At some point in our lives, many of us have tried to keep a diary. Diaries are popular gifts for little girls. I recieved one too, with a blue-eyed kitten on the cover and a little padlock. Immediately, I vowed to write every day, to document every exciting detail in my daily life. After three days of faithful writing, I got bored. (My everyday life at age 8 tended to be somewhat repetitive). A couple of days later, when I felt the urge to write again, I discovered I had lost the key to the padlock. The diary ended up in the bottom drawer of my desk, and I forgot about it.
It took me years to understand that keeping a diary is not an obligation – and that having one doesn’t mean you have to write in it every day. A diary can be a wonderful tool and a great resource. It can be helpful in many areas of life – and one of those areas, of course, is crochet.
To start with, writing things down gives them some structure. Perhaps you are a very organized person, living a neatly planned life, always knowing what to do next. Not me. Between my job, my kids, their homework, the garden, the laundry, my food blog, the book group, my passion for crochet and a zillion other things, I often feel I’m living in chaos. Structuring at least a little part of this ocean of things to do is very soothing and gives me peace of mind (at least temporarily).
There are plenty of fancy ways to structure things on paper, but I stick to the good old method – making lists. With works-in-progress spread all over the place, just writing them down, one after another, actually gives you a sense of control. OK, you may realize that you have thirteen projects in various stages of completion lying around – but now, at least, you know what they are and where they are.
If you want to go a tad further, you can even prioritize the items on this list. If you have things with deadlines (a gift, a shawl to wear on a special occasion, a pattern you want to submit for next issue of Crochet me…), they will be on the top of the list. Or you can put the projects that are almost finished first, and actually get them done. Or you can listen to your heart and prioritize according to any criteria you like.
It’s astonishing how such a simple thing can boost your productivity. Of course, crochet is your passion, your haven, your way to relax – the one area where you don’t want to hear about lists and productivity. But imagine a to-do list made up exclusively of things you want to do, things you have chosen to do. And imagine the feeling of accomplishment when you proudly tick them off!
Of course, in a crocheter’s life there are not only works in progress. There are also all the things we want to make in the future. Patterns we’ve seen, yarns and threads we yearn for. Write them down in your crochet diary. It’s a little step forward.
A diary is a great place to write down your dreams – and if it’s a crochet diary, you will record your crochet dreams. Things you dream about making, things you have no idea are doable or not, the things you would make if you had unlimited knowledge, all the time in the world and unlimited access to gorgeous yarns and threads (or wire and string, if that’s what your dreams are made of). Perhaps you consider yourself a not-so-creative person? Try dreaming, and you may be very surprised.
Jot down things you’ve learned. Crochet is a continuous learning process. It’s simple – but there is always something new to learn (or invent, for that matter). The first time you manage to make an unusual and complicated stitch, write it down in your diary. If you feel you may forget how it’s done, you can write or draw something that only makes sense to you, but which will help you remember.
And now, inspiration will start to flow. Believe me, your lists, your notes, the awareness of your increasing skills and the recording of your ”impossible” dreams will open up creative realms in your mind you never thought existed. You will start to get new ideas -- all the time. Ideas about stitch combinations, colour combinations, smart solutions to nagging problems, and ideas about whole designs, vague or more precise.
Write them down when they come to you, even if you don’t really know what to do with them. You’ll get so many ideas, and you have so little time. When a wonderful idea pops up in your mind, you think you will remember it forever – but trust me, you won’t. Don’t panic if you add things much faster than you can make them. You don’t have to make them all. And there will be times in your life when you have too much time on your hands, or when you feel drained and devoid of ideas. Then you will have your personal little treasure to go back to, whenever you want.
Read through your diary from time to time. You will be amazed at the wealth it contains. You will realize what a creative and intelligent person you are. Your diary will be very different depending on who you are. It can be thick or thin, colourful or plain – but it will always be an inspirational read, and a faithful companion in your crocheting adventures.