My Crochet Beginnings

I learned how to crochet when I was a teenager when my mother joined a small class for crochet beginners. My mother knew how to knit, but she had a habit of beginning knitting projects and never finishing them. She had a big basket full of differently sized mittens that did not have matching pairs. She would make one mitten, tire of the process, and throw it in a basket where it would sit until her kids outgrew the mitten she had previous started.

Mom took the class on crochet to learn something new and to meet with other people in her community. The class project was to crochet an afghan in a ripple stitch pattern. When she finally got a handle on the pattern, she promptly showed me how to crochet all the basic stitches and how to make my own ripple afghan. I was a bit reticent at first because I remember my mother trying to teach me to knit as a child. I was all thumbs and just never really caught on to the process. Surprisingly, I picked up crochet very quickly and found that I loved it! Soon, my mom and I had were crocheting away on our own ripple afghans and eventually even finished them.

My mom decided that crochet was not really her thing after all and gave it up soon after her first project was finished. I continued to make very basic blankets and scarves for awhile after that, but later lost interest as well. I would pick it up again off and on through the years - a scarf here or a baby blanket there, but nothing too serious. I also had an aversion to complicated patterns that involved counting stitches or too many color changes. I was a lazy crocheter! Anything that was not rectangular in shape or had any stitch besides a single or double-crochet was just not for me. Luckily, for whatever reason, I happened to pick up crochet again a couple of years ago. I decides to make a squares afghan that had to be stitched together. I was certainly staying true to my habit of staying with what I know. When I finished the afghan, I was startled to realize that I just wanted to continue crocheting! I decided I was finally ready, after all these years, to step out of my comfort zone and crochet something round!

I found a great beanie pattern on a website, which does not exist anymore (otherwise I would post the link), and was astounded to realize that crocheting a circle was easy and I had no idea why I was so intimidated by changing up my routine. I made several crochet beanie's in several different stitch and color patterns. I eventually branched out to crocheting hats with brims and eventually made a pair of slippers (which I will include in a later post). I have recently finished my second sweater and am currently working on a third (or maybe a dress - I'm not sure yet). Needless to say, I am thoroughly addicted to crocheting and I absolutely love accumulating yarn for all my future projects. I plan on posting more about crochet (along with other things as well) and even a couple of patterns in the future - so stay tuned!