That's a very grand title for a fairly mundane post. It should be a post about an essay, or an epic poem, not a post about a weekend at home with no camera.
But this is my blog, so I can write what I like.
The procrastocrafting urge was still strong this weekend, so I indulged. Actually, to say I indulged is an understatement. I totally immersed myself. On Friday night I spun fine fine Merino singles for baby clothes. On Saturday I made a candle and on Sunday I made a felted flower and finished the evening behind my wheel.
The Merino wool is for Mary. She was my Nanna's best friend, and misses her dearly. They used to sit together and knit baby clothes for the premature babies unit at their local hospital. She's declining since my Nanna died, and the only time I saw her eyes light up when I visited was when we talked about a cross-stitch that my Nanna worked on just before she died. She became animated, and happy. I want to do something special for her, so I'm spinning her the softest, most beautiful wool that I could find. It will be the finest wool that I have spun on my wheel, as fine as any spindle-spun that I could manage.
It's not entirely altruistic. Spinning a lot, with purpose, is highly absorbing. I spun until 3am on Friday night, only stopping when my eyes bleared and my knees complained. My mind was alert but relaxed and empty. I was aware of my surroundings - the TV, the soft candlelight, the scent of the Christmas tree - but my total focus was on the wheel in front of me. I felt the soft yarn sliding through my fingers, and my foot easily pumping the treadle and the whirling wheel.
The candle was actually a job. Bex talks about having "spinning plates" - unfinished items on your mental to do list that drain your energy. Your conscious mind may forget, but the unconscious mind remembers everything, and a little bit of memory is devoted to every single thing you ever said you would do. To clear and quiet the mind it is necessary to stop the plates from spinning one by one. For me, with my many crafting interests, this seems to mean finishing off the projects I have set aside.
I made the candle from recycled wax, and it was very satisying to get out the hammer and break up my old candles. Into the bubbling pot went all the scraps of wax I had lying around the brewing cupboard. I count that as tidying!
I used a Pringles can for the mould, and was pleased when I turned it out. Instead of a smooth and boring surface, the wax had reacted with the foil lining and had come out in a series of rough rings. I couldn't have achieved the effect if I had tried, and I am sure I never will again. The colour turned out a deep pine green, and with the roughness it reminds me of the Christmas tree that reluctantly came down that night.
This is where a picture really does say a thousand words. Who wants to read a post about crafts with no pictures in it?
The felted flower was pure indulgence. It was another spinning plate, and it was either make it or make dinner, and the flower won. I love to make felt, and this was particularly fun, as I could manhandle and sculpt and throw the flower, knowing that whatever came out the other side of the process would be beautiful.
It is drying now, so perhaps I will post a picture of it some time afterall... I should be getting a computer of my own at the weekend that I can use my camera with. There will be lots of pictures. I can't see my need to procrastocraft abating any time soon.
