It’s just the beginning…*cue the arthritis*

This week I began my crochet journey! First, I organized my little crochet basket with all my yarn, hooks and sewing needles, and then I looked at it and thought to myself “wow… now I have to actually make this stuff into something”.

I can’t believe how nervous I was to start! I think my nerves have to do with this being a school assignment. It brings me back to middle school gym class where if you can’t throw the ball far enough you fail the assignment. I know this assignment is not about the outcome, but still, I had nerves.

When I decided to actually begin, I googled “crochet for beginners” and stumbled upon this video which I chose because it had the word “absolute” in the title and that reassured me. This video was such a wonderful resource! The creator did an excellent job of explaining every step and provided terms that were useful for me when I moved on to other sources. I am very glad that I started with a video tutorial, because I would not have understood a single instruction unless I had a provided visual. I am also quite surprised at how quickly I improved while practicing with this video.

Once I felt confident enough in my stitches, I searched “free crochet patterns” on Instagram and scrolled through, saving patterns I liked and thought I could try. I came across a reel (short video on Instagram) that I thought looked like an easy level-up from what I had been practicing. Although, what I found was that the video went way too quickly for me to see every detail. The pause mechanism on Instagram requires you to hold your finger on the screen, so it was difficult to pause the video to get my work to look like the video. The creator also just had music playing over the video, so there were no instructions either verbally or written, which I found to be too tricky for me. I ended up scrapping that project and looking for something else to try. 

Not wanting to give up on Instagram, I found an account that posts free patterns! I used their link that took me to the blog and I chose this flower pattern called ‘Mollie Flowers’. The blog post had a video tutorial which I was quite thankful for. While there weren’t voice over instructions, the written instructions were easy to follow because I could see the creator working, as opposed to having written instructions and just a still image, or a video and no instructions. I was able to attempt and re-attempt these flowers until they held together and were presentable. I am definitely going to keep practicing these flowers and possibly use them to make a table runner! I also think this particular pattern lends itself perfectly to showcase improvement. I can see my technique getting better and better with each flower I finish. 

I can’t wait to try another pattern!