Sometimes Eras Come to an End
In June of this year, I lost my race against the ‘rona and was out of commission for 10 days with, thankfully, mild symptoms. During that time a friend sent over some cross stitch fabric, I downloaded a pattern from Suberversive Cross Stitch, dug out my weirdly extensive supply of DMC floss and made the first of several projects that required zero knitting. This didn’t bode well for the sweater I started in January, but she’s still here patiently waiting for me to return. It also didn’t bode well for my little knit/crochet/indigo design and instruction biz…
I learned to knit in 2005, and that seems like a lifetime ago! I have enjoyed this journey of knitting, teaching, designing, and meeting amazing people along the way. For every year that I worked on KnitOasis as a side hustle, I would take stock in January and set goals for the next 12 months. When Covid showed up in the world, I tried the Zoom thing but I didn’t like not being able to have hands-on time with someone’s knitting or crochet to really see what they were doing. Having super close one-to-one instruction time was always one of the most important aspects of what I did as an instructor. So many times students told me, “I just needed someone to look at what I was doing to tell me how I was getting off track!” And online just wasn’t going to make that happen.
It’s possible that, if my focus had been sharper in 2020 (oh wow…punny!) I might have made that online pivot more of a reality. As it was, though, my schedule, time, and energies were diverted into other avenues.
And now, 2 years later, my schedule, time, and energies are still diverted elsewhere. My goals, free time, interests, and needs have changed a lot. The world shutting down due to a deadly virus changed things. Personal growth in my own life changed things. Downsizing, moving, developing a non-knitting career, coming out, losing my old community, building a new community, becoming more aware of my place in a world that so often resembles a dumpster fire….all this CHANGED THINGS…changed me.
I don't see myself actively involved in the fiber arts world any more. My desire to teach knitting or crochet has been replaced with other things that make me excited about my life. I’m at a stage in my journey where I want to examine old dreams and dream new ones. I want soak up the perks of being more authentic and intuitive about how I approach life. I want to learn new things.
All this to say, Sometimes Eras Come to an End:
KnitOasis patterns and online tutorials are still available for now.
Look for a redesign of the website to make it easier to find patterns…which will remain on Ravelry and possibly Etsy for the foreseeable future.
I’ll even pick that UFO sweater project back up and finish it at some point!
Thank you SO MUCH for being part of my journey for the last 17 years! KnitOasis exists in large part because there were other knitters and creative people out here and I’m very grateful for you.
How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard—A.A. Milne