Poem: "Reduce, Reroute, Release"
This poem came out of the March 2022 Creative Jam. It was inspired by a discussion with . It also fills the "Frog" square in my 3-1-22 card for the National Crafting Month Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored as barter with . It belongs to the series Arts and Crafts America.
"Reduce, Reroute, Release"
[Late March, 2022]
Frances Adler struggled with frustration.
She tried to push it down, but that
just increased the pressure until it
turned to anger and she wound up
throwing and breaking things.
The destruction was cathartic,
but it caused other problems
and left a mess to clean up.
Then Frances found a therapist
who gave her better options.
Kim Ortega taught Frances
how to apply the litany of
"Reduce, Reroute, Release"
for handling frustrations.
First, identify the root of
the problem and whether
that can be changed or not.
If possible, remove it to avoid
causing future frustrations.
Reroute energy from
frustration to action,
either solving problems
or switching the focus
to a different activity.
Finally, release pressure
by venting frustration in
a safe way or letting go of it.
When Frances pointed out
that her venting tended to be
destructive, Kim simply suggested
finding a place where destruction
was helpful instead of harmful.
That led to Frances exploring
Hairy Eyeballs, a fibercraft club
for people who found it therapeutic.
There were members who carded
and spun fiber, others who crocheted
or wove yarn, all kinds of different crafts.
Frances discovered that she loved frogging.
It was so much fun to "rip it, rip it" until
she had a large pile of kinky yarn.
She was happy to help someone
unravel a project that went wrong.
She also learned to salvage sweaters
that were old, stained, or torn up.
If they had good seams, then
Frances could cut them apart
and pull long yarn that could be
carefully straightened, wound,
and crocheted into a new project.
If they had bad seams, then
she cut out the seams and
unraveled many short yarnlets
that were ideal for tassels, fringe,
or working into handspun art yarn.
Before long, her friends were
calling her Frog and giving her
amphibian-themed things -- hats,
house shoes, purses, blankets,
and even tiny stuffed animals.
Since she already had lots of
olive garments in her wardrobe,
Frog wore them with pride.
It made life less frustrating.
* * *
Notes:
Frances "Frog" Adler -- She has tawny skin, brown eyes, and short auburn hair. She is petite with shallow curves. Her tattoos include black flower bands around both forearms, red hearts at the base of her right thumb, a cassette tape and other tidbits along her left collarbone. Her heritage includes American, Irish, Asian, and Hispanic. She is 25 years old in 2022.
Frances belongs to the fibercraft club Hairy Eyeballs for people who find it therapeutic. That includes people who card, spin, crochet, knit, weave -- and Frances, who got the nickname "Frog" because she loves to release frustration by ripping out crocheted material. It's a good way to recycle things like sweaters that are old, stained, or torn and it satisfies her otherwise troublesome urge to destroy things. Her friends give her frog-themed items and she finds that funny and adorable. Frog likes women's wear in camel, olive, burgundy, and teal.
Kim Ortega -- She has tawny skin, almond-shaped brown eyes, and short black hair. She is tall and gangly with shallow curves. Her heritage includes American, Asian, and Hispanic. She is 32 years old in 2022.
Kim is an arts and crafts therapist with an emphasis in fibercrafts. She offers talk therapy for individuals, families, and groups as well as various creative therapies. She hosts the popular fibercraft club Hairy Eyeballs for people who find it therapeutic. That includes people who card, spin, crochet, knit, weave among other activities. Kim likes to look approachable, so she often wears jeans with brightly colored and patterned tops.
* * *
Arts and crafts are among the many ways to cope with unavoidable frustrations. However, before doing that, you should first attempt to solve as many problems as possible to reduce the amount of things that frustrate you. Frex, if a door frequently jams, you can remove that source of frustration by repairing or replacing the door. Always check whether you have a rock problem or a clay problem before deciding how to handle it.
Reroute frustrations into positive action. Turn negative emotions to positive ones.
Releasing can be accomplished by venting or letting go of frustrations in various ways.
You can break down a sweater to salvage its yarn for reuse.
Important point: All knit or crocheted sweaters can be unraveled, unless they have felted together, but not all the same way. If you want long strands of yarn to re-knit or re-crochet, then you need a sweater with "good" double seams sewn together with a thread that is easy to find and cut loose or crocheted together with a chain that can be unraveled. If you want short yarnlets to put into art batts or handspun yarn, then you can use a sweater with "bad" single seams serged together.
Frogged yarn comes off kinky. Usually people treat it to straighten out the kinks as much as possible. However, there are cool uses that capitalize on that texture, including:
* Incorporate a long strand of kinky wool yarn into handspun wool yarn to make an art yarn with little loops poking out.
* Cut short yarnlets of kinky wool yarn and fluff them into a pile of loose wool for handspinning.
* Card short yarnlets of kinky yarn into an art batt.
* Lay the kinky yarn flat on fabric and sew it down to make a line of loopy trim.
* Use a sewing machine to attach the kinky yarn to a fat yarn or ribbon, creating a long piece of trim with little loops on it.
* Wrap the kinky yarn LOOSELY around a piece of cardboard, tie off the top, and cut the bottom to make a tassel.
* Wrap the kinky yarn LOOSELY around a piece of cardboard, then cut the top and the bottom to make short pieces you can sew down to form wavy fringe.
* You can also use short to medium lengths of yarn to tassel or fringe a knitted or crocheted item by looping them through the edge and making a lark's head knot. Add one or two strands at a time for fringe, or bundle them to form tassels.
* Doll hair! So much doll hair!
