but I had to buy a lot of tea, and it's all her fault. I was at [tea place] getting some stuff for her, and a little for me while I was there when they told me I was mere ounces away from a discount. And like the sale junkie that I am, I said, oh sure, I'll take more of that. Good thing I'm holding off a bit on the yarn shopping.
I'm not the only one puzzled by Amazon reviews.
And my swap-ee for Knitters Virtual Vacation Swap, is offering up three handmade items, a sort of Craft it Forward deal.

Craft Benefit Analysis

I remember being asked at one point if - discounting the customization (it is exactly the color I want) and the sentiment (I made this) - making my own jewelry was actually cheaper. And my answer was no. I mean eventually. But much as a small business doesn't make money at first because of all the outlay, if you fact in the cost of tools, the cost of supplies, and the time I spend doing it, making my own jewelry is not cheaper than say going to Claire's or shopping the department stores sales. I do it because it's fun. Now certainly sometime it is cheaper, depending on whether I use cultured pearls or glass pearls, swarovski crystal or glass, sterling silver or nickel. But in most cases, no. But the enjoyment I get out of creating these things is what keeps me doing it.

I am reminding myself of all this because I spent what might - to the uninitiated - seem like an unreasonable amount of money on yarn this weekend. This yarn is for a rug (the log cabin rug - from Mason-Dixon Knitting which I now own). I spent an amount that is probably more than I would pay for a rug of the size this will end up being. But it will be exactly the size I want it be, exactly the colors I have selected, and I get the fun of knitting it. (I'm sure it will be fun and not stressful in the least.) And okay, it means my kitchen or bathroom (wherever this ends up going) will be rugless a while longer because I have to knit this, but when it's done I will be happy. And can you really put a price on that?

You Don't Have to be Creative...Not the Way You Think

I often hear people say, "I wish I were creative" or "I wish I were crafty". (Crafty is meant here in the arts and crafts sense rather than the trickster sense). And here's the thing - you don't have to be. Certainly having an artistic ability or an artistic eye can be infinitely useful. I have great respect for people who are able to take some paint or some clay and turn it into something fascinating.

But I rarely hear people bemoaning their lack of creativity while standing in an art gallery. (I'm sure there are many people thinking it, but I digress again). Typically the lack of creativity and craftiness follows looking at something that someone else has created - be it a hand knitted scarf, a quilt or a well-decorated pie.

Don't get me wrong there are people who can look in a kitchen cabinet or a pile of material and see greatness. But there are many of us who primarily follow directions well. I'm not saying there's not art to some of my cooking or knitting or beading. But a lot of it is following directions. And certainly there are times when I adjust, tweak or altogether abandon the directions. And you could choose to view that as artistic or you could choose to view that as risky.

So what I'm getting at here is the semantics surrounding creative pursuits often make people who feel they are right-brained feel they cannot really be creative. You may have more options if you are able to think outside the box - or in this case the pattern - but it is not required.

One of the bold statements I made when I took up knitting was that I just wanted something relaxing to do that I didn't have to think about. (Can you hear the knitters laughing at me?) I wasn't going to make hard stuff - like clothes (look below to see how long that lasted). I just wanted something mindless. (I'll pause to let the knitters out there recover from that one).

I didn't know that knitting - much like cooking - required math skills. There are stitch counts and repeats and gauge counts. Especially if, as I often do, you don't buy the yarn they have helpfully suggested on the pattern. I didn't realize that if I wanted to do anything with a pattern (which I quickly did) I needed to count rows. That I needed to make choices (much like I do in work) - did I want it done fast or done right. There was a fabulous article in Knitty (which I will hopefully be able to find and link directly to) about how the way you knit reflects your personality. And it does. So knitting (and other crafts - scrapbooking, cooking, jewelry making, etc) can be done by analytical people, perfectionist people, math-y people, and all other kinds of people.

Now of course you may not have any unfulfilled desire to be crafty, or craftier than you are right now. But - if you do - then go for it. Don't let your right-brain-ness hold you back (in fact, as I said, its really not holding you back, so go for it!)