Thoughts And Things

Where does the creative process begin?  For me, I find it can come from either a thought, or a thing.  

The “Rose Parade” scarf that I recently finished started with thinking about “roses.”  I wanted to make a scarf that reminded me of roses.  From there, I went to my tubs of yarn, pulled out everything that made me think of roses, edited a bit to select the yarns that worked best together, and there it was.  At that point, it was all over except the weaving.  

Sometimes creativity starts with a thing.  Or things. 

One of my favorite scenes from the movie Apollo 13 is when the engineers are presented with a boxes of odds and ends, dumped out on a table, and told this is what they have to work with, find a way to bring our astronauts home safely.  In this case, crisis was the mother of creativity.

Without being a life or death situation, my current weaving project started with things.  In this case, 10 skeins of blue and white yarn, purchased many years ago on the sale table at a Ben Franklin craft store.  Without any more pressing projects, and the need to add more shawls to my collection, using this seemed like a good place to start.  

So I pulled out my other blue and white yarns, dumped them on the table, and started editing until I had a combination I think will work.  There’s white ribbon, and indigo dyed silk, and some pale blue mohair (because I can’t seem to get away from mohair).  I’m not saving any lives here, but I may keep someone warm.

Ultimately though, as I reflect on it, this did start with a thought - though it was many years ago. What made me buy this blue mohair/white cotton designer yarn and not the mustard yellow worsted, also on the sale table? And I realized that this yarn reminds of me of blue jeans and a white cotton shirt - a classic combination!

“lara-vazquez-madlula-blog-fashion-jeans-shirt-white” by Lara Vázquez  CC BY-ND 2.0

So I have to conclude that every creative process really begins with a thought, idea or feeling.  Something entirely in our heads or hearts - but with no form or substance whatsoever, until we bring it into being.

Here’s to hoping that the result of this idea will keep a girl in blue jeans and a white shirt warm on a chilly evening.

“Blue Denim” shawl.