Creativity In How We Share Our Faith...

I wish I’d brought my camera to church today!! 

It was a snowy Sunday and our Annual Meeting right after church, so some members of our congregation stayed home today, but we began a new unit in our BLAST rotation (Bible Learning Adventure STations) downstairs for the kids during church.

After they chose whether to put their offering in the “Helping Here At Home” or “Helping Around the World” boxes, we sat in a circle and introduced the passages from Matthew and Mark where Jesus said “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” 

We talked about what it would be like to leave everything you know behind and start over.

We talked about what it must have been like for the people of Haiti who had to race from their homes into the streets.  My best friend and her son described what it was like to run from their house while it was burning to the ground and starting over from scratch.

Then, we went into the kitchen and made huge fish shaped pizzas.  We spread sauce on flat bread that had been cut in the shapes of fish, sprinkles the cheese on our fish, used pepperoni to make scales on 3 out of the 4 fish and used sliced black olives for the eyes.

Not only was it a creative way to share the stories of our faith... it was DELICIOUS!

INHALE:  How do you pass on your faith to those around you, especially the next generation.  However you celebrate what you believe and where you draw strength from, fewer people are attending services in many different faiths around the world.  Worship is becoming an increasingly personal and private thing for many people, yet we cannot ignore the importance of gathering together to celebrate that there IS more to life than just the number of our days.

EXHALE: This week, as the world focusses on Valentine’s Day and LOVE, remember to find time for yourself as well.  How can you be Creative in celebrating what you believe?  Can you set up a space for yourself in which to meditate or pray? Can you hunt for books, prayers or music that inspires you?  Can you share your faith journey’s story with someone who has never heard the adventure before? Can you write a prayer of love for a planet that needs it?  Can you celebrate the blessings that you have by sharing your time and talents with others?  Be Creative as you follow in the footsteps of the One who sculpted the Universe.

Learning to Pray Creatively...

I meant to post this last night after my safe arrival in Geneva, Switzerland to look after my niece and nephew for a week, but between jetlag, travel adventures and being the Aunty Dragon hug machine, I never got on my brother’s computer until this morning. Given all that has happened since Dad died, all that a few of my friends are facing and some of my travel experiences to get here, this felt like the right topic for today’s Inhaling Creativity.
Any weird typos will be because the y and z are reversed on this European keyboard... so do bear with me if I don’t catch them all.

Prayer comes in many forms for many different religions around the world. Certainly with the disaster in Haiti, many of us around the world are praying for other people in other places more than ever before. That is what intercessory prayer is all about.

INHALE What do you do when you don’t know what you are supposed to pray for? You just turn everything over to God. Praying about someone and for someone doesn’t have to be a bargain, a list of demands or wishes, a plea or even a formal prayer. All you have to do is hold that person, issue or concern in your innermost being and let it go...

EXHALE The next time that someone or something is weighing heavy on your heart, just try being creative in how you pray. I had to calm myself when the customs officer in London took a 3\4 filled bottle of lens solution because it COULD contain 120 ml (companies don’t make a smaller size yet) instead of 100 ml. After I got over the initial desire to pray for a bolt of lightning, I turned my creativity to prayer instead. Inhale, exhale. That’s becoming routine now in tough times as well as good ones. I hold a prayer in my heart and then imagine it as a butterfly, coloured bird or even a balloon... drifting up to Heaven. If we believe in a Creative God (and I have ever since I first saw a platypus) then why should our prayers not reflect that? Pray or praise with music, drawings or images. Write down your own prayers that move you or string one word after the other like worry beads to hold them in your heart; Peace... Healing... Love... Joy...Strength. Just take it one breath at a time.

Finding Creativity In Silence...

Maybe being back in a school environment, among kids who seem to be constantly plugged into music, their phones, the drama of teenage life, that prompted this post.  I’m sometimes not sure what drives a certain topic to the forefront when I fully expected to write about something else, but I learned a long time ago to listen to that inner voice.

It sometimes gets drowned out by all the other noise.

I’m not even sure if this post would have been possible to write until now... when the rest of my family is fast asleep, the clock is getting closer to striking midnight and I have moved beyond the panic of everything that needs to get done before I get on a plane Saturday morning.

