Episode 10: Daydream Knitting
This week’s episode contains:
Admin
spotlight
’raise a cuppa
On the couch
Personal skill set
A time for hygge and
On a positive note
Admin:
· You can find Little Cabin Knits on all major podcatchers including Apple Podcast and Spotify.
· Please leave a 5 star review on Apple Podcast as the more reviews I have the more people will see this podcast under the crafting section.
· We have a new website! However, we are in the midst of changing the domain name so more about that next time. However, just note that in the future all detailed show notes will be found on the podcast with lots of extras to boot!
· If you have a question, comment, or would like to be a guest on Little Cabin Knits you can email me at littlecabinknitsAK@gmail.com
Spotlight
This week we had the heart wrenching news that Paula of Knitting Pipeline passed away. I want to personally express my condolences to the family for their loss. Paula and I never met but she played a large roll in my crafting life and I will miss her greatly.
I encourage you to go over and listen to her past episodes of the Knitting Pipeline as well as her YouTube channel Knitting Pipeline.
Raise A Cuppa
These last few weeks have been challenging both emotionally and physically. I have felt drained and am experiencing a flare up of my fibromyalgia. Worries and hopes about the future seem to bombard and war inside me at every turn. And yet I welcome the uncomfortableness as it is providing me with insights and time to contemplate what is most important to me: my loved ones and a life well lived.
I want to express my gratitude and love to all in this podcasting community as you guys give me so much motivation and validation along the way. I feel so blessed to be a part of this community so thank you!
On the Couch:
· Marshland by Tin Can Knits
o Knit with Knit Picks
o US size 7 needle for gauge
o MC: Knit Picks Provincial Tweed Worsted weight in Grey
o CC: Frozen Pond, Caremel, Black, and Salsa Verde
o Jeremy’s wedding sweater
· Starfall by Jennifer Steingass
o Knit with knit picks City Tweed DK
o Us 5 and 6 needles
o MC: Kelp
o CC1 Harbor Seal, CC2 Artichoke, & CC3 Primrose
o Emily’s wedding Sweater
· Test knit for Alexandria Waigner (AKwaigner or wee_ewe_knits)
o Aegolious Top
o Knit with mad Tosh Twist Light in the Copper Pink colorway
o Knit on US 4
o Due Date: May 1st, 2021
Personal Skill Set: Daydream Knitting
Boredom has become a sort of bi-product of the pandemic. It’s not that we may not have a list of things that are worthwhile that we could be doing it’s the “sameness” of the days that create the air of boredom, drains our motivation, and creates the barrier between action and in action.
Take me for instance. I have so much to do during my time of social distancing. Some of those include: Work (so many projects I am developing it’s hard to know what to focus on and when to stop working sometimes), planning the wedding, knitting the wedding sweaters, my regular knitting projects (so many FO’s)!, journaling, art journaling, writing letters to pen pals, interest in new crafts (more on that in another episode), reading, working out, taking the dog out, regular household chores, catching up on personal messages, let alone the work emails, and the list goes on.
And yet last week there was a day that I just couldn’t bring myself to do any of it. Boredom inevitably followed and I started to complain to my fiancé just how bored I was. Always the supporter, Jeremy suggested multiple things I could do, including just going to bed early since I had been so run down lately. I poo poo’d all of them. I just had no motivation to get up and “do.”
I ended up insighting a tickling fight with him and our dog and the laughter was so heartwarming and invigorated me. That’s what I needed: laughter and fun connection with those I love because I was just so overwhelmed with everything else. By the end I basked in that happy glow of attachment and I ended up going to bed just like he had suggested. It resulted in one of the best night sleeps I’ve had in a long while.
I am a very motivated person, I have an idea and I dive into them, daydreaming about them and coming up with new ideas constantly. However, I have found that the longer the pandemic goes on the shorter my attention span and motivation to focus on those ideas becomes. That, and the lack of personal connection that I, as an extrovert, thrive on led me to the feeling of being bored.
The most common definition of boredom is having nothing to do. Well, that doesn’t exactly fit with what I just described as my situation. However, boredom is also described as an “unpleasant emotional state in which the individual feels a pervasive lack of interest in and difficulty concentrating on the current activity.” Nailed it! That’s what I was experiencing (and continue to experience in periodic bouts).
I don’t think I’m alone either. Though, like me, when you really think about it you have a whole host of projects and activities you could do, I would bet that you have been experiencing this uncomfortable feeling at one point or another over the past year of social isolation. In fact, a recent study showed at between 30 and 90 percent of adult’s experience boredom at some point in their new daily life routine.
This feeling of boredom is so uncomfortable that we try to avoid it at all costs. We try to distract ourselves from these feelings by doing something mindless like play a video game or watch a show.
