Let's Get Knotty!

      The holidays are coming! I have been trying to work more on Christmas gifts, since it seems to be sneaking up on us. I was also blessed with a beautiful new nephew this past week, so I had to celebrate somehow. This week, I crocheted two hats. The little green one is for my new nephew. The pink one was supposed to be for Ellie, but I made it way too big. It's going to be for my niece Riverlyn instead. I am still pretty proud of them, despite their faults.      All throughout my life, my grandma Marsha would be constantly crocheting. I remember being mesmerized as I watched her calmly crochet while she sat and talked with us. I have numerous crocheted items made by her. I have a tiny white crocheted dress that I wore when I was blessed as a baby. I was given so many beautiful Afghans made by her. They are some of my most prized possessions.      My grandma actually made my daughter's blessing dress, also. It came with the dress, boo...

 This week's progress has been the absolute hardest to document. I think I did more work this week than any other week, with less visible progress than any other week. I have been trying to crochet the arms and legs for the panda that I have been making, but I keep losing track on the rows and stitches. I have had to frog (undo some stitches) quite a bit, so I have been frustrated trying to get my final product done. I feel as though my occupation revolves around two axes. The first axis is the basis of doing my occupation for a class, and the second is the basis of doing my occupation because I enjoy it. I think that the first axis, doing my occupation for class, takes away all autonomy on my part. I have noticed that when I crochet just because I know I have to for class, I get more frustrated and I enjoy it a whole lot less. Everything feels forced when I remember I have to practice my occupation and I am short on time. There are other weeks in which I have plenty of free time, ...

 I have no new pictures of my cute little panda this week. I have been practicing the best I can, but for some reason, my magic circles aren't working correctly. I have restarted the arms of the panda probably four or five times now but I can't quite seem to get it right. I have replaced time actively crocheting with time watching YouTube about certain techniques to see if I can remedy the problem. I think this occupation probably falls on category F: Enjoyment (low boredom) on the scale presented in the article. (Westgate & Steidel, 2020) I feel as though I enjoy this occupation and almost never feel bored while participating in it. Sometimes, though, when I do lose attention on it, I tend to feel as though it is losing some of its value, so I try to hone in on what I am doing more. I think that boredom now pushes me to do things that I find worthwhile, whereas when I was younger, boredom would usually push me to get into trouble. Most of the time when I am bored now, I pu...

 This week has been a very eventful week for my occupation. We all got sick (again), so we had a lot of time at home. I used this time to rest and crochet. It was a really fun time, actually. I decided to get going on Christmas presents for my loved ones. I wanted to make something for each person in my family that was special for them. I started with my husband. I guess when he was in elementary school, he would draw a cartoon panda all the time. For Christmastime, he would draw the panda with a Santa hat on. I decided to make him a panda, maybe with a Santa hat. I haven't decided on the hat yet. I have actually gotten most of the way done with it. He just needs legs and ears. I love him already. He is made out of a fuzzy yarn and is so soft. I feel as though this occupation has greatly affected my well-being. I think since starting crochet, I have become a much less stressed person. I have noticed that when I am stressed is when I tend to reach for crochet. I believe that my well...

My occupation, once again, has been put on the back burner. My hat got destroyed by my little minion, so I have had to start over on it. I don't have a picture of it today since it is just a little one inch circle. The yarn is all stretched out and fraying since I have had to redo this hat more than once. Then my daughter got sick, so we have been resting.   I feel like as I continue with my occupation, I am giving myself a new identity constantly. I feel like as I crochet, I become closer to my grandmother and best friend. I feel like I relate more to them when I crochet. I also now prefer to tell people that I crochet. Before, it was almost embarrassing because I didn't feel like I was any good at it. Beyond that, in the beginning, it was just an assignment. I had no personal attachment to the act of crochet, so I did not feel like it was a part of my identity at all. Then, as I became more comfortable and confident with crochet, I was more willing to tell people that I was...

 This week, I have been continuing on with making the Jack-O'-lantern hat for my daughter. I think I have made a mistake somewhere. I don't know why else it would look all ruffly like that. Oh well! It'll make it look more pumpkin-like. I hope to finish it this week. This week was a bit harder for me, considering the amount of assignments we had.  This week, when thinking of the transactional relationship between the self and occupation, I found a few ways in which this applies to myself and my occupation. The article mentioned that the way we participate in our occupations creates a transaction with the self and time, as well as our context. I have noticed that for myself, especially when considering time, I either let time dictate when I do everything, or I dictate how I spend my time to ensure I can do what I would like to do. This to me is a transactional relationship.  I think that when choosing my occupation, I took my self-knowledge into account. I know that I pref...