Setting Intentions for your Project
As crafters and artisans, we all do it. Either knowingly or unknowlingly, as we create something we are infusing our creation with our energy and our thoughts and hopes. When we make something for someone, we are stitching or weaving our love (or our spite!) into the very fabric. So, what if we were more purposeful about that energy and intention?
The good news is that it isn’t hard. We don’t have to perform some elaborate ritual and do it perfectly. We don’t have to maintain that laser focus throughout every stitch of the project. Like I said, we have already been doing it! But, here are some ways that I begin and end a project that help me to make the experience of creating a little more meaningful.
When I begin thinking about a project for myself or someone else, I take some time to just sit with that person in my mind. I let whatever thoughts, memories, worries, conversations come and go until I get an idea of what I’d like to give the person. Does she need comfort, healing, peace, luck? And then I begin to look at patterns. Shapes, numbers, animals, plants, and colors all have their meanings and correspondences. You can incorporate as many or as few as you would like in your project.
For example, lets say I have a friend going through a divorce and I want to make her a sweater. I would choose wool for the project because sheep are associated with security, confidence, and courage. I might choose yarn dyed with Black-eyed Susan for resilience and emotional healing. Indigo for protection and manifesting prosperity. Plus, blue is for friendship and loneliness, and orange-yellow is for justice and control of anger. Depending on the situation I might include a natural black yarn to seek or protect from revenge.
When looking for or designing a pattern, I might include waves since water is for heartbreak and sorrow, but also power and new beginnings. I might include diamonds for movement in opposite directions but also flexibility, and circles for harmony, protection, and freedom. I might use a pattern with 4 repeats for stability. All aspects of the project focusing my energy and intentions on the needs of my friend.
Do you have to go this in depth when making a project for someone? Of course not! The time and care you take in picking out a pattern and colors that the person will like is it’s own kind of intention of love and care.
Once I have all the materials gathered for a project, I will take a minute before I begin. I might have a candle lit and music playing. I’ll take the yarn and hold it in my hands for a moment while again thinking of the person I’m making the project for and picturing what it looks like when all my hopes for the person come to be. (If the receiver is struggling currently, I believe it is very important in this moment to picture the future and not dwell on whatever troubles the person might be experiencing. You want the good vibes of the hoped-for to infuse into the materials.) And with that, I begin casting on.
Do I think of the receiver with every stitch of the project? Of course not! I might be watching a movie or sitting in a cafe with friends. But, do I think of them along the way? Of course! And in those moments, I try to really focus that care and hope into my stitches. And when I am finished, I again picture that hoped for future as I bind off the stitches.
When I block the project, I’ll sometimes add a sprig or a drop or two of rosemary essential oil to the blocking bath for blessing the project and binding the intentions. And when it is all finished and ready, I thank the sheep and the plants for their gifts and I bless the project with words that bring it all together and send it out. A blessing can be super simple along these lines:
May this (project) be a ____________. May (the receiver) be wrapped in ___________ and ____________. And may (the hoped for future) come to be.