When circumstances converge and draw your attention over and over to a single message, it’s time to sit up and take notice.  So I am.

Last week at the DFW Fiber Fest, keynote speaker Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (AKA the Yarn Harlot) made several insightful points that weren’t especially new, but came across in a way I really heard deep in my soul.  In general, she emphasized how little we knitters (and crocheters, etc.) value our skill and talent as artists.

Knitting requires you to do an operation correctly sometimes tens of thousands of times in a single project.  But we point out the one mistake, when complimented on our work.  She reminded us how knitting opens up thousands of new neural pathways, lowers stress, and is twice as popular as golf.  But we don’t appreciate it.

Then Tuesday, I enjoyed the company of my two knitting classes.  The ladies are doing so well tackling each new challenge I put before them along their knitting road.  But I suddenly realized how little, even as a teacher, I actually knit myself.  I looked around at all the yarn I keep buying, as if buying more will somehow stand in for, and bring the same joy as the knitting.  It doesn’t.  It’s fun and all, but after a while, the piles of great yarn just turn on me and mock me for what they are not becoming.

But, but… I’m so busy!  And knitting is a luxury and reward for when you get all your REAL work done, right?  And the work is never ever done.

Until now.  I need more neural pathways, and I need them now.

I’ve made a decision, and a commitment to myself:  each morning, I’m going to use the first half hour to an hour I’m awake, to enjoy coffee and knitting.  Then I’ll shower and feed the animals, and start my day.  I need some quiet-wake-up-easy-with-time-to-think time.  Get those neurons lined up all tidy-like before I set out to attack the day.

It’s day two, and I can already see a difference.  I plan, I prioritize, and I avoid some of the big time wasting activities I had fallen into in the mornings (Facebook…cough, cough… e-mail, cough, cough…).  Those things have a place, and I can attend to them after I’ve gotten my head screwed on straight, and planned the day.

And best of all, I’m well into a new project with new yummy yarn I treated myself to at DFWFF: Lhasa Wilderness from Carl and Eileen at Bijou Basin – 75% yak and 25% bamboo.  It’s a LACE cowl (bit of a challenge in a small project) which I’d never dream of trying while knitting with a bunch of activity going on around me.  I’ll have to slow down and get all intentional–and enjoy it.  When I finish this piece, I’ll move on to some long-awaited promised projects for friends.

I’m not going to feel rushed and I’m going to savor every stitch.  If the first two mornings are any indication, I will have much better success at finishing things than ever before.    Wish me luck.

Do you have any secrets for making time for yarn in your life?  Please share – I could use a few more!