Grace to the Process

My big aluminum needles had tappity-tappity-tap-tapped for days with my skeins of acrylic yarn.  I was making my brother a gift for his first birthday...nearly 25 years ago. As I labored, maybe a little hurriedly, I envisioned him proudly snuggled into my lovingly crafted project. He may have been turning just one year old, but I knew he'd be just gleefully bundled into my creation.  My delight was that I had self-designed and knitted him a sweater. To gift him something that my own hands had created just for him made my little 10 year old heart happy!

As time passed, I realized that I really didn't remember him wearing it. But, I knitted on.  More sweaters, more attempts at socks, more knitting and much more unraveling formed a rhythm for the next few years.  Our mom one day pulled the baby clothes out of storage again...and there my masterpiece was.

I suddenly understood.

I laughed 'til I cried! Oh you guys: it was so UGLY! Sooooo ugly!  

I had created a lumpy misshapen squarish, loopish green and white sorta-striped, oversized, and somewhat hilarious, "sweater." I think he might have fit it better at age 6, if we could figure out where to put his head and arms into it!

I write all of that to say--keep feeding creativity! I didn't stop after the droopy sweater attempt. I kept knitting, refining, ripping out, and remaking. The Pickles confidently wear my creations now. But I started somewhere. We all do. I'm still pushing myself to learn and better my skills in many areas of life, definitely still including sweater knitting. 

But part of feeding creativity is 

giving a little extra grace to the process, 

and recognizing that neither myself 

nor the project is a finished work yet.

Wherever you're at, whatever you're trying to grow in,

keep feeding it. 

Little by little.

Embrace the process.

Enjoy it, even.

Always be creative,

Marie Winfield