A flashback post today.
After my bf and I first started dating, I came upon Nelly Pailloux’s Felties: How to make 18 cute and fuzzy friends from felt. Being the burgeoning crafter that I was (this was way back in 2011), I couldn’t help but suggest that we grab some felt and try our hands at making some of the characters together. The bf obliged, and we ended up having a fun crafting day with his neices and nephews (some of whose stitches are seen above!).
A few glue-gunned googly eyes and some poly-fill later, we had these two. I took a quick snapshot before the felties went home with the kids.Can you guess — of the mushroom girl and the zombified pumpkin — at which feltie was mine and which was his? (and yes, you can surmise a bit about our creative personalities from the choices made). 🙂
A has a lot of exuberant creative energy. Whether working with art, design, or music, he is really adept at jumping in and not being afraid to experiment with big colours and bold expression. Like Zombie Pumpkin, when A makes things, his brains and creative energies leak out.
I am a sleepier character (mushroom girl is practically snoring). I work slowly. In contrast to A, it can take me weeks or months to get into a project. And when it is done, I like to enjoy the work for a long while after. Between the time I spend planning and anticipating a project, doing it, then enjoying the after glow, months (and more months) have gone by. Creatively, I’m calibrated to the pace of the tortoise. I’ve often wondered how much of this I can adapt to the faster-paced exigencies of modern life. Then again, turtles are A’s favourite animal (some of the collection below), so he probably has an inner plodder, too.
What is your creative personality? Has it changed over time?
Okay so you knew your BF was a keeper, as he was willing to craft with you! Very awesome!
In answer to the question you posed at the end: My creative personality has changed over time as I have been willing to take more risks and not always need structure to be creative 🙂
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Looking back, I guess that was the litmus test? Ha! I’ve been enjoying your tales of your and TTQH’s crafting adventures; it got me thinking about how and when couples craft together. 🙂 Wonderful to read that risk-taking has gotten easier over time. I’m in the ‘need structure’ phase, but am hoping to start improvising more. Cheers, Tierney. 😀
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Aww, so sweet! And he’s a crafter, too. Perfect. As you know, Spencer and I craft together–and very decidedly apart (ahhem, prison bus?); it’s all good!
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Thank you, Melissa. It *is* all good! Getting to share crafting w/our nearest and dearest is such a treat. And it’s been lots of fun to see you two chatting about knitting on your recent podcast episodes! Great to see that he is becoming a seasoned knitter, too (!), and I enjoyed and chuckled through the fun conversation you had about the Denali. 😀
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Ooooh, cute felties! And it’s cool that you and your BF both imprinted your personalities on your little felty friends. I’m surprised the two of you haven’t been tempted to make more, actually! I think my craft personality can be a bit all over the place… Sometimes slow and cautious, sometimes jumping in with both feet. Still, I suppose it keeps things interesting! 😁
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Thanks, Helen. 🙂 I’ve been uber tempted to make more felt friends (not least after you released your exquisite bee pattern last year!), and will hopefully make some quality feltie-time when the knitting needs a break. And yes – it helps to keep things interesting! Come to think of it, ‘slow & cautious’ and ‘jumping in’ remind of Paddy and Plunkett! A good combination! 😀
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Hahaha! Now that you mention it, that does kinda make sense 😂 And do let me know if you have a go at making a felt bee, I’d love to see how you get on!
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Awww I absolutely love this post! How sweet. (And what adorable felties!) I think it’s great that you craft at a glacial pace–especially if that means you are savoring the experience and enjoying some methodical relaxation in process. And it sounds like you are A’s turtle, which is just too cute. My work tends to come in erratic bursts of energy followed by dormancy… which I’m not sure is particularly productive! Well done to you for sticking with things and finishing them–I am finding follow-through the hardest part lately.
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Thanks, Weekes. I absolutely turn to art & craft to decompress (so, like, daily, ha!) which probably accounts for not minding the slowness. I would love to have more energy bursts! – they can be so exciting and rejuvenating and pure feverish magic! Follow-through is definitely hard and (for me) is where I often have to play tricks on myself to get something near done. 🙂 I hope your drama classes are going well, btw!
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Lovin’ the classes so far, thanks! It has been great to be back up on stage doing my thing – definitely lots of ‘feverish magic’ in the process 🙂
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What a lovely, whimsical post! 😊
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Thanks for reading, Melinda! 🙂
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What a great way to get spend a date! And it is usually a good sign to have different ways to tackle a project: you will complete each other.
You know the saying: slow and steady wins the race. Being a turtle is not a bad thing. 😉
My creative personality has definitely changed over the years: I used to try everything to learn a new technique, working on multiple projects at a time and collecting yarn.. I guess I was like a squirrel, running everywhere and gathering skeins for the winter. Now I am much closer to the turtle: taking my time, and thinking a while before starting projects. I’ve been wondering which sweater to knit next for the past six months, still haven’t made up my mind.
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Thanks for reading, Agnès! How coincidental: when I start to criticize my own slow-habits, my partner always mentions “slow and steady.” Thank you. 🙂
I’m delighted by your squirrel metaphor! I remember squirrel-like days, too. It can be very exciting to be in the middle of all that learning and collecting. I wonder if the habit of taking more time is a product of becoming a dedicated knitter? (if there is something about knitting that really cultivates patience and enjoyment of the process?) When I read your writing about your FOs, that’s one thing that strikes me – how much you enjoy each step of a project!
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