There is very little noise in my world right now other than the tapping of my fingers as they race across the keyboard, trying to keep up with my scattered thoughts, and the faint sounds of the plows out clearing driveways now that the latest snowfall is done.  All is calm, all is quiet.

How often do we allow ourselves to just listen to nothing anymore?

Moments of stillness and silence are sometimes very needed when the world rushes around us at a dizzying speed.  Sometimes, instead of finding a fanfare of ideas or rushing about in a firework burst of activity, we need to just listen for the little whispers of our innermost soul... and for that, it must usually be quiet.

Don’t be afraid of the silences in your life... they are the rests and pauses in the song.

INHALE:  Some people fear silence more than others.  My grandmother kept a police scanner in her bedroom after my grandfather died so that she could not only hear what was going on in her little community, but there were other voices to fill the void after his cheerful whistling about the house was silenced.  Nick often keeps the TV on in the background while he gets work done and both my girls love having music blaring in their rooms, listening to playlists that seldom sync with each other.  I absolutely LOVE moments when I can hear nothing but the world around me or the sound of my own breathing.  Today was a reminder of how much I need to have that quiet reflection time to keep myself in balance.

EXHALE:  This will be harder for some of you than others.  Find a quiet spot and just sit to listen and think for at least 15 minutes.  Pay attention to the random thoughts that pop into your head, but try to turn off the “to do” lists.  Listen to the sound of your own breathing.  If you find it hard to have your hands empty, you can pick up needles to stitch or knit, doodle something or twiddle your thumbs... but just listen to the silence which is full of other sounds.  How comfortable are you with the quiet?  What thoughts or ideas scurry through your head most often?  What inner truths about your life right now have you been trying to keep from hearing?  This is what quiet contemplation can be all about.  Turn down the other noise and turn up the quiet... it might just spark something unexpected!

Creativity in Exercise...

Zumba.   

Who would have thought that two syllables would have been such a workout and so much fun!

Ever since discovering that I had degenerative disk disease two years ago, which forced me to give up any exercise that involved a lot of impact, I have been searching for an exercise routine that would be fun, challenging and not hurt me.  Tonight, Nick and I went out together on a “date” to the Zumba class at St. Pat’s Family Center .  42 people shook and shimmied and sweated for an hour as the instructor put us through our paces.  41 women and Nick.  He was VERY brave and actually enjoyed himself!  Two women came up to me afterwards and told me that I had the coolest husband in the world and I agree!

Zumba mixed Latin dance moves, bouncy music and a LOT of upper body work.  I kept modifying the routines so that I wasn’t breaking contact with the floor the way some of the younger, perkier people there were, but I love dancing and it was still an awesome workout!  The only problem is... my bum hurts.  I can’t wait until next Friday!

INHALE:  Staying fit shouldn’t be about locking yourself into a routine or type of exercise that becomes a chore... it should be about celebrating how your body can move and taking joy in that.  Kids are rarely still. They move like hummingbirds, graze at food and crash for naps when they get tired.  It’s too bad that we learn to override all that as adults.

EXHALE:  If you have been going through the motions with your exercise routine or avoiding having one at all, it’s time to be creative. Find something that feels more like PLAY than  a chore!  Think back to the type of activities you used to do as a child for inspiration or browse through the brochures at your local fitness centers.  I was able to try tonight’s class for free since it was my first time. I would pay just $6.00 or less for any future sessions and don’t even need a yearly membership.  I also adore the Wii Fit Plus game we got for Christmas to go with our board because it has new games to try, new challenges and more ways to tailor individual workouts.  Whatever you discover, remember that creativity can apply to ever part of your life, even getting back into shape or staying that way.

Heading into a New Year Creatively...

I love the day of New Year’s Eve.  I got up early this morning and curled up on the couch to write in my journal by the light of the Christmas tree, enjoying the twinkle of the lights.

It has been almost 4 months of this adventure with more interruptions along the way than I’d expected, but bringing Creativity into my life on a daily basis has now become a way of life.  I thought it might be funny to end 2009 with a look at some of the daily exercises I tried that DIDN’T work well enough to share them.  Hope they put a smile on your face as we get ready to inhale the air of a brand new year!

1)  Being creative with your socks.  I wore 2 different socks to work to see if anyone would notice!  Less than 1% of the kids and staff at school noticed.  One student asked if I’d gotten dressed in the dark and several just looked at my with an “I hope I don’t get weird and senile like that when I am old!” look.

