2016 has been a contentious year. Many losses, thankfully, only a couple of a personal kind. Many confusions, mostly of a political kind. But there were many more moments of fun and kindness and happiness and creation. So I’ve decided to begin 2017 by celebrating those moments of creation. I cannot personally impact much of what worries me in the world today – at least not at this moment in time. Moving into 2017, I will try to focus on those things I can impact.

I apologise for my lack of blog-skills. I think this is something you learn as you go along. Kinda like life-skills 😉 As I continue to learn, you have my permission to continue to roll your eyes 🙄

The blanket above was made, with much love, for Les. Making baby blankets are a special joy. As I work, I can’t shake the “visual” of my creation keeping a very precious “little” snug and warm. This one is in acrylic yarn so it is (utterly and very necessarily) machine wash and dryable. Acrylic will also wear like iron. My niece (at 30+ years) reminds me that she still has the blanket I made her as a baby. It’s not in great shape … but the love it contains is still enclosed in it.

This may explain why I have such a problem making items for sale. I’ve attempted it many times in the past – decades ago, tried to create a home business via craft shows. But my heart wasn’t in it. I lose the joy of creation when I’m making 35  items-all-the-same. I have come to the personal understanding (and I hope I can explain this concept without sounding arrogant) that no one can afford to pay enough to “reimburse” me for the time taken to create it. Back in the day, when my income level hovered only slightly above the “dire” level, there was a local business who wanted me to do tabletop crochet “exclusively” for his business. I was overjoyed!! Until I did the math. I would work for approximately two six hour days and receive $12. And, as I paused to think the offer through, he began to reduce the price offered. And sitting for (literally) days on end at a rented table at a far away craft show, watching shoppers ignore my offerings or, even better, stand in front of me and steal my designs and then smile and walk on, was more than I could bear or afford.

This, in no way, reflects on those crafters who have a more positive mindset than mine. Bless you, bless you for offering your amazing items for purchase. You broaden the concept of “creativity” for me. I always enter a craft show with a sense of wonder at what I will see. I know that, in many cases, you operate under the concept of “do what you love and it won’t feel like work”. I thank you for your talent, patience, time, positive attitude and, of course, your creations.