Until recently, I have never considered myself a *crafter*. At the age of five, I was a young first grader. And who would have thought that I would have picked up a skill, a crafting skill, at that age, that would stick with me for life. Now, almost thirty-five years later, I am still knitting and crocheting. And, I think that I don’t knit and crochet for the finished product. Sure, I like to finish creations, but I have come to the realization that I knit and crochet for the pure joy of knitting and crocheting. I like to feel yarns…gaze over patterns…

Sometime, ’round about eighteen years ago, I discovered beads. All shapes, all sizes, all materials. Findings were magical, clasps were divine. Honestly, when I look back at the items I made that long ago, I can see where my designs were flawed. Amazing how age matures our vision.

Three years later, I attended a scrapbooking party. Here was a practical hobby. I could take all those pictures I have hiding away in a box, and put them into some sort of historical order, with stories to go with them, before I got too old to remember them. It’s funny how I spent money on things like scrapbooks, and die-cuts, and stickers and markers, and here we are, fifteen years later, and they are still in their packaging…pictures still in their storage box.

About 4 years ago, I started stamping…took a class…went to a workshop to create greeting cards…the world of paper crafts had opened up to me. The results were beautiful, and after a reasonable investment in tools, I lost the time to invest in my new-found hobby.

Now, I regularly knit and crochet, as well as design beaded jewelry. But my latest foray into crafting trials is needle felting. I have attended one of two classes with my nine year old daughter, and needle felting appears to be one of those hidden hobbies. You know people do it. You don’t know how they do it. But their creations are wonderful…fantastic…whimsical…my daughter works diligently on a panda, while I selected a set of two owls. I completed one during the first class. I’ll complete the second in a few days. I named the first one Hedwig.

This, then, is my realization, and my statement. I am a crafter. When I had the opportunity to look back and think about all the things I most like to do…crafting was the clear winner. But I craft for crafting’s sake…not for any other reason. I take pleasure in the product, but more so, the process.

I am a crafter.

This post was originally posted at The Leaky Cauldron and has also been cross-posted to my other blog, the writing on the wall.