Create with what you have

Every creation is conceived differently but if you listen to creators, whether it be authors or songwriters or inventors or cooks, you'll hear two broad categories.  There are as many variations as there are people and creations but it may give you a place to start.

1. Looking at something in front of you and asking, "I wonder what I could make with this (these) thing(s)."  You may bring in other things to complement the focus item (or word or sound) but you start with that (those) thing(s).
2. Getting an idea from out of the blue and then figuring out how to make it real.

You hear songwriters say they woke up with a song fully formed on their lips.  If they're good, they immediately get it recorded or written down. 

You hear writers say they had no idea how their stories would turn out.  They just keep writing until the story or the character tells them the ending.

You hear of designers who say they saw something in their mind's eye and they drew it out and worked on it until it was realized.

That's a type of inspiration that is a good dessert but can't usually be relied for a regular meal.  Most things don't happen like that but it's so much fun when it does.  You feel like you're watching someone else create something amazing.

The first category is more under the control of the creative person; it can be used to create inspiration or blast through a blockage.  I think it's much more satisfying to create this way, too, because it requires some sort of effort and exercise on the behalf of the creator.  

It's also a technique that can be used to group create.  One of the best examples of this is the fabulous project headed by Joseph Gordon Levitt - HitRecord.  If you've never checked this project out, you absolutely should.  Be a part of something clever and exciting and challenging.

I'm currently working on a project that I would never have thought of had I not had 2 types of yarn I bought a few months ago while on a yarn crawl (visiting all the yarn shops in the area) in St. Louis with some friends.  

First I had two singles-spun hanks of Berroco merino/silk yarn. 

Fairly bulky and multicolor.  I wasn't sure really what I was going to do with it but it was on clearance so I got it.

At the same store, I found this lace weight yarn.

A very light, slightly greyish green.  

There's not much in common between the two yarns except for the fact that I had both of them in a bag and didn't know what to do with either of them.  So I got them both in front of me and started to run through ideas in my head.  I knew I didn't have enough of the Berroco to do anything big so I started to think of the various winter items I could make with it.  I've made several new scarfs lately and I thought that was probably a boring choice.  With the mix of colors, a pattern would be lost, especially after wear.  This yarn will felt pretty readily if given half a chance and could just end up as a doorstop if I wasn't careful.

On the other hand, I had this beautiful green yarn but I wasn't in a mood to do a proper lace project.  I did notice that the color complemented some of the colors in the heavier yarn so what could I do to combine them.  I've been fairly intrigued lately by the combination of chunky/lacy yarns so that seemed a safe bet.

How about a cowl? I could do stripes of each for the edges, interchanging the chunky with a lace panel.  That could work.  I decided on a size of knitting needle that would accommodate both weights (in this case a US size 4).

I started with a border of the heavy, thinking this would be the shoulder end.  Now what lace pattern should I use?  I decided on what is called a "faggoted" lace pattern, basically a yarn over/knit 2 together pattern.  It's a biased pattern (goes from one side to the other and can distort a pattern off the square).  While knitting in the round, that wouldn't matter and would create a sort of honeycomb look.

Here is a photo of the work in progress.  From this point I will knit the body of the cowl in the chunky, lovely, soft merino and silk so it will keep my head warm in the cold winter ahead and I'll add several inches of a lacy edging to finish off the face edge.

If I hadn't had both of these yarns in front of me, I would never have thought to use the two types of yarn together for this particular pattern (which I am deeply digging).

You can try this yourself.

• Walk through the store and pick an ingredient at random and then figure out a recipe that will make the most of it. 
• Open a book and point to a word at random.  Go off and write a short story, poem or song based on that word.
• Grab a couple of found items (beads, feathers, bolt nuts, piece of wood, piece of metal) and create something with them.

Have a go and have fun with it!  Grab some friends or family members and make a game of it.  You'll be amazed at what you can come up with!