It's not hard to tell that I spent a lot of time on the "Selfish Knitters and Crocheters" forum on Ravelry today. The basic premise of the group is that your (insert crafting type of your choice here) time is your own to choose what to do with, and others shouldn't be telling you what you should or shouldn't be making.
I am fortunate that a lot of the people I am close to "get it". It keeps me from having to get defensive about what and why I do something. Unfortunately, in this "entitlement" society we live in, this isn't always the case. I do not "HAVE" to make you anything EVER, simply because I have the ability and you have the want. If I choose to make you something, you damn well better appreciate it because I have deemed you knitworthy (or crochetworthy or quiltworthy etc).
I have people for whom I would knit cobweb weight handspun unicorn hair sprinkled with fairy farts into the most intricate lace wedding ring shawl ever. My DH is one of these people, although the lace shawl simply isn't his style! I also have people I know on the opposite end of this spectrum. They could bring me a flat-bed load of cotton yarn for free, and I wouldn't even spend the 20 minutes to crochet them one of my mindless dish cloths.
For these reasons, most requests made of me are either ignored or outright denied. Everything I make, I do it because I WANT to. Even my designing fits into this category. I am not expected to keep food on the table or roof over our heads with my designing (or other commissioned work), so I am free to choose what to work on guilt-free. I submit to the design calls that I am interested in, and try to only do my design work when I have the time and brain power to do so.
My life is much simpler and less complicated this way. Last night I was forcing myself to work on a pair of socks promised to a friend. There is no deadline on these, but I want to get them out of the way so I can work on a few other things. I kept putting the project down to do other things around the house and online. I finally clued in and grabbed my lace wrap to work on that. I managed to knit half a ball of yarn even while spending a bunch of time online because I was HAPPY to have it back in my hands after nearly a month of being put away.
Life is way too short to be wasted working on things that don't make you happy, especially if that thing isn't absolutely necessary. So go knit (crochet, sew, embroider) something that makes you happy!! Even if it *is* for someone else!!
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