2)  Using food colouring to change the colours of food like potatoes.  DON’T!  (Even the pictures looked too gross to put up on the site!)

3)  Making an Acrostic with the letters of your name.

J-ust

E-xhuberant

N-ice

N-utty

I-maginative

F-riendly

E-xtroverted

R-eally not sure this is a good idea...

4)  Finger painting with your feet.  What was I thinking except to see if my toes had any talent.  Artists are always worried about something happening to their hands... but I will NOT be learning to draw with my feel if that comes about.  Luckily, I tried this one when the kids were out. I am sure they’d have been more talented, but the mess would have sent Nick into shock.

5)  Writing Your Day as a Dr. Seuss Poem.  “The last days of teaching before Christmas break, are filled with caffeine just for sanity’s sake.  The students are bouncy and giddy with glee... I might as well try to nail slush to a tree!”

INHALE: We sometimes forget that in order to become more Creative, we have to try things that WON’T work in order to find what will.  Thomas Edison is quoted as saying “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”  For the rest of this adventure, I want to keep trying and possibly failing because the discoveries along the way will be more exciting than how often I succeed.  I found this quote of his that will be one of my mantras for 2010:

“I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

EXHALE: If you can find a quiet moment in the chaos of the year’s ending, write a list of 3 things that you discovered about yourself this year, 3 things you’d like to change in yourself or the world around you in the New Year and write down 3 quotes that inspire you on the same page of your book or journal.

Then go quietly out into the last day of this year and celebrate it’s ending and all the new beginnings that stretch before us!

Trying Not to Hold My Breath...

This is a time of year when the veil between Heaven and Earth thins a little.  Everyone is rushing around preparing for the many celebrations that brighten this time of year.  This weekend is going to be incredibly busy as so many obligations collide...  and I keep catching myself holding my breath.

I do that while driving or as a passenger, especially now that snow has fallen, as cars cut each other off or run red lights in their hurry.  The girls were disappointed that today wasn’t a snow day after the storm blew through to quickly... but I needed that day home alone.

I hold my breath to calm myself when a wave of anxiety about my father hits.  When I exhale, I am reminded that there are things in this world over which I have no control.  I can, however, try not to make myself turn blue or purple.

I hold my breath when I am excited. There will be plenty of that this weekend as Erin’s team plays in the Provincial Volleyball Finals to establish rankings for the year.  When the score gets close, I am often so caught up in the volleys back and forth that I don’t breathe until someone scores a point!

I also find myself holding my breath sometimes while creating things.  Today was all about getting angel costumes ready for Sunday’s pageant at church.  Hemming was easy, but working with fabric paint and glitter requires steady hands... and sometimes holding your breath so that you don’t wobble.

My basement floor became the perfect place to let most of them dry overnight... as long as the rabbit doesn’t sneak out of her cage!

Every time I exhale after one of these moments, I am reminded of neat twist of fate that gave this blog its name.  I thought I was being clever and creative, but little did I know how those simple images would come to mean to me on this 365 day journey.  I can hardly believe it has been 3 months since the start of the adventure.  There was so much more that I expected to have done by now!  Through all of the fun and most of the chaos, thinking about ways to bring Creativity into my life has been a wonderful anchor.  Maybe that’s what we need most when storms hit - an anchor or a safe harbour.

INHALE:  If I have learned nothing else in the last 90 days, it has been that you cannot control everything in your life.  The wonder of all of this is that you CAN control how you respond to what is thrown at you, especially when looking for Creative solutions.  I haven’t always been successful in the past 3 months, but some of the strength I have gained along the way has been because of the effort more than because of the results.  I’m learning to love the expression “Plan all the details, then go with the flow!”

EXHALE:  There are SO many opportunities to get involved in something Creative during this time of year, especially in ways that help others.  Can you knit mittens or scarves for a shelter? Take some toys to a hospital or youth charity? Buy an extra turkey for a family who may have none?  Think about how you could stop holding your breath and just get out there to make a difference in one other person’s life.  If nothing else, you’ll get so busy that you’ll forget about whether or not you should hold your breath and one other person’s life will be enriched!

Creativity in Chaos and Quiet..

