When It Doesn't Work the First Time
About quitting, quilting, knitting, and why some things are worth starting over
Working in tech means getting really comfortable with failure. We launch, we test, we fail, we iterate. Rinse and repeat. So it’s funny to me how often I don’t carry that mindset into my personal life.
Take crafting, for example. I’ve never really thought of myself as “crafty.” When I was a kid, my mom taught me how to quilt. But she had a thing for perfection. If the stitches weren’t even or tight enough, she’d pull them all out and make me start over. Again. And again. And again. I eventually finished a tiny quilt for my doll, swore I’d never do that again, and walked away.
And I meant it.
Until the pandemic.
Suddenly I found myself with time and a strong desire to make something. Something that wasn’t for work. Something that wasn’t about productivity. Something that was just… love in fabric form. So I quilted a blanket for my niece. Then I tried my hand at knitting. That didn’t go very well at first either. But because I was doing it for someone I cared about, I stuck with it.
Now? I knit baby blankets for all the new little ones in my life. I’ve re-knit every single one at least once. Some I’ve re-knit three or four times. My cats have their own blankets made from early experiments that didn’t go as planned. And I keep going.
Here’s the part I didn’t expect: I now see myself as a creative person. And more than that, as someone who can finish things.
Not everything is going to work the first time. Or the second. Or even the third. But when something really matters to us—when we care about the outcome or the people we’re doing it for—we can keep trying. We can reknit. Reseam. Rebuild. And in the process, we don’t just make beautiful things. We become someone new.
So I’ll leave you with a few questions to consider:
What’s something you gave up on because it didn’t come easily?
Is there a project, career change, or dream that’s still tugging at you?
What would it look like to try again—with a bit more love and a lot less pressure?
You don’t have to get it right the first time. You just have to care enough to begin again.
Always here if you want someone to talk to about picking up an old dream or planning a transition to something more aligned with your vision for yourself.
Leah