Isn't That Difficult?

This photo is from the lovely time I had in Iowa in October. I just realized I never shared it with you. Some of the knitters (or maybe just one? If so, she was too shy to tell me.) made these little cuties to go on people's name tags at the event. Best. Nametag. Ever.

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again. I truly believe that knitting teaches me what I need to know when I'm ready to know it. Maybe other things work that way for other people. Knitting has taught me how to sit still. It has made me a better listener. It has given me a mastery of 3-D thinking that has been a big stretch for me, at times. It turned me into an author, a public speaker and a better teacher than I was before. 

Last year, I met a knitter who was showing off a lovely Green Apple Bohus sweater. (More information about these amazing sweaters is here, but you should also check out Poems of Color for a closer look.) I told her that I had heard that the Green Apple is the most difficult Bohus sweater to knit, and wondered at her skill. She looked at me, frankly and humbly, and said, "I just followed the directions." Well, of course, she did a lot more than that! She had the skill, the materials and the patience, too. 

It made me think. There are lots of times I've been put off from trying things because I thought they were too difficult. I think we all do that. 

I also caught myself thinking - what if life came with "directions." It's an appealing idea, at first thought. But, what if you didn't like the path those directions laid out for you? Then, it would be a prison sentence. 

There are a thousand things I could choose to work on at any given moment. It's wonderful, but sometimes the hard part is choosing the best way to use my time. 

Right now, I need to make more time for writing. I owe myself (and some other people!) some work in that area. I would LOVE to take my notes from my History of Socks talk and turn it into a podcast, so that even people who can't see me speak in person can experience it, in some way. 

This is a little difficult, but in order to make time for more writing and re-starting my podcast, I need to back off from daily blogging. I will probably be most active on Instagram, if you want to see photos of my kitties and other things. 

I haven't decided on the exact schedule, but once I start, I will really try to keep it consistent! 

Here's to 2016! It will be the 11th year of this blog's off-and-on life.