It’s been a busy time in our household.  I am now substitute teaching 3 to 5 days a week until Christmas because of the 3 day a week position and other days that had been booked way ahead that I’d accepted.  It is also volleyball season, so our whole family jumped in the van right after school on Friday and drove up to Bathurst , just over 2 hours away, to stay overnight before yesterday’s huge tournament.  Erin’s team played an exhausting 13 games in the 9 hours of the tournament (winning 9 and loosing 4) going right down to a 15 point tiebreaker for 3rd place when both teams were literally falling down with exhaustion.  Along the way they overcame some real challenges, played some truly beautiful volleyball and gave all the parents a lot to cheer for.  I manages to knit scarves without too many changes in tension... though the metal needles got a little slippery when my palms got sweaty!  I discovered that creating amid chaos and noise not only helps keep me calm, it gives me something to show for all those hours on the court side.

My mom was at a retreat all day yesterday entitled Making Way for Advent  where she got to think, create and celebrate fellowship in far less noise.  It was an event that I really wanted to attend, but I’d already missed 2 weekends of tournaments while teaching in Toronto and being at the cross stitch retreat a few weekends ago.

Don’t misunderstand.  There is nothing wrong with any parent or person putting themselves first now and then to follow their dreams, conduct business or indulge in something they really need.  Being a parent or being in a relationship with a partner (or both) means that you have to find the balance between the needs of self and the needs of the other(s). It means finding ways of being Creative whether you are in chaos or quiet.  It means knowing that there can be a certain peace or satisfaction found in almost any moment of our lives if we start looking for them.

Just make your choices and go with them instead of looking over your shoulder or wondering what could have been.

Inhaling Creativity is teaching me to live in each moment more fully.

INHALE:  I think that we need both Chaos and Quiet in which to create... just not at the same time.  Anyone who has ever spent time at an event where people are being Creative knows that people with energy can get a little noisy.  That energy can pump us up and push us on to new heights of inspiration and exhilaration when we understand that almost anything is possible.  Quiet moments on the other hand, allow us to get in touch with our inner selves, recharge our batteries, sort through our supplies, organize our thoughts or creating spaces and dreams of next projects or possibilities.  Nature reminds us all the time that both stages are part of the circle.  As the Fall meanders slowly into Winter here and prepares for a sleep, I know that on the other side of the world, the frenzy of Spring is leading into the warmth of summer.

EXHALE:  Many of us prefer one part of this cycle more than the other, even though both are necessary.  Maybe I’ve been studying too many plant life cycles for the Biology class I am supervising with the diploid(2N) and haploid (N) stages of things, but it really rings true for me.  Divide a page in your book in half and label the two sections QUIET and CHAOS.  In each area, write down, doodle, collage or identify the things you like about each stage.  What Creative acts do you like to do in chaos with others or what creative things do you like to do that involve chaos?  What do you enjoy about having quiet time in which to create?  Do some creative things lend themselves to being done in both quiet and chaos?  Like discovering that you can actually enjoy using a colour you didn’t think you liked, you may find that there are quiet a few things about being Creative in Chaos or Quiet that you didn’t expect you enjoyed as much as you do!

Improvisational Creativity...

I'm home from a wonderful weekend of fellowship and cross stitch, but I did learn that sometimes, you have to improvise your creativity when you don't have all the pieces you need.

I’d fully intended to give away the Perforated Paper Castle ornament that I taught in Toronto, but the more people asked to see it and exclaimed over it, the more I decided it needed to stay on MY tree.  Stitchers will be able to get that pattern after December 1st on PatternsOnline.com , so hang in there!  Luckily, Jeannie had brought along some colours of perforated paper for me to play with.  Unfortunately, after a full day of teaching, picking up Bethany from volleyball practice, Nick from school and then rushing to get to retreat in bad weather, I forgot the sheets of blank graph paper that I usually bring along with me...

So I made my own.

Next year, I will remember to put that on my packing list, slow down and check what I have before I race out the door or end up bringing an entire ream of graph paper along just so I don't have to make grids like this again. At least I know I can make one without a computer!

FIrst, I sketched out the letters for JOY and stitched them in overdyed threads on the white paper.  Then, I flipped the paper over, borrowed a pencil from Mom and began to figure out how to create a geometric snowflake shape around the word.

