Five years of sewing at home

I started knotting at night, after work. I had no plan. I'd seen a macramé piece at a market stall, thought I could probably give it a go, and bought enough yarn for a top.

The first top came out crooked. So did the second. By the tenth, it was wearable, and I wore it that summer without telling anyone I'd made it, because I was too self-conscious to say.

Someone asked me where I'd bought it. That's where it all started, though it took me almost a year to work up the nerve to charge for one.

The hardest part hasn't been learning the technique. It's been accepting that handmade things take time, that I can't make a hundred a week, and that it's fine for it to be that way.

I still sew most of the pieces myself. When I open a box to check an order before it ships, I still go over the knots one by one. I suppose that's not going to change.