Starting My Crochet Journey
I stepped onto this crochet journey in Novermber 2021. I'm
totally hooked now (pun intended) and I would like to share the learning
process, the mistakes I've made and my thoughts alongs the ups and downs.
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Cottoncrody, crody stands for crochet candy. I wanted to
name my instagram account (fingers crossed my side hustle which can sustain my
sweet tooth cravings in the future) Crochet Candy but apparently this name is
already taken, so I had to improvise. I grew to like the name Cottoncrody more.
So there's that.
After my exams, I was trying to find new hobbies to pick up
and something crafty that I can make as gifts for loved ones. I actually wanted
to learn how to make scrunchies but came across a youtube video of making
crochet scrunchies. I've tried out crochet few years ago but I remember that it
was difficult for me and I wasn't really committed to learning something new as
studying was my only priority. To pursue what was intended as a temporary
hobby, I bought cheap and low quality yarn which was difficult to work with and
decided that the craft was not for me, but now I was inspired and ready to
invest more time and money into it.
I didn’t know where to begin and I was excited to jump
straight to the advance level and make those cute avocado bags or cardigans.
How hard could it be right? Youtube is full of tutorials on crochet and it
looks pretty simple.
The first thing I wanted to crochet was a bracelet because I
thought of making friendship bracelets for my friends. I ordered for new yarns
and hooks without doing research and ordered unsuitable yarn for beginners like
myself. The yarn I bought was too thin for a beginner and without sufficient
skills, it was very tough to work with.
The first project can be summarised in a sentence -I didn't
know what I was doing, at all. I didn't understand what the person in the
youtube video was talking about, I didn't follow the instructions strictly and
I was clueless about what was important or what was up to my creativity. I made
a lot of failed bracelets and in the end, I did not have a decent one to give
my friends.
Luckily I finally realised early at this point that I’ll
need to learn from square one and so I reversed my footsteps and googled:
Beginner in crochet. I’m not going to go into the details of what you’ll need
to learn first, but generally, it’s learning the basic types of stitches and the
variety of yarns.
From there, I’ve learned crocheting tissue pouches, mini swings for dolls, and coasters etc. I was still pretty clueless at this point and the video tutorials were still confusing and involved a lot of me pausing and zooming in to see the stitches. It can be disheartening when a project took up a lot of time but it came out just small and unpresentable.
I was bored of crocheting stuffs people don’t normaly go ‘Awwwww’
for so I went ahead and tried to learn crocheting amigurumi (crochet stuffed toys). You’d think I
would be properly following the tutorial instructions now, but no, I thought I’ve
gotten the hang of it and still ignored the advices the videos asked ‘beginners’
to look out for. So my first amigurumi which was supposed to be a cute chick
turned out like a blue frankenstein chick instead. I've learned my lesson and now I do count my stitches, listen and watch properly before repeating what the video shows me. Undoubtly, crochet has taught me to be a better student and learner.
Nowadays, I am crocheting daily not because I tried to set
it as a habit to practice everyday, it’s just that I’m addicted. I want to
learn to crochet so many things and sometimes I dream about it at night. My
skills have improved but I have still so much to learn. I want to design my own
crochet patterns someday.
After few months of crocheting, I’ve opened up the instagram
account in hopes of sharing my work and maybe attract people to buy some of my work. I love buying different yarns from different buyers and I need a way
to fund my addiction. It’s kinda intimidating to share my work but I know I
need to step out of my confort zone. Although I don’t have many followers right
nowand I’m still a beginner, opening an account specifically for my crochet
hobby has allowed me to connect with other crochet artists and inspired me so
much more.
Takeaways from this post:
1) Always research on what you need before you start
learning something new. In crochet, learn the basic stitches first i.e single
crochets, double crochet, slip stitch etc. Research on yarn. Don't try to
tackle difficult projects without first practising on simple stitches.
2)Practice practice practice, because like learning piano or
how to type on the keyboard, you'll need to first train the muscle memory. Crochet
takes a lot of practice just like any other skills.
3)Only crochet when you feel like doing it. Remember that it’s
a hobby and a passion, it’s not supposed to feel like a chore.
I’ll write in separate posts about the process of all the
projects I’ve done. Most of them requires few tries and numerous exasperated
sighs, but there’s noticeable progress after each failed attempt. There’s
satisfaction in seeing the end product and feeling like an artist.
Crochet is an art. It’s strangely calming and addictive. It’s
not an expensive hobby nor difficult to learn if you have the patience and
passion for it. It is a useful skill to train your patience, enhance your
creativity and meditative. If you’re an anxious and introverted person like me
who loves handmade items, I strongly encourage you to learn. You don’t need to
be interested in being an expert, just a curiosity to start would be enough.
Strive to always learn something new and be a Jack of all trades, Master of
none.
I’m adding crochet into my resume.
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