I am not the most math gifted person.  There was much erasing and slightly colourful language used when I realized that I couldn't get things to work out PERFECTLY... but I took my own posts about perfection to heart.  So what if I had to fudge things a tiny bit near the end... I know where the glitch is, but I'm not going to point it out!   Eventually,  the snowflake shape was ready for me to cut out.  I LOVE perforated paper!!!

When I flipped the design to the right side, I discovered that one section had a bit too much white space for my liking, so I added a holly button from the shop.  I also thought it might be nice to add some braid and beads to catch the lights from the tree.

Then I made my own cording for the top then hung it on the tree for the ornament exchange!!

INHALE:  If we wait for the perfect moment when we have all our supplies around us and everything is just right, then we will have far less moments in which to be creative.  This is what I was trying to find more of during my year long adventure... ways of just jumping into the deep end and mucking about to see what I could come up with.  No, I didn't have everything I needed or hoped to have with me, but the Creativity didn't need them.  It just needed me to be willing to try and work with what I had on hand.  How many missed moments go by because we tell ourselves "Wait, I'm not ready!!" ??

EXHALE: Find another crafter that you trust.  Decide to try this challenge together and see what happens.  Set a date when the two of you can get together for some uninterrupted creativity time.  Mark it on the calendar and then get ready with this homework before hand.  Each of you should choose a variety of interesting craft items or items related to the hobby you both enjoy.  Limit it to less than 10.  Put the items in a bag that you cannot see through.  When you get together, exchange bags, settle down and see what each of you can create with these mystery items within an agreed upon time limit.  It doesn't have to be perfect or beautiful or even something you keep.  You just have to be wiling to try... and laugh... and enjoy each other's company while you see where your Creativity takes you.  I can't wait to see what some of you come up with!

Tearing Down to Create Again...

Today, one of the Creative women I admire most took the courageous step of announcing that she was closing down her cross stitch design business.   Sometimes you have to end something in order to create something new.

Teresa and I met through cross stitch just over a decade ago, but we quickly formed a friendship that went beyond just working in the same industry.  As cross stitch began to falter, she and I began to act as sounding boards for each other and talk about if and how we could take our Creativity in other directions.

Four years ago, we went to Dragon*Con in Atlanta to see if we wanted to transition into Fantasy artwork on the con circuit.  She also helped paint me green for my She-Hulk adventure as mentioned in yesterday’s post.  Last February, we went to the SCBWI conference in New York together to see if children’s book illustration would offer new possibilities.

The joy of having her as a friend is that we share some of the same hopes and insecurities, interests and insights as well as quests and questions.  While we have very different styles, we both feel called to continue to share our Creativity with the world... we’re just still trying to find the next way to do that!

I do know that the past 5 years would have been a lot more scary and stressful without her encouragement, support and sense of humour.

I stayed home today to take care of Bethany who is still running a fe er.  I also got up the courage to tackle a demolition of my own.  A year ago, I overhauled my Dragon Dreams website to reflect the change my artwork was taking as I honoured the 98 published cross stitch designs that I had created, but also tried to showcase the different directions I was heading in.  Then I created a separate website for illustration once I got feedback that Art Directors don’t have time to sift through intensive sites looking for your artwork.

I’ve limped along since then feeling very fragmented and slightly confused at how to make things better.  Today, I realized that the only way to rework the site was to start over from the very beginning, look at what works, get rid of what doesn’t and focus on what truly needs to be covered by the website while making it an informative place to visit.

I am in the middle of the destruction and rebuilding process, but I am actually pleased at how well it is turning out. I'll post on my blogs as soon as the new site is uploaded.

INHALE: Sometimes we have to rebuild from the ashes as friends of ours have done with their house, shut down a business to start in a new direction, crumple up a drawing that isn’t working or go back to the beginning and start over.  Any Creative person, crafter or artist has experienced this more than once.  I’m not sure it ever gets any easier, but I am finally learning to trust that something even better may come from drastic measures.

EXHALE:  I tried to explore today's topic in a fun way.  Find a few magazines for images or inspirational photos.  Instead of trimming them carefully with scissors, rip and tear them out then glue them into your book so that they overlap and create a collage background (you can leave white spaces).  Next, write some words over the images or around them that add to your Creative inspiration.  If this seems too time-consuming for your hectic day, try a simpler exhale: crumple a plain piece of paper and then smooth it out again then draw or write a message to yourself on the less than perfect paper as a reminder that we often set ridiculous standards for ourselves.

