Great (Crafting) Expectations

Ah, New Years.  Time to make resolutions you never keep, plans that always seem to fall through, and goals that don't quite get done.  Or, maybe time to stop thinking in terms of resolutions, and start thinking in terms of things I would like to get done.

I'll admit it.  I'm a WIP collector.  I have a cross stitch project, a thread crochet project, a knit scarf, three crochet blankets, and two crochet shawls going.  What can I say, it's a thing.  Now, one of those blankets is meant to end up king size, and will be completed with the help of my lovely wife, who is currently sitting beside me working on her own c2c blanket.  One is a ripple I'm just not sure I'm thrilled with how it's turning out.

I do have a fair few items I would like to start this year too.  One of my shawls I'm working up is the Virus shawl.  It's extremely popular at the moment, and it works up quickly, which is nice.  I love how it's turning out so much I've decided to make not one, but THREE as gifts.  Which is why I'm teaching Chris how to make them too.

The other thing I want very much to get started on is a project I got permission for from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.  One of the stipulations is that I cannot show you the pattern, and the finished piece is for my home only.  What this means is that this piece, though beautiful when finished I'm sure, will never appear on this blog.  I mentioned it because it's going to end up a large project that takes a lot of time, and I've been putting it off.

What I am sure I want to do is learn techniques for my art.  In my life, a lot of dreams have slipped through my fingers as the circumstances of life have taken me so much farther than I ever thought.  I will never be an architect.  I will never build the house of my dreams.  I will never go to college.  These are the realities when the dreams of youth have passed.  All we have is the future.  I can't go to college, but that doesn't mean I have to stop learning.  I can still learn new crochet and knit stitches.  I can still learn new cross stitch and beading techniques.  I can teach myself to paint, and better my drawing skills.  At almost 40, a formal education may have passed me by, but I will never be too old to try something new, never too old to learn new things about age old art forms, never too old to start a new project.

So here's to 2017, and letting the little goals and little hopes take the place of the big dreams that cannot be.