Craft(y) polyamory.
If I had any sense I'd keep my knitting needles far from my loom, my loom miles from my sewing machine and my sewing machine all the way across town from my paint brushes. But because I err on the side of openness, they all occupy small spaces on my crowded dining room table, competing for attention on weekends and random Wednesdays.
I vacillate between respecting my ability to learn and love so many hobbies, and regretting the lack of deep knowledge and experience I might have developed had I focused on any one of them for the last 20 years (okay, well, I can seriously rock a sewing machine but I'd never admit it in front of the rest of my tools). And this vacillation mirrors my larger fear about my personality, my career, my life: should I be a specialist instead of a generalist?
PRO: One craft inspires another. I'll never forget how the blocky divisions of Idaho agriculture (as seen from a Horizon jet) made me think about quilting which made me think about stained glass which made me think about...
CON: I fear I may never get deep enough into one craft to truly and deeply express its unique possibilities. Anybody can make a dress from a pattern. Can I drape or draft one and, more importantly, can I find the inspiration to WANT to?
PRO: One craft teaches another. My knowledge of fabric and clothing design feeds my instinct when designing weft and warp for the loom. The waterfall exists in craft much as it does in business or technology, as each step in the process necessarily informs the next.
CON: Knowledge sometimes equals constraint. One of my girlfriends likes to knit with strips of plastic sacks, a material that's nowhere to be found in traditional textile tomes or in the cubbies of today's craft supply shops. Does my acknowledgment of the forest sometimes preclude my relationships with the trees?
It's a moot question, really. I can't pick a favorite band, ice cream flavor or pair of shoes. I can't even stick with one hair color, and I have to look at that in the mirror every single day. Why would I limit myself to one craft when so many can offer so much?
You can ask me which one I love the most, but I'll never tell. Ask me again tomorrow.
If I had any sense I'd keep my knitting needles far from my loom, my loom miles from my sewing machine and my sewing machine all the way across town from my paint brushes. But because I err on the side of openness, they all occupy small spaces on my crowded dining room table, competing for attention on weekends and random Wednesdays.
I vacillate between respecting my ability to learn and love so many hobbies, and regretting the lack of deep knowledge and experience I might have developed had I focused on any one of them for the last 20 years (okay, well, I can seriously rock a sewing machine but I'd never admit it in front of the rest of my tools). And this vacillation mirrors my larger fear about my personality, my career, my life: should I be a specialist instead of a generalist?
PRO: One craft inspires another. I'll never forget how the blocky divisions of Idaho agriculture (as seen from a Horizon jet) made me think about quilting which made me think about stained glass which made me think about...
CON: I fear I may never get deep enough into one craft to truly and deeply express its unique possibilities. Anybody can make a dress from a pattern. Can I drape or draft one and, more importantly, can I find the inspiration to WANT to?
PRO: One craft teaches another. My knowledge of fabric and clothing design feeds my instinct when designing weft and warp for the loom. The waterfall exists in craft much as it does in business or technology, as each step in the process necessarily informs the next.
CON: Knowledge sometimes equals constraint. One of my girlfriends likes to knit with strips of plastic sacks, a material that's nowhere to be found in traditional textile tomes or in the cubbies of today's craft supply shops. Does my acknowledgment of the forest sometimes preclude my relationships with the trees?
It's a moot question, really. I can't pick a favorite band, ice cream flavor or pair of shoes. I can't even stick with one hair color, and I have to look at that in the mirror every single day. Why would I limit myself to one craft when so many can offer so much?
You can ask me which one I love the most, but I'll never tell. Ask me again tomorrow.
1 Comments:
omg mel. i stumble upon your blog and seriously, i wonder the same things. my life is covered in sheep wool. looms threaten to cave in over my bed. and knitting needles, they live in crevices and laugh when i sit on them and break them.
Post a Comment
<< Home