Creativity and new beginnings

Sunday 21st June saw me leaving my husband and children to the mercies of the London Science Museum and skipping off gaily for an afternoon of fun chat, knitting and cake with the Muse Connection Volume 2 at The Parcel Yard, King's Cross.

My last attempt to attend the Muse Connection had been thwarted at the last minute by family matters and so in the preceeding week I had all my fingers crossed that no-one would come out in a rash, need driving to the ends of the earth or have a sudden business trip foisted on them. In the end, all the lucky stars aligned and I was footloose and fancy free - for all of 3 hours.

The event was organised by Kate of APlayful Day and Helen of Curious Handmade and it was such a treat to be able to sit amongst like-minded folk. To sit and chat about our knitting, to eat cake and to listen to talks from both Rachel Coopey - sock designer extraordinaire and Lydia Gluck - co-editor of Pom Pom Quarterly.

The theme of the day was New Beginnings and both talks were centered around this theme - so relevant to crafters everywhere. In honour of the occasion many of us were knitting along on the New Beginnings KAL, or actually were casting on new projects on the day.

My new beginning: sock #2 in Biscottie & Cie sock yarn

It's no secret that of late I have been somewhat distracted by Stash Dash 2015 hosted by the Knit Girlls and a variety of other KALs and events. My design work has been a little in the doldrums and although I have a few submissions and projects in the pipeline I feel as though I have been struggling to pick myself up and carry on with the creativity. In the interests of being determinedly upbeat I don't often blog when I can't be positive and cheerful but to be frank, the last few weeks/months have been hard work on the domestic front. Trying to stay positive and vibrant and creative whilst dealing with the minutiae of family life is a challenge for me at best and in recent weeks it seems to have sucked the creative life force right out of me (apologies - on re-reading that seems a tad dramatic - but you get the picture).

The theme of New Beginnings though was just what I needed to give myself a metaphorical kick in the rear, along with the realisation that every project has to start somewhere.

The aptly named Squishy from Anzula Luxury Yarns from my goodie bag

Being creative can sometimes be hard work and sitting around for the perfect design inspiration to strike is an exercise in futility. Instead part of the challenge is to consistently 'show up', to work at it a little every day and to continue to do your best work even when, in truth, you would rather be lying down in a darkened cupboard whilst your offspring run amok.

The exciting news that I'm going to be doing a Mystery Sock KAL for the Solid Socks group on Ravelry is a further reminder that time, tide and creativity wait for no man. So - pop a date in your diary for November 1st and pick out a perfect skein of solid or semi solid sock yarn for a bit of toe-up mystery.