Patience

I'm a slow mover.  I move at a snail's pace.  I take so long to make decisions that by the time I've made up my mind the answer falls in my lap before I even open my mouth.

I'm also a slow learner.  It took me years to comprehend the chord notations my first harp teacher put in my beginner harp books (seriously).  Years as in I didn't fully comprehend it until a few years ago.  12 years after I started harp.

That being said, I have become tenacious (a Hufflepuff quality I admire) when it comes to learning something new.  Even if I don't get it the first time, I'll go over it now and again to see if anything clicks (I do that with food I don't like too -- which is how I discovered this year that I ADORE mushrooms when I'd previously hated them my entire life).

I am learning to read patterns -- something I'm stubborn AGAINST (I like going my own way so my embroidery and cross stitch are usually done free handed out of sheer hatred of reading a pattern.  It kills my creativity).  But if I ever want to make a pullover, or a shawl, or even socks, I NEED to know how to read a pattern.

(especially if they look like this:  4 dc in first st, sl st in bkl only, then 2 dc in each st cl for rest of row.  Don't try that, I have no idea how that would turn out)

It's an entirely different language.

So of course my brain interprets it one way and then I stare at the little abbreviations and numbers until my eyes start crossing and I try a few stitches to see if I got it right.

I started working on a removable collar (to dress up my collar-less shirts) and had to rip an entire row out (over 100 stitches) because I added on to the pattern because I didn't like how it was turning out (not knowing that the look would change because I didn't take the trouble of reading the whole pattern prior to beginning the project and didn't see that I was going to change up a line of stitches in the last row).

BUT I persevered (with two projects -- a coaster which I ripped out two or three times, and the collar) and there began to arrive little lightbulb moments -- EUREKA!  I know what it means!  It's clear to me now!

My coaster turned out beautiful (although huge for a coaster so I think it will just be decoration or a dollhouse rug) and my collar, while 99% complete, must be washed and blocked -- two things I've never done with crochet.

But I am slowly, ever so slowly, climbing the rock face that is learning and while my feet may be bloodied and my face be windburned, I am stubbornly ascending in order to learn and to practice patience.

Both of which will aid me in my quest to become a better writer, a better artist, and a better person.

Thank goodness for crochet patterns.