Always be prepared for the unexpected

A few days ago I ran into my friend Dawn. She is a very sweet and very talented lady. 'Good people' as we like to say. At our chance meeting, she invited me to an impromptu knitting group get-together the following day. Rats! I'm not a knitter. I tried it when I was much younger. I just never got into it and my stitch tension was so uneven that I gave up. I knew it was a lost cause. A shame, because my mother could knit so beautifully that her clothing looked manufactured. It was amazing. She was amazing. However, I was an avid and prolific crocheter as a kid. I learned that very quickly and easily and even sold hand crocheted items to various stores and had numerous individual clients. But, I was so deeply ingrained in sewing that it didn't matter to me to not be good at knitting. So, no knitting for me. But Dawn, being the sweetheart that she is, told me to come anyway.

So, here's proof that I follow my own advice. I went. This informal get together consisted of a great support system of creative women, knitters in this case, who help each other with problems they are having or an opportunity to share whatever. . . new yarns, resources or working with different needles . . . whatever . . even new puppies! Cool. I like that. As everyone began pulling out their work, it was obvious that I was not 'one of them'. I made my apologies for being a fiber artist/quilter and the ladies laughed. They told me that it was ok and welcomed me into the fold instantly. So much so, that the time sped by. I felt like I just sat down, but no, now it was time to go. At the end, I was invited to join them again.

Why is this significant? Well, I always advocate pushing your own boundaries and being around other creative types even if the medium is different from your own. It is surprisingly amazing how much overlap there is or how with a bit of thought and exploration you can apply techniques, supplies, etc from one discipline to another. And sometimes it's just the push we need to get out of our comfort zone. Overcome the obstacles that block us and create new pathways for creativity.

So what did I do while I was there? Well, in addition to not knitting, I'm also not a hand stitcher like embroidery, needlepoint, etc. I did all that 'back in the day' and had moved away from it long ago. But, I needed something to take with. What was I going to do, just sit and watch people knit?? I thought about it and really had nothing to take, so I took one of my own images, screened it onto a piece of fabric, grabbed a wad of embroidery floss, needles, scissors and a hoop that I keep as a 'just in case' sort of thing. Without any thought I just started adding the floss here and there. I find that I often do something interesting and out of my box when I'm doing it on the fly. And this was surely on the fly! Other than making the fabric piece the day before, with a matter of 5 minutes till departure, I ran around, grabbed random things which I described above and hoped I could make some thing happen. I wasn't sure if I liked it at first, but I think I like the direction I'm going. The photo at the right is just a small detail of a much larger piece.

So again, be open to opportunities that pop up. Ready for them or not, take a deep breath, say yes and muddle your way thru it. You'll be amazed at what comes out of it! Not to mention the new friendships and creative partnerships that are born.

Here is Dawn on the left. She is modeling the lovely continuous or Mobius scarf that she finished.