Playing and Enjoying Mindless Creativity...

I booked off today.  After teaching for 2 days and getting a call to substitute teach for tomorrow and Friday, I decided last night that I needed a day to catch up on laundry, cooking, sketching and the piles on my desk.  A few weeks ago, we bought 10 lbs. of beets and tucked them in our cold storage area down in the basement.  Nick and I love beets, but 10 lbs. is a LOT of beets, especially since both of my girls are rather iffy about them.  There were also bits and pieces of other veggies in the fridge to use up, so once the girls got home and started in on homework, I decided to make a huge pot of veggie soup and process the beets.

My cookbooks all explained how much easier beets were to peel once they’d been cooked or steamed.  “The peels will just slide off!” they promised. Remembering earlier attempts to make borscht a few years ago where my hands were stained pink for weeks from peeling piles of beets, I was ready to try another technique.

Along the way, as I stood at my sink rubbing the peel off cooked beets and staring into a huge pot of blood red water, I started getting crazy, creative ideas, especially when Erin wandered by and said “Cool! Didn’t they used to dye things red with beets?”

Reaching up into the cupboard, I found a rather old dishcloth I’d knitted about 6 months ago.  (I knit a LOT of these on car trips!)

I decided to throw it into the pot to soak as I scrubbed the peels off the beets.

When I was almost done with the beets, I decided to peek at the cloth.  What a colour change!

Dumping all that colour down the sink was “Creepy Cool” according to the girls because it looked like blood!  Can you tell they are SO ready for Hallowe’en?

Of course, without a setting agent, the dye didn’t really stay long in the dishcloth.  I decided to toss it out with the scraps rather than put it in the wash and risk turning socks or underwear pink.

With all the beets processed into freezer bags or made into beet salad, it was time to relax for a while and enjoy someone else’s Creativity.

I used to fill in doodle posters like these all the time as a kid.  I bought one a few years ago and rediscovered it today while tidying my office.  There is something incredibly soothing about colouring in a few shapes at a time and watching the colours play with each other as the design begins to come to life.  I still have a LOT of white space to fill, but it was FUN... and that’s what this adventure has been all about... finding more ways to add fun and creativity to each day.

INHALE:  The Amish take delight in treating every task as important and worthy of doing to the best of your ability.  By playing and being a bit off the wall, the job of peeling and chopping up 10 lbs of beets became less tedious and more of an adventure.  I don’t think I will ever find a way to make chores like dusting feel Creative (though I’ve been known to doodle things in the dust when it gets really thick!) but for today, the challenge of looking for Creativity worked, then I got to take great delight in enjoying someone ELSE’s creation. All I had to do was colour in the shapes!

EXHALE:  When was the last time you bought a colouring book, doodle poster or printed out a mandala to colour?  Try to find one that makes your fingers itch to play with a new box of crayons or package of markers and keep it handy so that the next time you are talking on the phone, helping a child with homework, relaxing before bed or even watching television, you can colour in the next page or section of your project and have something Creative to show for your time instead of wondering where the hours went.

Freaking Non-Knitters Out...

Yesterday’s Inhale and Exhale wouldn’t post properly, so I will try to add them in a post edit. There are days when it won’t let me make the icons as small as usual as well, so I am learning to go with the flow and tame my inner perfectionist.

I also posted about the two scarves that I’ve been working on since acquiring new wool in Toronto.  If I hadn’t been teaching classes there and staying up so late at night, but the weather is getting cold since my return home as well, so the urge to knit new things for my neck is just too strong to ignore.

When I worked on this one in the staff room at lunch yesterday, I had several people come over to feel the combination of the two yarns put together.  I also had a few teachers ask me how many things I knit in a year.  This might be because I’ve already knit 3 baby blankets for half of the staff that is pregnant and they’ve also seen me working on my socks. I don’t think I’ve ever kept track of the number of projects I knit in a year.

