Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Creativity, DNA and Curiosity


Three Sisters Knit Blog; Creativity; Knitting: Etsy
Our grandmother, Margaret Paton, dressed for a part in her local theatre.

 Last week we blogged about creativity and how we have discovered that once that spark catches, the winds of curiosity fan the flame to other places. For me, that means knitting and some designing has reminded me of a couple of other passions: photography and drawing. And that has led me to a couple of Instagram photo challenges. All very fun and totally creative!

Where did this start, though? I believe we are all born to create, whether it's a beautiful meal from just a few ingredients, a warm and inviting home to welcome your family and friends, or something you make with your hands. As author Elizabeth Gilbert pointed out while discussing her recent book Big Magic, people have been creating things that serve no purpose but being the result of creativity since . . . well, since we were people. Just look at cave drawings made by early human groups: they created those drawings because they could. No other reason. Drawings didn't provide tools for survival; although perhaps creating these drawings encouraged growth of a new part of the brain? Looked at in this light, perhaps creativity sparked in those early millennia allowed our brains to move beyond reptilian and eventually hard-wire into our DNA.

Where did it start for us, though? It started with our mother's mother, Margaret Paton, who sewed, knit, and acted in her hometown's theatre when she was young. Our curious and gifted mother shared her passion for creating with us, including teaching Shelagh and me to knit. Mum sewed a little as we were growing up, but I know she much preferred knitting and crocheting. After she retired, she took up cross stitch and even tried her hand at quilting. And everything she made by hand was almost always a for someone else. A Fair Isle pullover for me; a quilted Christmas tree skirt for Irene; a crocheted blanket for Shelagh; a knitted cardigan for her grand-niece.

While the key our mother gave us was her curiosity about different creative arts, I think the spark that continues to drive our passion for Three Sisters Knit is sharing our creations with the world. Shelagh and I love figuring out exactly what a specific yarn is calling out to become and then bringing it into the world. And we love seeing what different artisans offer and hearing their stories.

All our hand-knit items have stories: from honoring Irene and our mother to the inspiring artisans who spin and dye unique yarns to travels while creating. Each piece has its own distinct DNA. And all our items are knit with love, creating their own DNA, and we hope you'll find (or request) a piece to become part of YOUR story.





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