Spring is a season that brings a renewed sense of energy and inspiration to many of us. As the world awakens from its winter slumber, the arrival of spring is a time of rebirth and growth, with longer and warmer days that invite us to go outside, breathe in fresh air and take on new projects. This season offers a plethora of creative opportunities that can help boost our creativity and help us shake off the winter blues.
Early spring sunset after work - it is still light!
While the new year is often associated with setting resolutions and goals, the arrival of spring offers a more natural and organic opportunity to tap into our creativity. This new year I was in an intensive period at work with both my general practice being busy with lots of infections floating around, and several grant applications taking my attention and time in my academic work. I found it difficult to see beyond the deadlines, and plan anything creative. Relaxing involved working on existing projects where I can follow instructions without thinking too much as my brain was just too tired at the end of the day. That means I have made great progress on my Nature’s Walk crochet blanket by Sandra Paul. It has the added advantage of keeping my knees warm on the cold evenings!
Nature’s Walk blanket progress, keeping my knees warm
With the arrival of spring, I have found the extra daylight has given me more energy and I have more mental space to plan and design. The creative juices have definitely been flowing and I have more ideas than I will have time to complete this year!
I love planning and organising and have used all sorts of systems to keep track of my life. I still use pen and journals, writing things out by had works well for me, but I do like to be able to plan and see everything in one place, and that is easy to update without rewriting all the time.
Previously I tried to set out a spreadsheet of designs and their variable stage of progress, with months assigned to achieve each task. This is my spreadsheet from 2020 when I had so many ideas and plans! Some of these did become designs (Stellara, Striate Cowl, Orinthia, Rosie the Angora Goat, Shoulder to Shoulder MKAL) - but not all in 2020. Whilst it would be easy to blame the pandemic (and it definitely took a lot of my designing time away), I think the deadlines, on top of a busy job that often has very demanding deadlines, means that my ideas and plans feel a little overwhelming. I did not even try to recreate the spreadsheet in 2021 or 2022, so it obviously does not work for me.
My 2020 spreadsheet - it was complicated and unrealistic!
Over the past year I have been using an App called Obsidian for making notes, keeping track of tasks and projects for all my work commitments and everything at home too. It was a steep learning curve but I am enjoying the note taking and having a place to record everything. Recently an extension was released to create Kanban boards. These are often used for tracking progress of multiple projects that are at different stages, so I have set one up for my design ideas and works in progress. It makes it so much easier to see what stage everything is at a glance and prioritise what I am working on next. I can move the design ‘card’ along to the next stage as I complete a task. As you can see, I have many that are in the ‘draft design’ stage! You may also recognise some of these as being on the 2020 planned designs… Fluffy slippers I am looking at you!
My Obsidian design kanban
Each potential design has its own note page that I have set up with a template (that I keep playing with to add more sections). I can add tasks, write notes, keep track of what size needle or hook I am using…. and anything else that comes to me as I am working on the design or when something pops into my brain. The great thing about Obsidian is that all the data is my own (it is stored in Markdown files on my computer) and is accessible across all my devices. No excuses to forget anything or miss a deadline!
I am looking forward to making some progress and having some designs to release later this year. I hope you have enjoyed this post on my design planning and how I organise it. This year the arrival of spring really feels like a more natural and organic opportunity to tap into my creativity. With longer and warmer days, new growth, and a sense of renewal, this season offers a plethora of creative opportunities that can help boost our creativity and help us shake off the winter blues. So, take advantage of the season, and let the beauty and energy of spring inspire you to tap into your creativity and bring your ideas to life.
Happy knitting,
Sarah x