I love beginnings.  I love being a beginner.

And I love teaching beginners.

There’s something about learning a new skill or craft.  Or returning to a skill or craft we left behind in our childhood.  It feels like the wee hours of a morning, all fresh and cool with the day of possibilities stretching out in front of us.  We can do anything! We’re dying to try.  If we can just cast off any lurking fears about “not being good at it”, we’re ready to throw our hearts over the gate and run like mad, knit up a storm, crochet like crazy, paint masterpieces, through the green fields.

Once we land on the other side of the gate, we begin.  And we find, at first, it isn’t running at all.  More like having to squat down and count the clovers, the stitches, the rows. Our shoulders are up around our ears, our back begins to ache, and we have to pry ourselves upright to stretch, take in the view, breathe again.

I tell all beginners, whether learning to knit, crochet, or draw:  At first, it may not feel like the relaxing activity you had dreamed it would be.  That will come later.  For now, you have to train your muscles and mind to loop, to hook, to make lines of pen or yarn twirl around the page.  The trick to enjoying the training is to go slowly, breathe deeply, look up often and laugh, sip some tea or coffee.

This should be true for everyone, not just beginners.  Somehow, as I learn more and more skills, I “work” at it, instead of play.  I “get serious”.  The lovely field I’d been skipping around in becomes a sweatshop.  I begin to believe that heavy-lifting is what it’s all about.  To be sure, there’s nothing wrong with learning more and more about a craft!  But we need to continue our training, in every skill, on every path….LIKE A BEGINNER…slowly, breathing deeply, looking up and laughing, sipping tea or coffee.

Come be a lifelong beginner with me.

In my next post, we’ll jump over the gate to knitting.  I’ll give you a pattern for a simple scarf.  In the posts to come, I’ll show you lots and lots of things you can make with “scarves”…short-stubby scarves, medium-sized scarves, long scarves put together, square scarves, etc.  I’ll give you tips and tricks along the way.  I’ll also give  you a simple crochet scarf pattern as well as all the things you can make with crocheted “scarves”.  And I’ll also encourage you to  “be the boss of your knitting.”  I want you to have the freedom to branch out on your own.  And last, but not least, we’ll consider the beautiful things we can learn from yarn work that aids us in our everyday lives.

I do hope you come back and visit often!