Knitting for mind and soul

The beginning of this year was clouded in worry about a number of family members. Most of it was just run of the mill life stuff. For some of it I could offer practical help and support. For some of it I could only hold the space. Nearly everyone is fine now, or at least they're getting there. There was also bad news, that I could hardly believe or accept, and grief and empathy and a funeral I couldn't attend.

And throughout it all I was knitting. I knitted to sooth a busy mind. I knitted to pass sleepless hours. I knitted to calm nervous energy. I knitted to comfort myself with pretty colours and soft yarn.

And it's true, knitting is good for you. It's good for pain, anxiety and depression, among other things. Plus, with any luck, you get pretty things at the end. I now have 7 pairs of hand knit socks and I have learned a ton in the process. 

PS If you're on Ravelry, look me up, I'm KellyCrochet

Back in the studio again

The perfect is the enemy of the good.
-Voltaire

A wise friend told me this at work years ago. She and I both had a tendency to spend too much time on projects, trying to get them just the way we wanted them, instead of focusing on what was actually needed. Some things are worth giving your all, burning the midnight oil and pushing yourself harder. Other things, most things, really, just need to be done well enough, fit for purpose and, most importantly, done. 

I often find myself waiting for the perfect block of time to do something. I can put off starting until I have every little detail worked out. I find it tough to do a little bit here and there, when I can. Am I alone in this? I think not.

Monday was a big date on my calendar. Two classes were starting, Misty Mawn's Full Circle and Carla Sonheim's Year of the Fairy Tale.  I wanted to be ready, and hit the ground running. This is all part of taking my artwork more seriously (but not too seriously, I promise). So, the studio...

I love small space living. Even my dream houses qualify as small spaces, but our London apartment is a definite fit. It takes some work though, and I am a long way from mastering it. And so we have the studio/bedroom/junkroom. My feelings about it are complicated, and I won't go into that today. Monday's success was that I cleaned up enough to be able to work in there, without waiting for the magical day when it is perfect, what ever that means.

And I was able to start my mandala for Misty's class, that you see above. It needs more work, but I was able to draw and paint until the natural light went, and it felt so damn good.

A walk around the block

For years, I walked in the mornings. In Dublin, I walked nearly 3-5km each morning to the nursery where I did teaching practice, first in Dun Laoghaire and later in Blackrock. When I first moved to London, I walked to work for over fifteen years. My first nursery was a 45 minute walk, so later when I started teaching in a primary school, the 25 minute walk seemed a breeze in comparison.

I still have clear memories of that first walk. I used the time to wake up and to have a good think. I clearly remember walking alongside a high wall on one road, thinking about my boyfriend! I've never been a morning person, but having to start the day by walking certainly helped.

My husband and I believe strongly in supporting public transport, so most outings are by bus, tube or train; even for trips within the country we tend to travel by train. On of my greatest pleasures of travel is stomping around a new city or even exploring London; it reminds me how lucky I am to get to travel and live abroad. It makes the map in the guide book truly real to me.

This was all cut down dramatically in the past few years by two factors. Firstly, a close friend gave me her dear old banger, my trusty silver Fiat Panda. Combine that with free parking at work and that daily walk was sacrificed to having half an hour more in bed. Secondly, I injured my feet, repeatedly and in different ways (okay, yes, the dropped magnum of champagne was the most entertaining, I'll give you that).

Now that I no longer work full-time, I've been missing that walk. I have a tendency to over think things, so I spent a lot of the autumn battling, over-planning and beating myself up. This month, I have been calmer about it, and on several mornings now, just got up and went out. It fits in nicely with my preferred morning of waking slowly, with tea and the radio. It's easier when K is working from home (he lets me back in and makes me a cup of tea). 

A morning walk is a pleasure. It grounds me in my body. It grounds me in nature, in the weather and seasons. It grounds me in the world of people, which is no small thing when you are an introvert who works from home. It gives me time to think and, with or without my camera, a chance to look around, catching little details and the colour of the sky. And when I get back, somehow I'm always raring to go and I get more done that day than I would have otherwise.

I'd love to hear about your favourite walk, whether it is one you will always remember or one that you take every day.