As a seller of things I make by hand, sometimes I wish my pastime was something that produced sellable items quickly. Crocheted items take time. Of course, I could knock out a washcloth in about an hour, and two or three refrigerator magnets (sans embellishment time) in that same span of time. But the things I really enjoy making take a lot of time and focus.
I’ve thought about diversifying and purchasing a Cricut and put my digital art skills to good use. I could design amazing prints and sell them as posters, stickers or even downloadable prints. I could take it a step further and produce greeting cards and even personalized prints.
But the reason why I don’t go the art route is this … I spend all day on a computer for my FT job. I don’t want to spend every waking hour looking at a computer screen.
I look forward to retiring and spending more time expanding my portfolio to include digital designs and painting, but, for the time being, I will take the time to produce crocheted products with care and excellence. The benefit of having a crafting hobby is the relaxation it instills after a challenging day at work. See the following research conducted on this:
Burns P, Van Der Meer R. Happy Hookers: findings from an international study exploring the effects of crochet on wellbeing. Perspect Public Health. 2021 May;141(3):149-157. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913920911961. Epub 2020 Apr 3. PMID: 32245337.
Jaskowiak, N., Stone, R., & Mgaedeh, F. (2024). A Review of Human Factors Research on People Who Crochet. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 68(1), 1271-1275. https://doi.org/10.1177/10711813241261350 (Original work published 2024)
Whatever stage of life you’re in, the best advice I can give (if you’re asking) is to do the activities that give you the most peace despite the technical challenges. Olympic athletes don’t get to where they are without overcoming, right?
-Kim
Hooked on Whimsy 