Happy Thanksgiving to our friends who are celebrating today. We have much to be thankful for and it’s always wonderful to stop and remember the amazing people who surround us and the amazing experiences we have had the good fortune to enjoy.
A few days ago, it popped up on my Facebook feed that my grand opening for my first “outside the house” studio space was exactly 10 years ago…
There I am, sitting at the computer, helping out my friend Kim Werker with some yarn. At the time, she was the editor of Interweave Crochet and after that, she authored Mighty Ugly among other books. Standing by the Louet spring loom in the top left-hand corner are my parents, talking to their friend. And standing on the left-hand side next to the Schacht Baby Wolf loom is one of my brothers. In the middle of the room are a smattering of my high school and university friends, many of whom similarly straddle the twin worlds of science/tech/medicine and creativity/photography/design. I love seeing this room full of people who I love and who supported me through this odd career choice.
Ten years ago, I never could have imagined that I would outgrow this space. It seemed so huge (and crazy expensive) at the time. I didn’t know what I was doing and I wasn’t always sure I knew how to make my rent. I woke up many mornings in a panic and cold sweat, worried about rent. But those challenges pushed me to figure it out and make it all work.
Right now, I’m trying to look forward ten years into the future and try to predict what might happen and what is coming. I think about what the knitting world is right now. And I think about where spinning and weaving are at. I think about the things I am personally interested in learning, and I think about what people in my community and my team need from me. It’s not easy and I am trying to think… what would I have told my ten-years-ago self?
If the person you are today could talk to the person you were ten years ago, what would you say? If you look ahead to your future, ten years from now, what do you think you will have learned? What would you have liked to accomplish? Where will you be? What will you be doing?
There is no way I can predict the future, but sometimes it’s nice to clear the fog from the windshield and drive forward more confidently in the storm. What do you think?