I also took out the scarf during Guided Study period.  This is a half an hour period for enrichment, extra help or catching up on homework that changes every 5 or 6 weeks as the marks are handed in by teachers and students who are struggling or excelling are identified.  I’d planned to read a bit since every student who doesn’t have work to do is encouraged to bring a book, but I realized that I couldn’t keep an eye on the entire class that way. Hence the knitting.  I knit by feel.  I’ve always been able to handle basic knitting stitches (anything short of cables and patterns with lots of counting) without looking since University when I would knit and study or knit and watch TV.  This has come in handy when I’ve had to divide movies into which ones I need to watch (knit) and which ones I can listen to while glancing up now and then (stitch).  It also keeps me from being a nagging passenger on long car trips and I can knit in the dark if I have to talk to Nick to keep him awake at the end of a long journey.  It is also really good for freaking high school kids out.

I began to knit while the kids were working on their projects.  Every now, one of the teenagers would glance up and find me watching them while my hands knit.  Whispers began, nudges as I continued to glance around the room surveying them.  Finally, one brave girl put up her hand and spoke. “Excuse me, miss, are you doing that without looking down at it?”  I just grinned and nodded.

Who says knitting is boring!

Even when you are fairly well practiced at a skill, you can also continue to learn and be inspired.  While I was up in Toronto, I found this wool for Bethany that brings a  hint of orange into the blue, white and pink mix.  The soft colours will be perfect for her and they also tied in nicely with my “use more of the colour you like the least” challenge.  By now, I am actually growing a little fond of orange.

While I was in Toronto, Jocelyne was knitting a cool scarf pattern before one of the classes.  When I commented on the pattern, she showed me how it was a  short pattern that you repeated on EVERY row until you either ran out of wool or got sick of knitting the scarf.   You can find it on Yarn Harlot’s website here .  This is what mine is starting to look like:

Go ahead... practice being Creative in public and see what happens!

INHALE:  Being Creative in new ways or learning a new variation of a skill we already posses can bring a deep enjoyment into our lives along with an excitement that keeps us hooked.  When things become routine and predictable, they can also become boring.  I don’t ever want what I create to bore me. If it does, then it’s time to find something new to try.

EXHALE:  Which hobby, craft or skill do you feel most confident in?  It may be one that you have practiced for a long time or one in which you developed a sense of mastery quickly.  In order to keep this well-practiced skill from growing stale, try one of the following.  Try starting something that you have never attempted before (a new style of pattern, a new stitch, a different technique).  Visit a craft store, website or guild meeting where you could learn from someone else who practices this skill and get inspired.  Look through books and dare to try something you think might be too hard for you.  When we push ourselves, we can grow.  Or, find something new that absolutely delights you, as I did with this scarf pattern and savour the new experience.

Another Experiment with Orange...

After a very FULL day of substitute teaching, I needed a bit of fun tonight, so Bethany and I got out the Fimo and Sculpey .  I decided to play a bit with the bright orange colour and made this tiny pumpkin bead.

Next, I tried to take some of the blues that I loved and work in a strip of orange, just like I did with the friendship bracelet at the beginning of this exploration.

Once I had my strips, I braided and rolled them into a ball.

Next I pressed them into a firm ball to marbleize it a bit.

I took chunks off and rolled them into bead shapes with their hints of orange like lightning through the blue...

Then set everything out on some foil to bake.

Erin was so intrigued by the process that she made some beads of her own in her school colours.  Creativity really is contagious!

Tomorrow, I’’ll show off the two scarves that had the staff room at Erin’s high school asking how many projects I knit a year.  One pattern, created by Yarn Harlot , is incredibly addictive and was taught to me this weekend by one of the stitchers in a class. Yes, Jocelyn, this new addiction is YOUR fault!!

INHALE: Even after a demanding day, taking the time to be Creative instead of just  sitting passively to watch television can help recharge something deep inside each one of us.  When Life gets hectic, we are sometimes tempted to cut out indulgences, but those are often the things that help us feel more rested and grounded.  I actually went to bed feeling far less tired than when I began to make the beads.

EXHALE:  If you don’t feel like buying some clay to explore bead making, find another small craft that you could do to help you relax the next time you have a hectic day.  Tuck it somewhere in your kitchen cupboard or keep it close at hand so that you don’t have to go hunting when you need it. Don’t feel guilty about taking time for yourself when you do your craft... you may just discover other members of your family sitting down to join you!