Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is on the way. For many of us, this is a great time to reconnect with family and family traditions. For others, it’s just really tough, especially if you’ve lost a loved one recently. Even if it is a time of great joy, it can be stressful too.
I got to thinking about all of this and came up with an idea that might help. I’m betting that if you are reading this, you have already discovered how good the fiber arts are for stress relief and mental health. This isn’t a new idea. There’s a great quote from Elizabeth Zimmerman where she talks about this: “Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit either.” For perspective, she was born in 1910.
She also said the following about spinning in her Knitter’s Almanac: “I know that spinning sets me in a trance; it soothes me and charges my batteries at the same time. When times are tough I sit down to spin during the news-broadcasts, with therapeutic results.”
With the relaxing properties of the fiber arts in mind, I would like to share my ideas and experience on how to plan a do-it-yourself fiber arts retreat. I’ve done this a few times when my husband has taken the kids camping, and it has left me soothed and recharged just like Elizabeth Zimmerman said. Here’s what I recommend.
Step 1: Take a look at your calendar and find a day or–better still–a few days together to set aside for your fiber arts retreat. Think of it as a staycation with a purpose–or a spa day with yarn. Your goal is not to craft as much as you can. Instead, it is to find maximum enjoyment in your craft or crafts. The idea is to relax and enjoy the rhythm of the fiber arts. If you would rather spend the time away from home, that’s fine too. You’ll need to plan ahead a little more to decide where you’ll go, which projects you’ll bring, etc.
Step 2: Let your family know what you’re doing. Let them know you are taking this time to relax and enjoy the fiber arts and just to take a break from the usual busy-ness of life. Who knows? Maybe they’ll even pitch in and offer to make dinner and take up the slack in other ways.
Step 3: Decide if you want to spend this time alone or with others–or some of both. If you are part of a knitting or crochet group or have friends with similar interests, perhaps you can plan to meet at your favorite coffee shop to craft together. If you are more of an introvert (like I am) and need time alone to recharge, then this is a great opportunity to do just that.
Step 4: Choose your entertainment. A playlist with your favorite relaxing music is a great idea. So are audiobooks, movies, and your favorite YouTube fiber arts vlogs. I typically listen to audiobooks while I craft, but I also enjoy some of my favorite movies–movies I know so well (like the BBC Jane Austen films) that I can look down to focus on my stitches without really missing anything. On the other hand, if I’m watching something new, I prefer to stick with simple projects while I watch. Do you do the same thing?
Step 5: Gather other creature comforts so you can maximize the time spent crafting. That includes planning simple meals so you don’t have to think about what to make for dinner. It also includes having whatever you need for your favorite coffee or tea drink on hand. It might include a cozy blanket to wrap up in while you craft or the supplies for making a fire in your fireplace. And it might include straightening up the room you plan to hang out in ahead of time so it’s a peaceful environment. If your time and budget allow, consider scheduling a massage or a facial sometime during your retreat.
Step 6: If you have young children, you’ll want to plan for them. Obviously you can’t just zone out with your knitting needles all day. However, you can plan a modified fiber arts retreat that includes your children. Consider getting a new toy or age-appropriate craft that your children can enjoy at the same time. If you’re okay with some screen time, this could be a good day for a movie you’ll all enjoy while you craft alongside them. There’s also a wonderful array of audiobooks for kids. If you make it a special day for them too and keep your expectations reasonable, there’s no reason it can’t be an enjoyable day for all of you.
Step 7: Plan your projects. Again, the goal here is not to push yourself to finish anything. The goal is pure enjoyment. For me, that means having the loom already warped and ready so I can enjoy the weaving process. It means having a couple knitting projects on the needles–an easy one for movie knitting and a more complex one to enjoy the rest of the time. It means having some art batts ready to spin and the right sized crochet hook and yarn chosen for yet another crocheted beret, which is my latest obsession.
