Blog Post 4

 Update: 

 This week has been kind of hard to keep up with my new occupation because I have been busy studying like crazy for classes, but I managed to get at least one row completed. I've set a goal to get at least 3-5 rows done each week to stay on track so that I can finish it before the end of the semester. Other than not getting much done, I feel that I have been getting much better with the amount of tension I use with each stitch. The edges of the blanket appear to be straight but I know more when I get a little further into it. I'm hoping that by the time I'm done that my tension will stay the same and the edges will be straight. 

Place: 

   Looking at a place as a "container of experience" I picture my childhood home. I lived in the same place for 19 years, it's where all my firsts happened and I find that it was an important part of my life growing up. Casey also talked about "place memory" which is described as having been in a place, they are intimate memories of our lived experiences of our childhood (p. 40). My home is a place that I will always remember because of the time spent there and the memories made. My home has always been a place for as long as I can remember it isn't just a space that lived in and grew out of. Starting school I had to move and where I am now I see it as just a space that I come to every day, I think that the more time I spend and make memories it will become more of a place to me.  

Aspects of Space and Place:  

   Starting my new occupation I usually only do it in my room which I see as more of a space at the moment. I haven't quite made it into a place yet since its still new and I'm just barely getting used to living here. In the book it states that "as we build experiences into our lives, we create places out of spaces, or as Tuan put it what begins as undifferentiated space becomes place as we get to know it better and endow it with value" (p. 40). With the value I've placed on crocheting, I am hoping that overtime the space I am crocheting in will become a place, I want to be able to build positive memories being here while engaging in my new occupation. 

Blog Post 3

 

Update: 

    I have finished my first skien of yarn and working on getting the second color started. Attaching the two colors was a little bit of a struggle at first because it kept becoming a knot that I had to redo multiple times. It was pretty frustrating, but after 3 to 4 times I was finally able to get it and continue on to get about 4 rows done. Using the two colors is now easier to see the pattern and I am excited to continue and see how it's going to look. 

Enrichment of One's Spirituality: 

    I think that spirituality is something that plays a role in everyones lives whether they realize it or not. I think that spirituality plays a key role in my meaningful occupations, doing them brings me a sense of peace and enjoyment. Having spirituality I believe makes the occupation more meaningful to a person. At the moment I think that I am starting to have a sense of spirituality while crocheting because it allows me to take a step back and do something that I am beginning to enjoy even when I am frustrated. I am hoping by the end of this that it will continue to spiritual to me. 

Inclusion of Spirituality: 

    Spirituality in the OTPF falls under the clients factors, they define it as a deep experience of meaning brought about by engaging in occupations that involve enacting of personal values and beliefs (p. 51). Recognizing spirituality in a clients life allows us to see what is important to them and how it can influence their engagements in occupations. 

Here is a recent picture of where I am currently at.

Blog Post 2

Update: 

    I finally decided on a pattern that I will be following and I am excited for it. I went with a leaf ripple pattern that I will be modifying little by changing the colors to a black and blue velvet and the size of the yarn that was recommended. Im hoping the size won't matter too much and that I will only have to make it a little longer to make it bigger. I've have started working on it a little and have gotten 3 rows into it, I think that I may have to start over just so I can get a hang of the pattern and the stitches that are used so that I can get the ripple effect. It was an easy start, but as I got into the more complicated stitches I was getting frustrated with myself because I kept miscounting and I would have to pull it out and restart from the beginning to the row. Doing the harder stitches is becoming easier the more I practice and I'm hoping that soon I will be able to do them without thinking much about it. 

Here is the link to the pattern: 

    https://www.amorecraftylife.com/leaf-ripple-crochet-blanket-pattern-cozy-velvet-yarn/ 

Definition of Occupation: 

    Hasselkus provided quite a few definitions for occupation, it's amazing how many definitions one word can have. I think that my occupation can relate to all the definitions provided, but there were some that fit better than others. We aren't limited to the definitions that we read, they can be personal because we all can have a different way of defining occupation. 

Model of Occupation: 

    Doing, being, becoming, and belonging was focused on quite a bit throughout chapter 2, but I don't feel like my occupation fits the model completely. I think that it can fall under being and becoming because even though at times it can be frustrating I'm happy to do it and it's something that I look forward to doing each day. 

This is how much I've done so far

Blog Post 1

 

Update: 

    This past week I have been doing a lot of research to figure out what I wanted to learn this semester and settled with crocheting. So far, I have gotten some of the materials that I will need, which includes the yarn and different size crochet hooks. The only thing that I will need now is to determine which pattern I will be attempting to follow at the moment I am trying to decide between two different ones. Before I actually start the blanket I will definitely need some practice on the harder types of stitches and learn more of the terms that way I’m not confused reading a pattern because they use a lot of lingo. 

The Continuum:

   I grew up watching my aunt crochet all the time, I remember her making me a blanket, hat, and clothes for my dolls as a kid. This occupation falls on the self-definition side of the continuum because it allows me to connect to a part of my childhood. It also allows me to step away from what's going on around me because I am focused on what I am doing. 

Calculative to Meditative Thinking:

As of now I see crocheting as more of calculative thinking because you need to know how many knots have been made, how many to skip, or if it's a single, double or triple crochet stitch. I am more focused on what I am doing and I'm not able to think about anything else in that moment. I am hoping over time that it will become more meditative thinking, because I want to get to the point where I'm not constantly focusing on whether I did the right stitch and be able to think of other things while I'm doing it.