Handmade = Slow Made

Pattern: Little Tern, by Tin Can Knits

Yarn: Fiberspates Vivacious DK, colorway Crocus

Needles: size 7

It's done! Ready to wrap up this new baby who is loved before she is born. My knitting friends have oohed and ahhed and properly admired this blanket. We knitters love to see what the other knitters have made. But there are others who would look at this and wonder "Why on earth would you spend the time to do this? You know you could buy one." Yes, people really say things like this. And yes, there are beautiful blankets out there to buy. No argument there. But I wanted this baby to have a blanket made by her grandmother, just like I've made them for the other granddaughters.

As I worked and worked on this blanket for the new baby due soon after Christmas, I thought about why we make things by hand. There are certainly beautiful baby blankets for sale. But a blanket made by hand is more than a blanket. It's an expression of love. Love that you can hold in your hands. And this blanket is likely to be around much longer than I will. Many years from now maybe someone will wrap this blanket around a baby from another generation and maybe...just maybe...remember the maker.

There is something in the human spirit that calls us to make things. In this age of digital this and virtual that, "making" can seem an out-of-date concept. Years from now our every thought and every activity may be in our permanent digital footprint (scary thought) but none of those can be wrapped around a baby.

My dad was also a maker. He loved woodworking and in his retirement years, he started making toys. We treasure these toys he made for our daughters. We have two daughters—one blonde, one brunette. He made them each a rocking horse—one blonde, one brunette. Besides having building skills, he also had a sense of humor. Now it's his great-grandchildren who ride the range on these horses. These horses have rocked a million miles. 

Poppy (that was his grandfather name) died many years before they were born, but all three granddaughters know him through his toys. Handmade connections. Little bits of my dad's work are scattered around our house. Pulled down to play with when our grandchildren come to visit. There are hundreds of wooden cars out there somewhere because he made them by the dozens for us to use as birthday gifts for all the kid parties my girls attended when they were little. 

But if you are a maker, I think you would do this even if there weren't specific people to receive the work. As a friend of mine said, "Makers gotta make." Makers love to create. To do things with their hands. It's how we are wired.

To borrow a quote from this new book, Making a Life by Melanie Falick:

We make in order to slow down. To connect with others. To express ideas and emotions, feel competent, create something tangible and long-lasting.

So if you are not a maker, how do you do slow? "Making" is a built-in slow for many of us. Others embrace "slow food" or "slow living." Here's your challenge for this week...the week before Thanksgiving week when things can get a little crazy if you are cooking or hosting or traveling. Do something slow this week. It doesn't have to be a handcraft. And it certainly doesn't have to be everything we do. Keep it simple. Aim for a slow moment now and then. You might find you like it.

Turn off the TV. Lay down the phone. Listen to the quiet. Handwrite a note or card and mail it. Sip a cup of tea. Look at the stars. Pull out a jigsaw puzzle. Spend a lot of time in the car? Turn off the radio. Take two minutes and sit out on the front steps and breathe. Find your slow minutes. It's worth it.