Whether you enjoy one craft or many, I recommend having at least two or three projects either in process or ready to start when your fiber retreat time begins. That way if you find yourself bored or frustrated by one project, you can just set it aside for another day and move onto the next one.
Step 8: Before your fiber arts retreat begins, be sure to gather together everything you need–yarn, hooks, needles, fiber, stitch markers, patterns, etc. Consider putting everything you need for each project in a separate container so you don’t have to spend precious retreat time hunting anything.
Step 9: When the time arrive for your fiber arts retreat, relax and be flexible. This is not a race. It’s the opposite of a race. The goal is pure enjoyment of the fiber arts. Don’t be afraid to change plans as you go. If a project gets frustrating, switch projects. You can come back to it another day. Not enjoying the movie you chose? Switch it out for something you know and love. Need to get out of your house or apartment? Grab a couple of your projects and head to a coffee shop or the library. Feeling lonely? Call a friend or family member to chat with while you craft or invite him or her to meet up. My hope for you is that you will feel refreshed and recharged and ready to take on the world after your fiber arts retreat!
Let me know what you think of this idea. Is this something you have done or would like to do? What would YOUR perfect fiber arts retreat look like?
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Stitch Markers
My daughter Elizabeth has started making stitch markers for my shop. This is the daughter with the two darling little boys who also takes care of my social media posts. They all came up for Thanksgiving, and I got such great cuddle time with the youngest who is almost 2 months old now.
Anyway, we have some really lovely stitch markers available. These have a new kind of clasp that I really like. They can open and close for crocheters, but the clasp is also light and sturdy and works very well on knitting needles.
This first kind is made of actual tiny shells painted in different colors.
I have been using a few of these myself, and I find they don’t catch on the yarn and are really easy to use.
The other stitch marker set is made with pretty flowers.
These are very smooth and non-snaggy too. I know that isn’t a word, but you know what I mean. These come in sets of five in these exact colors.
You can find both types right here in the Accessories section of my shop along with the hand-dyed silk scarves I mentioned last week.
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Beautiful Black Hole
I have several fresh-dyed colorways in the shop this week, which you can find in the New section of my shop as always. I especially want to draw your attention to a new addition to the “beautiful” space collection–Beautiful Black Hole. Did you know there’s a huge black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy? Isn’t that wild?
This colorway is black, but it also has all the same colors as my other “beautiful” colorways (Beautiful Nebula and Beautiful Galaxy). It’s a very subtle, elegant colorway. In dim lighting it just looks black, but in a bright room or outside, you see all the other colors too. Here is Beautiful Black Hole:
Since black holes absorb all light, think of the other colors as occurring just outside the event horizon. I have Beautiful Black Hole in stock on Sock Perfection and Twinkle Sock, and I have it available dyed to order as well. Wouldn’t this make a great hat or cowl?
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On a Personal Note – Crochet Adventures
I don’t know why, but every time I tried to learn to crochet over the years, I really struggled with finding the proper hole for the hook to go into for the next stitch. Also, I’m left-handed, and while I knit “normally,” I found it hard to crochet right-handed.
Over the last few months, though, I switched to holding the hook in my left hand, and I was finally able to make sense of the hole problem too. Now it seems obvious whereas before I just couldn’t make sense of it. Since then I have been having soooo much fun crocheting hats. Magic circles are indeed magical. I just want to shout out to all of you crocheters. It’s so much fun! I’m never going to abandon knitting, but I love how fast projects grow with crochet and how much easier it is for things like hats. I’ve made hats for my grandsons and a couple of berets for myself. I love the fact that mistakes are so easy to fix too. The one thing I don’t like is how much more counting is involved all the time compared with knitting. I never knew I was so bad at counting!
I’m just a baby crocheter, and I haven’t tried to do anything beyond the basic stitches yet, but I’m certainly looking forward to doing more! Many thanks to those of you who encouraged me to learn to crochet!