We Know What You've Got . . .What Would Be Missing?

Today tastes like eggplant, garlic, and sugarfree chocolate Velamints.

If you didn’t craft, what WOULDN’T you have??

This question was posted on one of the many fiber lists I’m on. The original author was wiggling her toes in a brand spandy new pair of handknit cashmere socks when she realized that if she didn’t knit, no way would she own cashmere socks. Never mind handknit cashmere socks.

And as she continued to think about the other things that would be missing from her life (books, experiences, people) she began to wonder what else would be gone—kind of like one of those ghastly 70’s educational filmstrips, where they posit a world without some element—zinc, the electroweak force, chocolate—and show how interconnected the whole web of the world is.

This really struck a nerve for me. I thought I’d just start with a list, and then in future posts discuss the exact six degrees of separation—‘cos some of them get pretty tangled. Crafting for me is simply a note in my creative symphony. If I didn’t wanna make physical stuff, I can’t imagine that I’d wanna make essays, fiction, food—anything else where you start with ingredients and turn them into a product.

1. This blog
2. An interest in journaling
3. Handbound books
4. Rubber stamp collection
5. An interest in solid geometry
6. Excellent spatial relations
7. An audiobook subscription and MP3 player
8. Many favorite recipes
9. My husband
10. A cool sidebar job
11. A sense of community
12. A room of my own
13. Half my work wardrobe
14. Confidence in my inner voice
15. Large chunks of my soul
16. Touchstones of memory
17. My fearlessness
18. Mother’s mother’s collection of steel hooks
19. The stash that ate Chicago
20. Memories of sitting and discussing stitching with father’s mother – common ground at last!
21. Father’s mother’s vintage crochet leaflets—with notes in her handwriting
22. Any connection with the Linus Project; and Ghandi’s joy of spinning to spin
23. Swaps and their fruits
24. Digital cameras and an interest in photography
25. An appreciation for the esthetics of the world around me

Hmmm . . . three more lists of 25, and I’ll have one of those infamous “hundred things lists.”