The first week of summer camp raced by, and last night I took a break with some friends to teach them how to work on socks.  We had wine, brownies, good food and better conversation.

After a breakneck week I’m taking a day to just breathe.  In addition to the camp I was kept hopping by a variety of design submissions that I’m getting ready to send off.  Right before I left for Yosemite, two weeks ago, I was feeling burned out.  I was missing sending out design subs because I just couldn’t bring myself to come up with anything that was of any merit.  I was getting a little worried about how design subs, which are one of my favorite things to work on, were becoming a task.

Me, working on the drawing.

While I was in Yosemite I didn’t pick up my knitting once.  As I climbed on the train for a three-day ride home, I felt sure I could get the urge to knit.  And then… I didn’t knit or crochet once.  I read and napped.  I took multiple naps in a day, and then slept through the night – something I’ve only done when I’m sick.

I did do other crafty stuff – including a drawing that I spent several hours on.  I don’t normally pull on my art classes from Highschool very often, but I got the urge to do a perspective drawing of the train we were on, based off of a picture I took (above).  I made it for our most wonderful train hostess, who was amazing in the face of a late train and grumpy passengers.

It was nice to do something creative that wasn’t creative in the same way as my knitting.  I based the lettering off of a coloring sheet the hostess was giving the kids.  But I didn’t like the cartoony type of train they included, so I decided to do something stylized, a bit simpler, but more accurate to the train we were actually on.

Train picture.  Note the texture to the gravel in the tracks.  And the logo both on the front and side of the train.

Almost right after our Train/Yosemite trip, we headed to the farm.  I took with me Barbara Walker’s set of stitch dictionaries, which I had bought as a treat to myself and then hadn’t read at all.  At the farm I finally picked but my knitting and crochet tools, and I began to swatch from the books.  And finally, after a near unheard of two-week hiatus, I began knitting again.  More importantly, I began sketching and coming up with ideas.

Just before we left for the farm I printed out all the design calls I knew were coming up in the next four weeks, and I brought them with me to the farm.  And on the sheets of paper, I began sketching and generating ideas for the design calls.

I was so relieved.

It turns out I just needed some rest.  In a very real way, I needed a vacation from my job… which meant, in a strange way, I needed a vacation from my hobby.

Now, my batteries are charged and I’ve got a bunch of things I’m sending out, along with a bunch of things that I’m working on my own.