Once in a while I check my life for loose ends. I am usually more concerned with mental loose ends than with physical ones because I can always do a quick load of laundry or ignore the spider web for a couple of days without getting into trouble, but an unsettled complaint, an unfinished thought, an untitled photograph – they keep my awake.
So yesterday – Sunday – was the day I hunted loose ends. Since I was between colors it was a good stopping point in the project.
The pink tutu girls are finished. Bears number thirty, thirty-one, and thirty- two have practiced their ballerina steps, have fallen on their tutus a few times, have slid across the kitchen table, and finally they have stood still long enough to pose for a picture I can post. Bear number twenty-nine had two photo sessions. I took a picture of him earlier in the week, outside, with the old faded gnome and the new one. Yesterday, as I was unscrewing my mirror from the bedroom door to use as prop for the tutu girl number, I found the first acrylics I ever committed to canvas in a painting class. Bear twenty-nine happened to sit on my bed, waiting to be packed in the “finished” bag. He was made in one night, from Windsor blue and white yarn, after I was done with the Blue Boys and already involved with thoughts of the tutu girls. I posed him again, with my old paintings, to give him a spot to remember him by.
I imagine that extremely well-organized people don’t have loose ends in their lives. And I know that others never catch up with theirs. As for me, having an obsessive nature is a double-edged sword. I get involved in a project to the exclusion of all other things around me, but eventually I get to a point where I become restless about the missing order in my life.
That’s when I start to question procedure. Bear finishing procedure for instance.
Should I weave in every loose end as I am going along?
Should I let them all hang until the piece is finished?
Not too long ago I counted 48 loose ends on Sweetpeas. That was after I had already woven in a few of the main ones. With the tutu girls, knitted in only three colors, I followed a different approach. After each break in knitting I quickly sewed in what strands of yarn were hanging from the sides. By the time I was ready to rummage for PC pipe to make the ballet barre and a mirror to simulate a studio, I had three clean bears. Well, the last one was still faceless. But that is another story.
This post is part of my loose ends gathering. I had planned it for right after I finished Sweetpeas. I had scribbled the words “Loose Ends” on my list of subjects in the big binder. Somewhere in the big binder. Yesterday I made proper divider pages for the binder. I printed out the map of Africa on the “Mother Bear Project” web site and stuck it right behind the divider that says “Mother Bear and Related Web Sites.” I added dish detergent and batteries to my shopping list. I called a friend. I synchronized three clocks in my house. I dumped the outdated yogurt.
Now I am ready to turn my thoughts to the bag of purplish and lavender yarns. I am ready for “Purple Rain.”
So yesterday – Sunday – was the day I hunted loose ends. Since I was between colors it was a good stopping point in the project.
The pink tutu girls are finished. Bears number thirty, thirty-one, and thirty- two have practiced their ballerina steps, have fallen on their tutus a few times, have slid across the kitchen table, and finally they have stood still long enough to pose for a picture I can post. Bear number twenty-nine had two photo sessions. I took a picture of him earlier in the week, outside, with the old faded gnome and the new one. Yesterday, as I was unscrewing my mirror from the bedroom door to use as prop for the tutu girl number, I found the first acrylics I ever committed to canvas in a painting class. Bear twenty-nine happened to sit on my bed, waiting to be packed in the “finished” bag. He was made in one night, from Windsor blue and white yarn, after I was done with the Blue Boys and already involved with thoughts of the tutu girls. I posed him again, with my old paintings, to give him a spot to remember him by.
I imagine that extremely well-organized people don’t have loose ends in their lives. And I know that others never catch up with theirs. As for me, having an obsessive nature is a double-edged sword. I get involved in a project to the exclusion of all other things around me, but eventually I get to a point where I become restless about the missing order in my life.
That’s when I start to question procedure. Bear finishing procedure for instance.
Should I weave in every loose end as I am going along?
Should I let them all hang until the piece is finished?
Not too long ago I counted 48 loose ends on Sweetpeas. That was after I had already woven in a few of the main ones. With the tutu girls, knitted in only three colors, I followed a different approach. After each break in knitting I quickly sewed in what strands of yarn were hanging from the sides. By the time I was ready to rummage for PC pipe to make the ballet barre and a mirror to simulate a studio, I had three clean bears. Well, the last one was still faceless. But that is another story.
This post is part of my loose ends gathering. I had planned it for right after I finished Sweetpeas. I had scribbled the words “Loose Ends” on my list of subjects in the big binder. Somewhere in the big binder. Yesterday I made proper divider pages for the binder. I printed out the map of Africa on the “Mother Bear Project” web site and stuck it right behind the divider that says “Mother Bear and Related Web Sites.” I added dish detergent and batteries to my shopping list. I called a friend. I synchronized three clocks in my house. I dumped the outdated yogurt.
Now I am ready to turn my thoughts to the bag of purplish and lavender yarns. I am ready for “Purple Rain.”
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