Psychology Today suggests that boredom is the result of one of the following circumstances:
1. Monotony of the mind (caused by mental fatigue and what I believe I was experiencing).
2. Lack of flow (likened to the idea of “being in the zone” and when we are unable to enter that space of flow, or it is interrupted boredom may result).
3. Need for novelty (something new and shiny- heaven knows we have a dearth of that right now).
4. Paying Attention (again, when our attention is wandering and we cannot focus boredom may be the result).
5. Emotional Awareness (a person with low self awareness may struggle to articulate their needs and emotions, thus leading to confusion about what would make you happy).
6. Inner Amusement Skills (daydreaming is an essential human skill, however our way of life has underplayed this for many years providing more and more external amusement activities that we may be in danger of losing this skill).
7. Lack of Autonomy (people feel bored when they feel trapped – the pandemic is our trap – we are socially isolating and for both intro, and extroverted types this is increasing our feelings of being trapped by the world around us).
8. Role of Culture (psychologists suggest that boredom did not even come into play until the 18th century as before that humankind was focused on survival, hunter gatherer phase if you will. So boredom is seen as a sort of luxury that has come about as a result of the industrial revolution, making things easier to find, les focus on survival and greater focus on engaging with ourselves and the world around us in a new way).
I would suggest that this feeling is more of a gift then anything else. It prompts us to recognize our own ill at ease feelings and can prompt us to new flights of fancy and daydreaming.
Daydreaming is an essential human function. However, daydreaming should not be confused with other mental functions such as listing out all the things you have to do that day, but instead imagining your future.
For example: I daydreamed about knitting sweaters for the wedding: How Jeremy and I would look in them, the feeling of warmth and comfort that not only we would feel wearing them, but that our guests would feel being around us on that special day, wearing special garments that represented not only or love for each other, but my love of crafting and creating.
That night, as I lay in bed, an image of a blanket by Cherry heart came to my mind. The pattern is called “Painted Roses Blanket.” Recently Saundra (Cherry Heart) started crocheting up a new version of it that set my heart a fluttering. I started daydreaming about crocheting it in bright, yet welcoming colors, how it would feel to be wrapped up in it when it was done. I pictured it laying across the back of our gray couch bringing light and life to our living room.
By the end of the night I knew I had to knit it. But one daydream knitting at a time thank you very much. So, I’ve made myself a pact. When I finish the wedding sweaters, I will order the yarn for this blanket and set to work on that. That is giving me even more motivation to finish the sweaters by my May 1st deadline, and something to look forward to in the future.
Do you daydream about your knitting? Your future and current projects? I will admit that the reality of my knits pale in comparison to the dreamy quality they had while daydreaming, and yet I love daydreaming my next knit into life.
The next time you feel bored lean into it. It may be trying to express something vital that you may be missing in our current pandemic lifestyle. Perhaps try a bout of daydreaming and see where it leads you.
A Time for Hygge
Hygge and daydreaming.
Daydreaming can help your dream up things you want most. Here’s is an activity to try incorporating Hygge.
Make yourself a cup of tea of hot chocolate and when it is ready, take it to a very cozy spot in your space. As you wait for your beverage to cool a little, light a candle and watch the flame for a moment of two.
Feel yourself becoming more calm. Make a wish, and for each of your first few sips, imagine sending it off into the universe.
Now begin to daydream about what it would be like or your wish to come true. Try to imagine as many different positive scenarios as you can and as you do add as many hygge moments as you can such as comfy clothes, candlelight or scent. Anything that relaxes you completely and feels hygge to you.
Here’s an example. Let’s imagine that you wished for a gathering with your loved ones. How might you daydream about that wish coming true? How would it begin? You might imagine talking on the phone while listening to soothing music. You could see yourself getting ready for the event with candles lit on your dresser, picking out the outfit and putting on your favorite eyeshadow or lipstick. Imagine the food you would serve, or the cozy restaurant you would gather at.
Imagine the atmosphere that you would create for the event: a fire in the fireplace, candles lit, boardgames stacked up and ready when the mood strikes. Imagine the conversation, the laughter, the welcoming smiles of your guests. Imagine the feeling that event would bring to you and your loved ones. How it would bring you closer in the sharing of stories and laughter.
How would all this feel/ Can you put yourself in that moment? These are the kinds of things you might imagine, or daydream as you meditate on that candle flame. This process can be applied to any wish and every wish as you embrace a moment of Hygge in your cozy space.
On a Positive Note:
As Larry Niven once said, “everything starts as somebody’s daydream.” So, give yourself permission to daydream. “Dreaming, after all is a form of planning.” – Gloria Stienem
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