Confession: I am a selfish crafter

Tonight, a beautiful Friday evening in my little mountain town, when I get off work I will not be going on a night hike or going to a movie with some friends. I will not go to a bar or out dancing. Tonight, I will craft. I am not sure if it is a sign of maturity...or lameness...but some nights, I would just rather stay home and crochet. Maybe with a glass of wine.

In my defense, crafting has taught me life lessons in a much less tragic way than the real world would have.

1. You WILL make mistakes. (And sometimes those mistakes will cost you undoing and re-doing hours of hard work, especially if you're a bit of a perfectionist. Practice makes perfect, after all.)
2. When you do make mistakes, it isn't the end of the world. (Sometimes you can leave your mistakes and move on...consider them an 'artist imperfection'. It's the imperfections that make something wonderfully real, right??)
3. Sometimes things that look the same are completely different. (Like when you go back to the craft store to buy more yarn in the same color...only to get it home, start working, and realize that it is a completely different shade because it isn't the same dye lot!)
4. For special occasions it is worth it to splurge for the "good stuff". (Have you ever looked at the prices of "nice yarn"?! Sometimes one skein can cost as much as a steak dinner for two...but sometimes, it's worth it.)
5. When you make a decision to commit, you have to follow through. (Especially when you're using tacky craft glue...that stuff is fierce..)

I realize that the cause of my lessons are not the normal way to learn them, but the moral is still the same. I mean, how many people can honestly say they realized most of these lessons while they were in high school? Granted, I am pretty sure I chose to make scarves and gloves for people through all four years of high school for Christmas...so that might have hurried these lessons along.

Although I often make things for others, somehow I think I get more out of crafting than any of those who receive my crafts do. It has become abundantly clear to me that my love for crafting is selfish. I would rather spend my time creating new projects and experimenting with mediums, than telling anyone about my progress or discoveries (hence, why this blog has posts so few and far between).

 I would like to apologize, but I am not really sure that anyone minds my selfish hobby...or, truth be told, that I am actually sorry.