Introduction - About me and Year of Making

My name is Alec and I want to be more creative.

That's a little vague but I have to start somewhere!

I am already creative, don't get me wrong.  I knit all kinds of stuff.  I play music and compose music.  It's not like I'm sitting on the sofa eating bon-bons all day long.

But I lack focus; I lack discipline; I lack follow-through.  I'm one of those "great out of the gate, lousy at the finish line" types.  Start 50 projects and finish 2.

I also lack...I'm trying to think of the perfect word.  A fun, experimental, don't take myself seriously kind of energy that would have me just make stuff to make it, without an idea of necessarily where it is going or what it will be - who cares?  Just knit!

But I still get that needling "not good enough" stuff from my critical mind.  I still hear, time and again, you did that stitch wrong, it's ugly, it's stupid, why are you even bothering with this?  You'll never be any good!

Oy, I am sure that everyone has their own special version of this voice.  For me it keeps me from playing and experimenting.  It stifles me and says that if this work isn't a "project" it isn't worth doing.  It prevents me from learning new things.  It prevents me from getting better at things I already know how to do.

My critical voice fiddles while Rome burns!

So, a few weeks ago I saw "Big Hero 6" and fell in love with the robot Baymax.  I knew that I had to make a knitted Baymax.  But knitting a Baymax would be a challenge - I mean, crocheting is so much more conducive to creating stuffed toys - or Amigurumi - than knitting is.  I have tried several times in the past to learn to crochet but I just couldn't get the hang of it.

Alright - so I HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO CROCHET! That is clear.  I went on to one of my favorite craft sites www.craftsy.com and discovered that they had added a course for beginning crochet!  Woohoo.  I purchased the course and off I went.

The lady leading the course is Kim Werker, who I personally have to thank for finally giving me the ability to crochet.  She is a wonderful teacher and just has a very natural way of explaining crocheting that makes it incredibly easy to follow.  I made a mile of chains (not really but a lot!) and practiced the stitches without counting or fiddling and it was wonderful!  So freeing!

Feeling so Free!

Anyhoo I was so enamored with Kim's work that I looked into her and found a Year of Making and just got super excited.

Make something creative every day - be it a doodle, a beef scallopini, a piece of grafitti, a sculpture, a photograph - anything - just do something creative every day.

I said to myself - I can do that.  But I want to do one better - just a tiny bit - which would be to do a simple blog post every day with a photo of what I did.  I can add anything I want but at minimum a photo and a one-sentence description will be needed for each entry.

A couple of web sites to ponder if this kinda stuff interests you:

Kim Werker: http://www.kimwerker.com/.  The only person to ever be able to teach me crochet after dozens of failed attempts.  She's my inspiration for this blog and this challenge.

Ravelry: www.ravelry.com. A source for all things yarn related.  Hundreds of free patterns to go nuts with.

More to come I'm sure.

I look forward to this journey.

Oh, and here's the Baymax pattern.