A clothes line ...

... of finished (finally) projects ...
.

All finished
(from left to right)  youth size Noah's Ark, adult size star-shaped afghan made from leftovers of youth afghan and the one that started it all - baby size Noah's Ark

proudly displaying - for all the backyard to enjoy - the result of my recent efforts and endeavours.  The many enjoyable hours spend creating these projects (which are now in the mail to their recipients) and the not so enjoyable hours spent doing the drudge work, the work of weaving in the ends, making the fringe, etc.  

Of coursse, the backyard is mostly inhabited by birds doing flyovers, squirrels foraging for whatever they forage for - mostly my spring bulbs,  rabbits intent on nibbling away the bark on my tender trees, groundhogs and the occasion raccoon and/or skunk.  Not really the best audience for this incredible display of beauty - but the best I could do on short notice.

I am proud of these creations.  Inordinately proud.  They've been a challenge from start to finish.

Crocheting and knitting are right-brain activities but they also contain some left-brain elements.

Like reading the pattern.  Following the pattern.

With a brain that has been exhibiting fluctuating characteristics of brain injury, reading and following instructions can be problematic.  Also challenging.

And then there's the finishing....

On the two Noah's Ark afghans, the technique is such that if you get one stitch wrong, the whole pattern goes out of wack.  The crafter is literally creating a picture,  row by row, reading a diagram.  Creating something with yarn and hook out of thin air.  There is no tapestry to weave into.  No paper to paint on.  The picture literally forms row by row.  Out of thin air.   At first in each segment, it seems like a mess.  Like nothing beautiful or recognizable can ever come from this.  But as row builds upon row, the picture comes out.  Slowly.  Beautifully.

I love to watch the picture form beneath my fingers.

But I also feel frustrated when the mind won't cooperate with the fingers.  When the pattern comes out wrong.

At those times, I (wisely) choose to put the project down for a brief time. To focus on something (anything) else.  As long as it's right-brain, I mean.

For me that may mean a DVD.  Or a Sudoku puzzle.  Or a fresh (easy) project.

I've learned to keep more than one project on the go at any given time.  Especially at least one that is mostly right-brain for those moments when the left leaves the room entirely.  Knitting back and forth, back and forth or crocheting in a simple pattern.  Letting the rhythm of the needles (or hook) sooth my battered soul and emotions.

Of the three pictured on the clothesline above, can you guess which was the right brain one?  With all the colours, it may appear complicated but really it wasn't.  Simply crocheting around and around in a star-shape adding a new colour as an old one ended, using up the leftovers from two previous works (of art).

Hope your day is filled with good right-brained activity - and just enough left-brained to keep things interesting.

Knitting as Right Brain Activity

Someone had fun - and let their right brain go crazy - with this lamp post in Conway, South Carolina

 For those of us dealing with trauma and PTSD, one of the best ways to cope - and eventually - heal is through right-brain activity.

Our left brains - the logical part of us; the part that keeps trying to make sense of things that don't make sense - goes into overdrive.  Continually active.  Nagging at us.  Keeping us awake at night.  Tormenting us.

The right brain is the opposite.  The creative part of us.  The part we need to allow to take over in times of stress and trauma to soothe us and allow emotional healing to take place.

There are many activities which are considered right brain activity:  knitting (and the other creative arts) being one of them; reading; photography.  Anything that does not involve logical thinking or problem solving.  Knitting (and the related art of crocheting) are what I've chosen as my pre-eminent right brain activities:  those which help keep me sane in an insane world.

Before I learned to knit, I crocheted.  Now I do both.  It's not uncommon for me to have two, three or even four projects on the go at any given time.  Right now, I have two pairs of fingerless gloves on the needles and a baby afghan on a hook so I can mix it up a bit.  If I get bored with one for a period of time, then I can switch to one of the others.  Or even start up a new one.

It's a knitting thing, I believe.  Real knitters move from one project to another and back again.  Real knitters sit back and go with the flow.

I discovered the difference between the left brain and the right during the aforementioned severely stressful situation when my therapist suggested I read the book Invisible Heroes:  Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal by Belleruth Naparstek.  I was expecting stories about trauma victims and their survival stories.  Instead, the book was about this psychotherpapist's work with trauma victims and what she learned through her experience including how she changed her therapeutic model and techniques based on her work and research.

She discovered the use of right brain activity, specifically affirmations and guided meditation, to be especially helpful in the healing/recovery process.  She gives examples of both.

For me, right brain activity is not just confined to affirmations and guided meditation - or I would be doing those activities pretty well 7/24 some days.  For me, it's the art of creation.  Seeing the work in progress.  Watching something beautiful come from a mere string of yarn.  Covering myself with the completed afghan.  Wrapping the warm, comforting shawl around my shoulders like giving myself a soft hug.  Feeliing the different fibres of yarn beneath my fingers.  Hearing the soft click clack of the needles rubbing against each other.

Definitely a sensory experience.  Then add music to the mix. Soft music.  Celtic music.  Classical.  Praise.  Whatever.  Add to that, a safe you consider to be your safe place.  If you don't have one, create one.  Fill it with your favorite right-brain things.  Mine is filled with yarn, patterns, DVD's, CD's, my computer.  A heater to keep me warm.  A fan to keep me cool.  A phone.  My rocker.  Books.  Various completed projects.

Everything I need when my emotions are in a jangle.  When the thoughts assail and torment me.

Everything I need to regain equilibrium and peace.

My second favorite lamppost - a crocheted chain wrapped around the post adorned with crocheted flowers.