2025: A Story to be Spun

To understand my past, I must reach for the future.

To understand my future, I must explore the past.

I've long thought, every one of us is an artist, and it is the fortunate ones who have discovered their medium. Anyone who is not yet an artist still needs to find their medium. The thing that lights their creative spark. The thing that sparks passion, interest veering into obsession.

Is it a blessing or a curse to have so many creative interests? I think about my next story, my next project while driving, while waiting to fall asleep. Sometimes at work, thoughts will creep in of the crafts that await me at the end of the day. When I'm knitting, I wonder if it's possible for my feet to somehow spin yarn without my hands. I want it all!

My parents started me on this life-long path of making, learning, doing. Their hands over mine, their joy underlying my wonder as I carved my first duck, sewed my first dress, crocheted my first pillow, fixed my first car.

Now that I have a child of my own, I appreciate more and more, the things I learned from my parents. And I wish they were still here for all the things I still want to learn.

My father was Chinese. My mother half-Japanese, half-Okinawan. They were culturally Hawaiian, both born and raised on the islands before they became a state. All that heritage, all that history. It's not surprising they could only pass on so much.

The meaning of aloha. Love and greeting, welcome and fellowship. Leis made of flowers, or plastic soda can rings. Creation built on generosity. The way of life is hospitality, because everyone is ohana (family).

And the stories. Every craft has a story. Every item has a memory. My mom would imbue things with intentions and desires. The plate wants to go in the dishwasher, this blanket wants to be folded. What a wonderful, mindful way to live, by honoring the purpose of the world we live in.

Living with purpose is a lesson I forgot I knew. I flailed wildly as a young adult, chasing the next thing, struggling to survive, to prove myself, to find myself. Perhaps that was my purpose then. I'm happy to say I know myself better now, and live most days with intention and meaning. And from this stable foundation, I find myself searching for connections to my past.

There is a Japanese word, ikigai, I learned a few years ago. It is a beautiful concept about living a joyful, fulfilling life, a life of purpose, a reason for being. The more I think about ikigai, the more I know, for me, that life is about creating, crafting, and sharing these stories with others. In exploring my heritage, I discovered the key to my future.

In the year 2025, I am committing to honoring this purpose. To filling my life with the joy and wonder of the fine and practical arts, and sharing this joy with the world.

While I could focus on other places to post my work, I like the idea of centering it all on the written word. A work of art without a story is just an object. For this, Vocal Media will be a great platform.

Here is a draft calendar of the projects I will write about in 2025. In general, I will write about what I am currently making, but in the absence of a project to work on, this will provide back up ideas.

January

Sashiko - a Japanese form of embroidery traditionally used to mend fabric. It uses running stitches to create geometric forms. In the fall of 2024, I learned about this craft, and made many tea towels as gifts for friends and family. I learned some things I didn't know about Japanese culture, and discovered some familiar things that I grew up with that I didn't know were Japanese culture! After trying some preprinted samplers, I started drawing the traditional designs myself, and then embellishing the designs with my own ideas.

Lunar New Year crafts - The Chinese side of my family celebrated the Lunar New Year more than the Japanese/Okinawan side. To me, it meant red envelopes with cash for the children, dumplings, fish, oranges, mooncakes, and usually a trip to the Dim Sum restaurant. In 2025, we will enter the Year of the Snake.

February

Hand Spinning Thread (following the Spin Together event) - This will be a continuance of my quest for the finest fiber as I spin thread to use for embroidery. A recap of previous attempts, and an example of how they look in embroidered work.

Craft Journaling - Keeping track of your crafts by journaling about them, as a reminder of what you've done, and a reference for future and repeated projects.

March

Flowers in Craft - Honoring nature in craft. Using flowers, or products from flowers, their symbolism and representation.

Spring Cleaning - An effort to organize, and keep crafts neat and manageable.

April

Crafting with Chronic Pain - Tips about how to reduce physical and mental stress when crafting.

Handspinning and working with long gradients in yarn.

May

Dyeing hand spun yarn, and Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

June

Crafts On the Go - Tips for crafting while traveling. TSA regulations for needles, scissors and other pointy objects. Tips for packing, choosing what to bring, and finding local fiber treasures.

Rainbow Yarn - Discussion of previous versions of rainbow yarn, and a Sashiko project using rainbow yarn.

July

Hand Spinning (Tour du Fleece, project TBD)

August

Plant based fibers - a look at different plant fibers, a study on how they spin up into yarn or thread and how they work in samples.

September

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in Crafting - discussion on being mindful of resources when crafting.

October

Halloween Fun - encouraging others to do crafts

November

Gratitude and Mindfulness in Crafting

December

Holiday Gifts - Ideas on making Holiday Gifts for friends and family, with examples from various crafts.