My BHAG
October 5, 2007 by Melinda
It’s a curious thing that work does not seem so much like work when you love what you do. It has been five years already since this needlecraft journey began for me. My, time flies. It has been a wonderful learning adventure all along for me in so many ways. My very first cross stitch design was “Cape Cod Garden” and it was in remembrance of a beloved grandmother of mine. It is still among my very favorite designs that I have worked on.
When I started out, I wrote down some worthy goals to pursue for both the short term and long term. I have remained true to my goals and even achieved many of the harder to obtain, for instance, getting my work published in a magazine. I learned quite a bit from this experience, mainly “to get it in writing” , which, by the way, is now posted on a sticky note in large, bold, red letters above my desktop so the learning lesson remains fresh in my mind.
Among the list of goals was to publish a book. My BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal). What’s a BHAG? Well, it is a goal that you set your sights on that seems highly unlikely and makes you utter a loud “gulp” to think to achieve it. That’s where I’m headed now with my Busy Bees project. It will be a learning tool for me on proper layout, page design, and the myriad other aspects of book design that I need to learn in order to reach my BHAG, the real deal. Who knows if I’ll achieve it? One thing for sure: if you don’t try, it will never happen.
I’ve got the first five years under my belt, so now let’s see where the next five will find me.
Hi Melinda,
I love the idea of a BHAD! and I am sure you will achieve yours
My small goal is to get these mittens made and after three, yes three cast ons, knit some, rip it out and try again, I may get a mitten out of the deal…I suspect I may try one more time with yet a different size needles but the inch or so I have knit so far on this attempt , at least looks like the picture in the book so I may perservere.
By the way…if you publish a book…I’ll buy a copy!
Hi Ann,
Don’t give up on the mittens! I do the same as you trying to get the first few rows going and I go VERY slowly at first. Once the first few rows are done, the knitting and pattern settle into a nice rhythm. Keep going, you’ll be fine!
I’m a reference book junky, as I have learned much of what I do from books and am a self-taught knitter (lots of room for improvement there!) I purchased some books on sock making and learned quickly from the diagrams in the back that there are many more methods of casting on than I was aware of. I think what I’ve been doing all along is called the “Old Norwegian Cast-On” according to one book. It’s the easiest for me and allows the cast-on stitches some room to stretch. I always thought it was the Long-Tail (Continental) Cast-On. Hard to tell from diagrams.
I’ve logged many hours this week on my Bee Book project. I’m having fun with it and it is progressing nicely.
Thanks for the post!