You can spin scrap yarn, make art batts, card it into fiber, or even make a business spinning it.
Enjoy some frog patterns.
"Reduce, Reroute, Release"
[Late March, 2022]
Frances Adler struggled with frustration.
She tried to push it down, but that
just increased the pressure until it
turned to anger and she wound up
throwing and breaking things.
The destruction was cathartic,
but it caused other problems
and left a mess to clean up.
Then Frances found a therapist
who gave her better options.
Kim Ortega taught Frances
how to apply the litany of
"Reduce, Reroute, Release"
for handling frustrations.
First, identify the root of
the problem and whether
that can be changed or not.
If possible, remove it to avoid
causing future frustrations.
Reroute energy from
frustration to action,
either solving problems
or switching the focus
to a different activity.
Finally, release pressure
by venting frustration in
a safe way or letting go of it.
When Frances pointed out
that her venting tended to be
destructive, Kim simply suggested
finding a place where destruction
was helpful instead of harmful.
That led to Frances exploring
Hairy Eyeballs, a fibercraft club
for people who found it therapeutic.
There were members who carded
and spun fiber, others who crocheted
or wove yarn, all kinds of different crafts.
Frances discovered that she loved frogging.
It was so much fun to "rip it, rip it" until
she had a large pile of kinky yarn.
She was happy to help someone
unravel a project that went wrong.
She also learned to salvage sweaters
that were old, stained, or torn up.
If they had good seams, then
Frances could cut them apart
and pull long yarn that could be
carefully straightened, wound,
and crocheted into a new project.
If they had bad seams, then
she cut out the seams and
unraveled many short yarnlets
that were ideal for tassels, fringe,
or working into handspun art yarn.
Before long, her friends were
calling her Frog and giving her
amphibian-themed things -- hats,
house shoes, purses, blankets,
and even tiny stuffed animals.
Since she already had lots of
olive garments in her wardrobe,
Frog wore them with pride.
It made life less frustrating.
* * *
Notes:
Frances "Frog" Adler -- She has tawny skin, brown eyes, and short auburn hair. She is petite with shallow curves. Her tattoos include black flower bands around both forearms, red hearts at the base of her right thumb, a cassette tape and other tidbits along her left collarbone. Her heritage includes American, Irish, Asian, and Hispanic. She is 25 years old in 2022.
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Frances belongs to the fibercraft club Hairy Eyeballs for people who find it therapeutic. That includes people who card, spin, crochet, knit, weave -- and Frances, who got the nickname "Frog" because she loves to release frustration by ripping out crocheted material. It's a good way to recycle things like sweaters that are old, stained, or torn and it satisfies her otherwise troublesome urge to destroy things. Her friends give her frog-themed items and she finds that funny and adorable. Frog likes women's wear in camel, olive, burgundy, and teal.
Kim Ortega -- She has tawny skin, almond-shaped brown eyes, and short black hair. She is tall and gangly with shallow curves. Her heritage includes American, Asian, and Hispanic. She is 32 years old in 2022.
Kim is an arts and crafts therapist with an emphasis in fibercrafts. She offers talk therapy for individuals, families, and groups as well as various creative therapies. She hosts the popular fibercraft club Hairy Eyeballs for people who find it therapeutic. That includes people who card, spin, crochet, knit, weave among other activities. Kim likes to look approachable, so she often wears jeans with brightly colored and patterned tops.
* * *
Arts and crafts are among the many ways to cope with unavoidable frustrations. However, before doing that, you should first attempt to solve as many problems as possible to reduce the amount of things that frustrate you. Frex, if a door frequently jams, you can remove that source of frustration by repairing or replacing the door. Always check whether you have a rock problem or a clay problem before deciding how to handle it.
Reroute frustrations into positive action. Turn negative emotions to positive ones.
Releasing can be accomplished by venting or letting go of frustrations in various ways.
You can break down a sweater to salvage its yarn for reuse.
Important point: All knit or crocheted sweaters can be unraveled, unless they have felted together, but not all the same way. If you want long strands of yarn to re-knit or re-crochet, then you need a sweater with "good" double seams sewn together with a thread that is easy to find and cut loose or crocheted together with a chain that can be unraveled. If you want short yarnlets to put into art batts or handspun yarn, then you can use a sweater with "bad" single seams serged together.
Frogged yarn comes off kinky. Usually people treat it to straighten out the kinks as much as possible. However, there are cool uses that capitalize on that texture, including:
* Incorporate a long strand of kinky wool yarn into handspun wool yarn to make an art yarn with little loops poking out.
* Cut short yarnlets of kinky wool yarn and fluff them into a pile of loose wool for handspinning.
* Card short yarnlets of kinky yarn into an art batt.
* Lay the kinky yarn flat on fabric and sew it down to make a line of loopy trim.
* Use a sewing machine to attach the kinky yarn to a fat yarn or ribbon, creating a long piece of trim with little loops on it.
* Wrap the kinky yarn LOOSELY around a piece of cardboard, tie off the top, and cut the bottom to make a tassel.
* Wrap the kinky yarn LOOSELY around a piece of cardboard, then cut the top and the bottom to make short pieces you can sew down to form wavy fringe.
* You can also use short to medium lengths of yarn to tassel or fringe a knitted or crocheted item by looping them through the edge and making a lark's head knot. Add one or two strands at a time for fringe, or bundle them to form tassels.
* Doll hair! So much doll hair!
You can spin scrap yarn, make art batts, card it into fiber, or even make a business spinning it.
Enjoy some frog patterns.