Getting Back to Basics: A Journey of Rediscovery

Originally published 8/18/2025…

I think most of us have the best intentions when we say we are going to do something.  I also know there are those that get things done when they say they will, those who try, and others who just have so much going on that things eventually get done, just not always in the timeframe we we would often like.  Depending on the day, week, month, I fall into one, or all of those categories.  It’s not that I don’t care or respect deadlines.  Often it’s just that I don’t know my own capacity and I take on too much making it absolutely impossible to do all the things I say – or even want to do.

For instance, I thought I would have a blog post from the road during my trip to Michigan for the Michigan Fiber Festival.  I wrote, I contemplated, and the words would not come during the trip here.  Maybe there is a reason for that.  Things, especially thoughts and words, come exactly when they are meant to.  Forcing it doesn’t always work.  The words and message come out choppy.  Sometimes the thoughts won’t formulate.  Sometimes the things you’re meant to say aren’t there yet because the experience or story to convey what you’re thinking haven’t happened yet.  This is absolutely the case for this message.

During the trip over, I jotted some thoughts down (ones I thought were really important), and I let them percolate.  I planted seeds for what I thought I wanted to say, and I let them grow.

Once at the festival, those thoughts then became much more clear.  I jotted down more notes – both physically and mentally.  I let them continue to form, to grow, and to eventually become what you’re reading now.  And right now, as I type this, I’m not sure I’ve ever been more clear about the path I want to follow personally, professionally, and as an artist.

To get you all to where I’m going, let me take you on a very short trip down memory lane…

2016 – I wanted to be a fiber artist and start a business – a real business where I could support myself, make connections, and create.  I applied and was accepted to the Montana Artrepeneur Program, MAP for short.  It was a life changing experience for me.  That program helped me develop a business name, why, and one of my favorite things – a tag line for my business. We also developed a vision, mission, artist statement, business plan, and more.  Here is the business name, tag line, and mission I wrote almost 10 years ago.

Goldieknots Montana – Creating Connections One Fleece at a Time

“The mission of Goldieknots Montana is to teach people of today a lost heritage art of yesterday, while promoting the Montana wool and fiber industry and connecting people through fiber arts.”

The only thing I would change about that mission statement is to not just promote Montana wool and wool growers, although they are my foundation and I will continue to hold them all close to my heart (and hands), but also to promote all wool growers and producers.

For me, it was always going to be about the sheep, the people, the artists, sharing knowledge through teaching, but really, more than anything, about telling stories and creating connections between all of these components.  Somewhere along the way I lost that and it became more about making money and less about what was important and my real why for starting this venture in the first place.

I’d become a person who was so busy, so on-the-go, that I didn’t have time to tell stories, or teach the way I wanted to, or a myriad of other things.  It really got me to thinking.  Last year at the end of my season I truly thought about packing it in, calling it a day, and moving on.  I was simply just too tired, and my business and personal life were not what I had wanted them to be.

So one of two things needed to happen.  I needed to quit – or I needed to get back to my why, my vision, and my mission.  After many conversations, mostly with myself, and then with some trusted fiber art friends (I hope you know who you are and how much I love you), I decided on the latter – which is the real reason for this longer post.

Simply, these ladies asked me, “What do you want?” When I started listing those things, but then said things like “I can’t,” or “I don’t know how to make that happen,” they simply said something to the effect of. “Stop thinking about the how, and start thinking more about the what, and dream a little while you do it.”

For a couple of months I made lists, I contemplated,  and I dreamed.  I thought about what I wanted, and not just in my business.  I thought about what I wanted in my personal life.  I thought about all the things I was doing that I didn’t want to do anymore – which in turn helped me come up with a better list about the things I do want.  It’s been a pretty remarkable experience.  

My biggest takeaway from all of those thoughts, notes, contemplations was this… “Getting back to the basics” and the reasons why I wanted to have my own business.  

So, I’ve been implementing some systems that are taking me backwards to those basics.

One of the reasons it took me so long to formulate all of this into words is this… I needed the time to begin creating connections again. My trip to, during, and going home from Michigan was the starting point for that.  On my way to Michigan, I stopped and stayed with a dear friend who was pretty instrumental in my spinning journey.  Then I visited the Nome Schoolhouse in North Dakota, and the person who used to process all of my wool for me at her mill.  We hadn’t seen each other in almost nine years.  It was like time never passed and I’m excited about the pretty cool plans coming from that one stop alone. 

Then I stayed with fiber friends in Minnesota who I never would have met if it hadn’t been for a fiber festival in Montana.  It felt like being part of a big family.  Then the festival in Michigan itself, where I reconnected with students and vendors, and then people I’d never met who now feel like extended family.  Connections.

I had return students, students who had their “aha” moments, hosted spinning / finer circles in the evenings, and helped in connecting people.  Yes, that word again – connections.

On my way home I’m staying with different fiber friends in Iowa who I met at that same festival in Montana.  I’m taking my time heading back and planning to do a little exploring and sightseeing along the way. Usually I’m on a gangbuster flyby to get home and convince myself I need to get to the next destination quickly – the reality is, I don’t.  I’ll connect with people, including myself this trip.

This trip also solidified some decisions I needed to make in order to get back to the basics.  What  does that mean for me, my business, and you all reading this? It means you can expect more learning opportunities because I plan to be teaching more, which is the thing I truly love.  It means less vending at events because it’s really hard to vend and teach. You can always find things online from me and I’ll still be at local holiday shows, I just don’t want to be stressed out all of the time.  It means more writing (blog, books, ebooks, newsletters, and who knows what else), because writing is a huge passion, and it’s time to tell the stories of the sheep, fiber producers, and fiber artists.  It means more “Fleece to Fashion” and educating people about wool, breeds of fiber animals, breeders, and creating beautiful things by hand with natural resources.  It means more knitting design work especially for local yarn shops and fiber producers because it’s about making connections. And for me, it’s also about more spinning – which is my very favorite thing in the world.

I hope you’ll follow my journey a little backwards to move forward into what I’ve been dreaming this whole thing could be.  I hope you’ll share your stories with me.  I hope maybe this inspires you to take a step back, find what’s important in your lives and get back to you own basics – whatever those may look like to you – or take a step forward and start something you’ve always wanted to.

Until next time,

Happy spinning and all the fiber things!

~Tammy