Fiber

I recently completed another Warm Fuzzy project, but I gave it to the intended recipient before taking a picture. This one was dark purple and I made it some pink bunny pajamas. The recipient is a fan of A Christmas Story. I'm sad about not having a picture because the ears were so perfectly adorable.

Another area I've been leaning into recognizing my talents in is art. I've been practicing calling myself a fiber artist. This summer when I was writing my whole life story I had a sentence that started "If I were an artist". I had to change it because what I meant was "if I were better at drawing". I wanted to be more respectful to myself. It's weird to say that.

I've been practicing fiber art for a long time. In childhood, I was taught to sew and many of my early projects were costumes for re-enacting the middle ages. Around middle school, I learned to do counted cross-stitch. I've made a countless number of little cross-stitched Christmas ornaments as gifts for my friends. I never took pictures of those as I didn't have a camera or the idea to record my work.

In college, I learned to crochet. I believe my first project was a black scarf that is about 10 - 12 feet long and entirely single crochet. Except maybe some parts where I forgot what I was doing and slip stitched. I think I also tried to figure out how to knit and I was unable to do so at that time. That was probably around 2001. That's 18 years of crochet.

Over the years I've learned all kinds of new skills. Usually I learn new sewing skills when I need something and have limited resources. Like the year Taryn had a big growth spurt right when it was getting cold and I didn't have any way to get her anything new. I went to the Airman's Attic (like a thrift store but free) and pretended I was looking at fabric rather than the overwhelming piles and piles of wrong sized clothes. I turned adult long sleeve Ts into leggings and too-large shirts into right-sized shirts. Button down shirts into dresses. It was kind of fun actually.

Yes, I'm a fiber artist. I take materials and apply my skills and creativity to form new things. When I ask Google to tell me the definition of art, it wants to argue with me. But I prefer the idea that every human is an artist and we all need to tap into our creativity and be encouraged to express it.