For me, the beginning of the year starts in September. As a student and a dance teacher, everything starts again this month. After having July and August off from working and homework, September can be a bit of a stressful adjustment.
Next week I will have my “last” first day of the year of university classes. I will be graduating in June of 2017. I’m feeling quite the push to get this part of my life finished! I took on more hours at work this year in my teaching contract. I’ve booked 4 markets so far. I just received my second huge wholesale order of the season. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed and it’s only the first day of the month.
I’ve decided to do something a little different this year. I was inspired by Knot Bad’s mood scarf that he worked on a few months ago. Essentially how it works is you assign a certain number of moods to different colours. Each day you are feeling one of those emotions or moods you work a few rounds or rows of a scarf. After a few weeks (depending on how you organize your scarf) you should have a colourful masterpiece that is a visual representation of how you have been feeling recently.
Vincent of Knot Bad modelling his own mood scarf. Go check out his website and the Gracie Project he is working on!
Being a maker can be stressful at times. Being a student is stressful most of the time. Maybe I just get stressed out easily, but even teaching and dancing can be stressful from time to time. So can you guess what my scarf is going to be themed around?
Stress.
I thought that starting this project on the first day of September would be the best time. I’ve got one more week off before things really start getting crazy, so hopefully I will see some good and hopefully not too much stress in my scarf.
I’ve chosen 5 colours and 5 corresponding emotions/states of mind for each colour. I picked the number 5 totally randomly and it just happened to match up with the five most common states of stress I feel, so I think this was meant to be! My colours and moods are set up as follows:
- White – Happy/Minimal Stress
- Dark Gray – High Stress
- Gray – Tired
- Navy – Overwhelmed
- Mauve – Content
I tried to assign colours based on what they made me feel. White is clean and innocent, so I tied it with having happy days. Navy reminds me of dark ocean waters, so I thought it would match well with being overwhelmed. You get the idea.
Why do I have more negative moods than positive ones? I did this because I am hoping that my scarf will be mostly white and mauve, my two lightest colours. If my scarf turns out very dark I will know that my month is not off to a good start. This will be a bit of a test for me, because I am predicting that I will have a very dark and very gray scarf, so hopefully I will be wrong.
I think this project will be a fantastic way for me to prove to myself that I need to relax and step back sometimes. Living a high stress lifestyle is not good for the mind, and certainly not the body. If my scarf has mostly dark gray in it, I will have proof right in front of me that I need to find ways to lighten my load.
I am planning on making a shell-stitch infinity scarf. Each day will get one round of colour. I will likely have to keep track for upwards of 2 weeks in order to make the scarf wide enough for my taste. If I find I don’t have time one day to crochet my round, I have a little notebook set up that I am going to be writing down each day’s mood and why I felt that way. When my scarf is complete I am planning on sharing my journal entries and of course pictures of my scarf! I love the colours and I think it will turn out beautifully no matter what.
Join me and create your own stress scarf! Pick out a colour palette and match the colours to some moods or emotions and see how it goes. Completing mindful activities and tasks such as this force you to be honest with yourself. Mental health is just as important as physical health. Hopefully this will be a friendly reminder for everyone that minimizing stress is important.
I am off to a bad start! I did my first round today and I had to choose feeling tired. This time of year is rough for me. I am just leaving my allergy season, which already makes me feel a little sleepy anyways. I also have a vitamin D deficiency. When it’s cloudy and gray outside, I don’t get the amount of vitamin D I need naturally. These two little quirks of mine can really pack a punch. I was exhausted this morning. I got a solid 8 hours of sleep last night, but I woke up with a migraine. I couldn’t snap out of my sleepy state until probably 3:00pm in the afternoon. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
It’s not too late to start your own mood scarf! Think back to how you were feeling yesterday (or earlier today if you are a night owl like me and reading this right now) and crochet or knit your first day. I would recommend choosing your favourite scarf pattern that can easily have stripes worked into it. This should be a fun activity! I can’t wait to do my stripe tomorrow and see how I’m feeling!
As always, enjoy your yarn and make something pretty today!
STRINGS & THINGS 