I stopped TALKING to my relatives because of my HOBBY

Hey, guys! My name is Natalie, and I want to share my problem with you. The thing is, my relatives don’t talk to me because of my hobby.
No, I don't do anything criminal. My hobby is the most peaceful of all: I just love knitting. Hooks, spokes, forks or even just by my hands. And what I get by connecting the loops fascinates me more than a kaleidoscope and yoga together. Seems like, what problems could be? I'll tell you.
I started knitting when I was a kid. My grandma loved flipping spokes, watching her favourite series – it’s a good brain workout. Plus, we wore her warm socks, vests and scarves. She didn’t knit something big. She didn’t use sketches and such things. She just knitted for herself. I really liked it and I asked her to teach me. She laughed, but she taught me.
First, I trained on simple things. My parents bought me some yarn. Mostly, it was simple and cheap. I bought myself the knitting magazines from my pocket money. Seeing I was enjoying it, my mom took me to the knitting classes. For some reason, these classes were affiliated to the Church. No, we didn’t pray there. The teacher was very talented and patient. By the way, I still keep a shawl she had knitted for me as a gift. It’s the finest work, and it’s perfectly warm.
By the time I was 16, I already had my own knitting tool-box and a small stock of a high-quality yarn. Mostly, I knitted for myself. But sometimes, my friends could ask me to make a trendy cowl or cardigan. They always brought me the yarn and chocolates to thank me for my work. Many of them said that I was cool at it and I should monetise this process. I hesitated. Still, if I started knitting for business, I really should spend a lot of time on this, and it’s quite difficult to win people's favour.
My relatives were unhappy. But it was OK for them – their daughter is at home, she is not in some bad companies, she doesn't drink or smoke. I just sat by myself in a corner, doing some creativity. But my mom's sister and my cousin bullied me all the time. They said knitting was only for old women. At the same time, they never refused from my gifts. They could even ask me to tie them something, but they never thanked me and didn’t buy the yarn for it. My mom said we are family and I shouldn’t ask anything from them.
At some point, a friend of mine got sick and tired of my procrastination. She created an Instagram page for me. She uploaded my works there. She promoted my business for a small profit share. Personally, the strangest thing for me was that it all started upbeat. And now, I am even full of customers. Of course, it takes a lot of time, but it brings a lot of money in return. Plus, I am so happy I have a lot of customers from abroad who want to buy my products.
I don't sell cheap. My average check is rather expensive. I use only high-quality yarn: natural wool, silk, cotton and no synthetics. I don’t do anything for order – people snatch away what I offer myself. It turns out that it’s a win-win. Everyone is happy because customers see what they take. If they want, we send them some extra photos. We even can shoot a video. But usually promo-pictures are enough.
And guess what? My aunt keeps saying nasty things about me. There is no feeling of a family that can stop her and my cousin from spreading gossips about me. It’s all because I refused to knit something for them for free. Besides, I started earning a living at 16 and my aunt’s daughter still feeds on her parents.
Yeah, I decided that I would no longer waste my time on those who didn’t appreciate it. So, I refused my aunt. Well the truth is… how could they be so rude, call me bad names and demand me to quit everything and rush knitting winter hats for them? At my own expenses. Our common friends even said they also gave my works to other people, like it is a special handmade just for them. I felt disgusting.…
My parents suddenly took my side. I mean, first dad, then mom, when my aunt started saying I am bad girl. Of course, she felt offended and they stopped talking. However, the end of this personal communication didn’t hurt our family.
Now we don't talk. But our common friends said my aunt kept saying nasty things not just about me, but about the whole family. Honestly, I don't care. If people want they can check out my aunt’s gossips about it… Besides… Well, I won’t lose any customers. And if you listen to everyone’s opinion, you would just go crazy.
Anyway, everyone got a life lesson. I realised that if someone sits on your neck, it is not your relative anymore. It’s a thistle, and you need to throw it away with no regrets. My aunt realised that her rudeness and insults may deprive her of good and free wear. However, I am afraid she hadn’t made any conclusions.
Write in comments, how people sit on your neck and how you coped with such clingers. And be grateful if people do something good for you, whether it is material or not. Because life always brings things back like a boomerang.

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