Creative Goals for 2020: Knitting (check)

Before the new year, I sat in on a round table discussion with a group I am member of called Craft Industry Alliance. Craft Industry Alliance (www.craftindustryalliance.com), for those of you who may not know, is a community for craft professionals and on the first Tuesday of each month members are invited to sit in together for a roundtable discussion to chat about each other’s businesses, industry issues, brainstorm solutions for business problems, celebrate successes, etc. During this particular discussion we were asked to write down goals for the new year.

I am sad to say that I am one of those people who likes to make goals for the new year and come October feel guilty that writing down the goal was the extent of it. I made the goal, didn’t do anything to reach the goal, and then I regret that another year is coming up and I have done nothing but feel guilty about forgetting about (or neglecting) the goal all together. Well, NOT THIS YEAR! One of my creative goals for myself and my business was to learn how to knit. I contacted a girl I know that I met through a friend from high school, and we made plans to get together for 4 weeks to teach me how to knit. I might mention that I am also a person who struggles to ask for help, so asking for help on how to knit was a bit out of my comfort zone.

I must say though that it was a fantastic experience. I learned of a new coffee shop in Evansville, IN, Honey+Moon Coffee (https://www.honeymooncoffee.co) *AMAZING*. In discussing our approach to these knitting sessions, I let my friend know that what I really wanted to work towards knitting was socks. Knowing that, she catered my lessons to building up the skills I needed to knit socks. On our last lesson, I was actually able to knit a heel on my first sock using a pattern from Sox Therapist Designs: The Joy of Heeling, Fish Lips Kiss Heel, Version 2.1 (the pattern cost me $1). I also learned about www.ravelry.com, an amazing free site where you can find a plethora of free patterns, patterns that you pay for, and a wonderful community of people who knit, crochet, and work with yarn.

I also learned that by reaching out for these specific lessons I was starting to fulfil another creative goal and that is to develop a community for myself of creative people that I can share experiences with and gain knowledge from whether it be learning about new podcasts, online forums, and/or Instagram pages like Can You Sew This For Me?. I would also be remiss if I did not mention what a wonderful job Rachel with @oakbluedesigns did in working with me on how to knit! It was definitely a blast and I cannot wait for us meet up again sometime to tackle something more difficult like a sweater or cardigan, but I need to work out socks a little more first.

I am pretty proud that by February I have already tackled one goal and am on my way to meeting another goal as well. What goals have you made for this new year? Have you started working on them? Do you know where to start, or are you like me and write it down just to avoid it this whole year (while feeling incredibly guilty about it)? I challenge you to make at least one goal that is out of your comfort zone and maybe even a little scary for you and just work on little steps to give it a try. Maybe you fail- and really, who cares? The important thing is taking away what you learned from the experience. Leave a comment or DM me if you want to chat about goals, knitting, sewing, crafting, etc. I am looking to expand my creative network of people so that I can continue to grow and build my business, and I would love for you to be a part of it!