Copyright 2006 Alice Seidel

What, you say? In my head?! I am up to my elbows in eyelash yarn, I can't find my place in the row, and my knitting needles are about to duel with each other!

How then, can knitting be all in my head?

Onguard! Listen up!

If you are new to knitting, or have been away from this wondrous craft for a while, there is a TON of information out there to learn!

Now, before you say "arghhhhh!!", let me explain.

If you're like me, you love visiting craft stores. I am truly in seventh heaven whilst meandering from aisle to aisle in my local yarn shop or craft store.

Of course, once I come to the knitting aisles, I'm really bedazzled! Once, a long time ago, there wasn't much to see, knitwise, in stores.

Nowadays, your head spins. Row upon row of yarn: wool, arylic, fun fur, cotton, eyelash, ribbon, chenille, linen, boucle, silk, polyester, mohair, and a whole host of others, can look positively beguiling, yet leave you perfectly befuddled.

Usually, not far off are how-to books, knitting magazines, even video's that all promise you will be knitting effortlessly in no time at all!

Wrong!

Like piano playing or violin lessons, knitting is a skill. If you practice your skill, no matter what it is, you will become better at it; it's just a fact of life!

You, yes you, have to do the work. If you have a sister, or a mother who loves to knit, and you marvel at the beautiful afghans, or sweaters that seem to fall off their knitting needles, just remember:

It took a lot of practice to get there!

If you exercise every day, run 5 miles, jog around town, love going to the gym, you know what I'm talking about!

There's commitment there! Perserverance, stamina when you feel like quitting, going anyway when you're not in the mood. And why?

Because you love it! Because it makes you feel better, look good, stay healthy. You can come up with a hundred reasons why you do the things you love.

You probably didn't always love them, either. Over time, they became important to you; "grew" on you, if you will, but were actions that produced results. And those results made you feel good.

Over the years, I've worn many hats, daughter, wife, mother, aunt, real estate professional, student, graduate student, patient, administrative assistant, customer service rep, receptionist, co-worker, innkeeper, ebiz developer, friend, and many others.

And I've learned to do most things well. But, there are a few things I do very well. Exceptionally so. When I was 15, even 25, these were things not even on my radar screen.

One of these "things" is knitting.

It started for me like it does for most everyone else. As a hobby; something different to learn, something unique.

Then, it turned into something else. It evolved into a fascination with stitches, and color, and creating. In time, fascination gave way to passion.

Passion is where something lives in your very being. Where, little by little, you realize that you really do know more, so much more, than most about a particular subject. And all you want to do is to make it come alive for others, the way it has come alive for yourself.

That's usually where we all run into the veritable brick wall. Nothing stops us like inaction. Halted in place, we really don't know what to do next, or how to proceed.

It's not unusual. It's the same for you and for me. We all live with the same challenges, the same fears, the same facts of life.

It is what each of us does with that information, that makes all the difference.

If you're really passionate about knitting, then just remember that we all have those mental blocks, and there are always ways to get rid of them!

Nothing helps better than to learn something new, to turn in a different direction entirely, or to maybe, just go back and try something again. Often, we find that going back and having a second look is what it takes.

This time of year is a wonderful time to start something new! Classes begin again, vacations are ending, and it's a great time to re-new yourself, or dedicate some time to a new endeavor!

Life takes on a whole new dimension, when endeavor begets passion! So, get up, get going and make some mistakes! You will, you know; but, that's just part of the whole.

And, if you want to learn to knit, or to do anything else well, just remember, it's all in your head!