Making Ways Out of No Way

There is always a way forward.

There is always an alternative, a back door, a different path or a substitute. Sometimes a change in plans can feel like such a disruption or stumbling block but often, if we can get out of our own way, it can present a new opportunity and solution to a problem that might be better than your original plan. 

Recently I purchased this pattern from crochet designer Tanya Cauren that I absolutely fell in love with (please go check out her site and especially her store to check out more funky and fabulous offerings) but I was so broke, I couldn’t buy the suggested yarn to make it. I was so frustrated–at myself for being broke, at yarn for being so relatively expensive, at the unfairness of the universe that I couldn’t do what I wanted the way I wanted right then and there. I actually spent a few days in a funk, trying to do budget-gymnastics to make room in my finances for a yarn purchase (truth be told, as any fiber-head knows, ALL reasons are good reasons to buy more yarn!).  But I couldn’t justify the expense. I still had to do annoying things like, eat or whatever.

So there I sat in my tiny studio (a.k.a my bedroom), internally boo-hooing at not being able to start my new project. Then I heard a voice (call them God or the Universe and they always sound like Iyanla Vanzant to me) say, ”Enough! Make a way and see what you already have!” Looking around, there were dozens of various skeins and balls in my yarn stash. I wanted to use a bulky-weight, variegated yarn with an ombre effect to make my project–something I didn’t have. I then remembered about combining various weights of yarn and thought about the ways ombre-effect yarn cakes are created, and viola, I had a new plan! Using various lengths of worsted weight yarn doubled, I created my own, bespoke, ball of bulky weight ombre-effect yarn, as you can see below:

I started with two worsted weight yarns: Main Street Yarn’s Shiny+Soft and Red Heart’s Unforgettable.

Then I joined various pieces of yarn together using a Magic Knot…

…I then doubled the new worsted weight yarn I made to create a bulky weight and got to work!

My hat came out great! I also learned and perfected a few skills during the process. It also helped to remind me of the ways of my people–our creativity has no bounds or obstacles.

I will always find my way. No wahala!