Pune's gift and Words of wisdom from O

I am one lucky lady... In less than two weeks I am flying to Dubai to see my oldest son Erik and meet his lady friend, Pune. I can't wait... It will be such an exciting adventure. I promise lots of photos and a quest to find textile treasures! I never imagined visiting Dubai... Though I must admit I've been very intrigued with the exciting things happening there. I wanted to make a couple of things... something special for Pune and a large bag to carry my Stuff on the plane. I'll add more about the bag in a later post...


I decided that a light weight handwoven shawl would be perfect. To weave the shawl I alternated the Queen Anne’s Lace from Henry's Attic and a 10/2 cotton from Webs in the warp using the Ms and Ws draft on page 36 -#154 of A Weaver’s Book of 8 shaft Patterns edited by Carol Strickler. Changing the draft created 2 larger blocks against 1 block. I used Henry's Attic's Rapunzel which is natural cotton with a ply of stubby rayon and my handspun silk as the weft. I had a small ball of spun Bombyx silk in my stash and plied it with some silk hankies I spun up for the project. There was some Bombyx left over so I plied it on itself and added a shot of it occasionally to integrate it into the woven fabric. After washing the finished shawl became very soft and drapey. I’m very pleased. The actual color is somewhere in between the ones captured in the photos. Finished size is 22x74 plus 8” fringe each end.

Detail...


I took these excerpts from an O Magazine article. They do a great job explaining why it feels SO good to create!

Make Something...

"...creative work causes us to secrete dopamine, a hormone that can make us feel absorbed and fulfilled without feeling manic.
...
Research indicates we're most creative when we're happy and relaxed and conversely that we can steer our brains into this state by undertaking a creative task. To get a dopamine "hit," make something that pushes you to the furthest edge of your ability, where you're not only focused but learning and perfecting skills.
...
The aftermath to a creative surge, especially one that involves a new skill, is a sense of accomplishment and increased self-efficacy -- which psychologists recognize as an important counter to depression.". O Magazine, Feb 2012. P44.


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