Like wool, New Year’s resolutions make me itch. They irritate my persistent anxiety and self-consciousness and usually make me feel like a failure long before MLK Jr Day. I don’t vision board, I’ve never had a personal development plan and “Dry January” has never happened in my house. I understand the impulse to start something fresh and I’m not immune to the desire to better myself. I have a mediation pillow mouldering in the corner and a pile of unread self help books acquired via my career in tech.
Over the years a few new things have stuck, though. These endeavors tend to have a long term goal and start out with embarrassing levels of ineptitude. Knitting is an example of this; my first sweater had disastrously dropped stitches and has long since been frogged. All through the process though, I was learning new skills and was warmed by the vision of responding to compliments with “Thank you, I knit it myself”.
I’ll spare you any links to pop science articles about the benefits of learning new things for cognitive function but I will tell you how delicious it was when I crossed the finish line of my first 5k or when I baked my first successful sourdough at home. Both required repeatedly subjecting myself to sweaty frustration and I can see now that the actual success was found in those moments of persistence.
So, here I am starting all over again. My mother gifted me a drop spindle for Christmas and I dove in with nothing but a full-color print out and enthusiasm. I was all thumbs when I first attached fiber to the spindle but this past week I plied my first two mini skeins of yarn. They are imperfect and delicious and I hope that you get to luxuriate in a beginning of your own soon.
Way to go!! I refuse to pick up spinning, but seems about right and you'll be cooking on it in no time! Hope to see you soon!