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I don’t know that I would consider myself a crafty person. When I was a child, my mom taught me how to cross-stitch. I cross-stitched a watermelon “Welcome” pattern onto a breadbasket for my Grandma. My mom also taught me how to do simple embroidery. I made 3 or 4 squares of embroidered animals, but I never finished enough squares to make a blanket or even a pillow.
Once, I bought a drawing tablet and used two pages of it attempting to draw the Ocracoke Island Lighthouse. My next attempt was to buy a bunch of jewelry making supplies one time, and then I made one necklace. Then, I bought paint and brushes and some empty canvases, in an attempt to make some abstract art. Maybe I’ll get that done one of these days.
It Started with Some Yarn from the Thrift Store
Anyway, after all of these attempts at being crafty, I found some yarn for sale at the Goodwill one day last fall. With Christmas vacation coming up, I thought of my Grandma. My Grandma has always crocheted, I think her grandmother taught her. She made me hats when I was younger, and she was always making an afghan or a doily or something pretty. I bought the yarn at Goodwill that day, and came home and emailed her to see if she would teach me how to crochet at Christmas. She said she would love to, so we had a plan.
So, when we had our family Christmas at the local hunting lodge (because my mom’s side of the family is really large and there are too many people to have Christmas at just one person’s house), I took my Goodwill yarn, and my Grandma brought a set of hooks for me and some instruction books.
While the kids played video games, my uncles watched football and my aunts and cousins played board games and visited, my Grandma attempted to teach me how to crochet. While I still use and cherish the vintage set of hooks my Grandma gave me, I also love the Clover hooks with cushioned handles – crocheting is hard on your hands, and these hooks help prevent strain and cramping (and you can’t beat the pretty colors.)
The Crochet Lesson
She showed me how to start the yarn on the hook, how to hold the yarn, how to hold the hook, how to pull it tight and keep the stitches even, how to make a single chain, how to stitch single crochets into that chain, and how to do a double crochet stitch.
A few things my Grandma said during our lesson:
“You’re pulling the yarn too tight.”
“You are not pulling the yarn tight enough.”
“Hold it like this.”
“You’re killing it.”
“Loosen up.”
“Let me try it.”
“Let me see what you are doing.”
“You are going to need some practice.”
A few things I said during our lesson:
“I can’t do it right.”
“Are you sure that’s the right way to hold it?”
“I’m getting hot.”
“You’re making me nervous.”
“I don’t think I can do this.”
“Can you just make me a scarf?”
“I thought you said this was easy!”
Anyway … after all that … we got snowed in at my Mom’s house for two days, which gave me plenty of time to practice. My Aunt Linda also crochets and was snowed in at my Mom’s house with us, so after a few tips from her and a few phone calls to my Grandma, I had the makings of a single crochet scarf. Three months later, I finished it!
Other Crochet Projects
Since then, I have made coasters, baby washcloths, headbands, a hunting mask for my boyfriend, potholders, a prayer shawl, and I’m currently working on a baby blanket. I even have a few scarves for sale in my Etsy Shop! Though I would still consider myself a beginner, everything has turned out great so far. I have learned how to read the patterns and I am getting slightly faster with each project I finish.
You might enjoy my other posts about Arts & Crafts, too!
Maybe I am a crafty person after all. 🙂
