Recently I was chatting with a friend about the pattern I was testing. She said that the starting chain was just too long for her ... "308 stitches. In my world that's 3 rows." She prefers to work with bulky yarns; it's easier for her hands.
I get that, I really do. I have intermittent problems with my hands myself. But sometimes even the bulky yarns bother them. I told her that once that starting chain & first row was done, the pattern just flies! I started it Thursday & I'm already doing the border rows.
A trick I learned for those really long starting chains is to break it down into shorter counts. I'll do 50 stitches & place a marker, do another 50 & marker, & so on until I get the length I need. I'll admit, some days I need to count by 25's too. Depends on the day.
But the whole chat got me thinking .... Like any kind of goal, you’ll never reach it if you don’t start. I don't want to go all philosophical & shit but it really is true. If you want something, you have to put in the work to get it. Whether it's a small thing like a handmade garment, or a bigger life thing like battling depression, you've just gotta take those first steps to get there!
And sometimes you have to adjust those goals. Life can throw some wicked curve balls. But every little step forward is progress.
That's something my boy has taught me. He is one of the most resilient, happy, strong-willed, fun-loving guys I've ever seen! But regular milestones were & still are a struggle for him. We celebrate each & every one he's reached. Not because we didn't think he'd get there, but because of the work it took to reach them. We learned to break the big goals down into smaller ones, sometimes even micro-sized ones.
I'll admit, some days my only "goal" is to make sure the boy's needs are taken care of. And you know what? That's okay too. Those harder days make the easy ones more enjoyable. Doesn't seem like it during the dark days, but it's true.
So take that first step! Then take the next one, and the next.
And if all you can do today is get out of bed, take that win & try again tomorrow. Just don't let something difficult stop you from starting something
Happy Stitching friends!
*~ L
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