{"id":10453,"date":"2023-12-16T07:40:45","date_gmt":"2023-12-16T06:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=10453"},"modified":"2024-03-29T16:42:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-29T15:42:43","slug":"the-journey-of-words-and-wool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/the-journey-of-words-and-wool\/","title":{"rendered":"The journey of words and wool"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A couple of weeks ago I published a blog post where I played with the idea that three of my fleeces had taken over the blog and wrote their little wooly hearts out. It turns out that the journey of words and wool can be adventurous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The title of the blog post was Pick me<\/a><\/em> and refered \u2013 in my mind at least \u2013 to the picking of a fleece, as in picking out staple by staple from the fleece mass. As I wrote it (yes, it was me and not the fleeces) I listened to Japanese taiko drums, and when I do that the piece tends to get rather free and wild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wild spilling of words<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This time was no exception. I love writing this way, just allowing the words to spill uncensored onto the page and letting them have their way with me. The writing process can get very intense and fizzy. Some of my best pieces are written in this spirit. One example is One more beat<\/a><\/em>, which I wrote on a train on the way to teaching a spinning class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Weaving, writing, traveling and listening to taiko drums. A true journey of words and wool (or linen).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The process is very much alive as I write, the music and the words blend together into a dance, a rhythm that fills my mind with a pulsating vibe. They make the decisions, I just follow along and jot them down, entering a space where I am just the vessel of the words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When the words land on the page they transform. They are no longer part of my writing process. Instead, a new process begins the second I share the post \u2013 the process of the reader. I have no say in this either, it is a private matter between the reader and the words. The piece takes a new shape in the mind of the reader. I am usually quite curious about what kind of mischief the text is up to in its brand new process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The process is in my mind and my body. As soon as it comes out in one form or another, it is a a project that holds the memories and connotations of the process.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When I had published the Pick me<\/em> post I got a few very sweet comments from readers, all about how the post had struck something in them \u2013 laughter, recognition or appreciation of the process of creating yarn. But they were also all about a different interpretation of picking than the one I had had in my mind as I wrote it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All the comments indicated that the readers had interpreted “pick me” as in “choose me” (over the others) rather than “pick my staples out of the fleece mass”. This gave the post a whole new dimension \u2013 suddenly the presentation of the fleeces looked more like Tinder profiles to swipe left or right rather than the plead to start processing them that was in my mind as the stories presented themselves to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I’m picking my gute fleece.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is quite fascinating to me, how the process, that has been so tangible in my mind for the vastness of a moment, starts a new journey the second they land on the page \u2013 the journey in the mind of the reader, equally fleeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The beauty of creating<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is the beauty of creating, what goes on in the mind of the creator during the process of creating. The creation, whether words on the page or yarn on the spindle, is just a reminder of that process. When I spin I feel the spinning in my mind, in my hands, between my hands and in the cooperation between them. The rhythm keeps me in the moment, breathing the process in and out between hands and mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New memories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The yarn that comes out is something new, the memories of the process, where I was and what was happening around me. When I pick up a spinning or knitting project, my mind instantly throws me back to what I was sensing the last time I spun or knit. When I put on a handspun and hand knit hat to go out, my head is wrapped in the memories the hat holds between the stitches. Sometimes when I pick up a knitting project I hear the audio book\/lecture\/podcast or sense the train ride\/landscape or whatever was present when I knit the last time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reciprocity of gifts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The difference between the words on the page and the spinning or knitting is that the words travel to someone else and are reshaped through their memories and connotations, while the handspun yarn or knit garment sparks new memories and associations in my own mind since I create them mostly for myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Write whatever wants to be written, spin whatever wants to be spun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Spilling words from deep in my soul onto the page is something personal and corageous. They are gifts to you and I wish you joy as you recreate them in your personal reading process. As you connect back to me about your reading experience I feel the gift returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy spinning!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can find me in several social media:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n