For the Love of…

You fill in the blank. For me right now it is knitting. More than ever, I embrace my deeply profound passion for knitting and designing. It brings me Joy. It calms my fears and anxieties. It gives me Hope and a vehicle for exploring unlimited possibilities. It helps me keep an open heart. Each new idea fills me with excitement and anticipation. Each successful completed piece fills me with pride and a deep sense of accomplishment. And best of all, every time a fellow knitter thanks me for one of my designs and tells me how much they enjoy knitting them, I know for sure I am doing what I was meant to do.

I am incredibly blessed. I am blessed to be working for the best yarn company on the planet – Shibui Knits. I am blessed to be able to work with equally passionate and creative people who are committed to our work. I believe I am one of the few designers out there that is a full-time salaried employee, with full health care, generous paid time off and a retirement plan. I am being compensated generously, and fully supported and encouraged for living my dream.

Sadly, not everyone I know can say that. When I had the desire to start designing a few years ago, I had no idea what that would look like or even how to go about it. But I kept moving forward and kept on my path, being open to opportunities that would arise. (“Temporarily” filling in as bookkeeper for Shibui Knits was a real big one). Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be where I am today. To me, that is pure Magic.

A good friend and co-worker of mine is leaving to pursue her dream and passion for baking. She is an artist and her medium is food. She is at the very beginning of her journey and my wish for her is to be open to all possibilities and to follow her heart and allow herself to be surprised. This is something I try to continually remind myself to do. The greatest things lie in the unexpected and beyond our wildest dreams. Check out her Instagram account here.

Today I am filled with a burning desire to help and encourage people to start living their dreams. I am somewhat at a loss as to how to go about that. I will keep pondering this and hopefully come up with a meaningful way to do that. Maybe it’s just continuing to encourage other knitters, designers, creative people to keep doing what they love. Maybe there is a larger movement I can get involved in. I would love to be a part of helping people get compensated for their creative pursuits. If any of you have suggestions, please feel free to share them.

Wouldn’t the world be a much brighter place if we all spent more time doing what we love?

Knit (create) on!!!

Shellie