For many years I mentioned that I would like to make my own knit garments. I was out of school and had gotten the job I was after. It seemed like the perfect time to start a hobby and since it is cost prohibitive to constantly buy clothes it seemed like the logical step to learn how to make them.
Well, be careful what you wish for. And in who's company you say it in.
In retrospect I think that my mother must have thought that I was making suggestions. Christmas wasn't too far away and when it came around what did I get? A simple set knitting supplies and a book on, you guessed it, how to knit them.
To say that I was speechless was an understatement.
All of a sudden I had the tools that I needed to start a real honest to goodness hobby.
And so, I did.
Over time I got better and better and more compliments began to come in from family (naturally these are first), friends (they come next), and then from co-workers.
All of a sudden I was getting requests and I sold a couple of designs that I made. It was fun and I actually got to be creative. People actually appreciated what I was doing. And that is when the idea struck me. You could probably sell these, silly.
That is the spot I sort of got stuck.
And that is where I was at for a long time. I sold items, but never in any substantial way. Mostly word of mouth and through small gatherings where my work was displayed on somebody's table at a market, etc..
It was a long road getting to this part.
But I am ready to move forward.
The good news is that as long as a person does not loose motivation they can overcome most hurdles. I am currently in the process of overcoming this one. And it isn't really so much about a lack of motivation – rather the apprehension of showing such a large audience my work.
I guess you could think of it as a little bit of stage fright that needs to be overcome.
As I said. One step at a time.