1 (Introduction): Crochet...Now!

I am commonly told that people love items that I crochet, immediately followed by "I could never do that" or "I tried that and it was too hard." I always tell the person that they can learn to crochet too.

People who try to crochet and don't succeed are overwhelmed by complicated patterns or the sheer scale of a project. Ask my mom or husband! They will tell you that I still abandon some larger projects, not for lack of skill but because I am overwhelmed by the scale of a project.  People that are trying to learn how to crochet tend to try to make a purse or a hat or some other item that they thought was pretty in a book, on the internet, or on Pinterest. These people are aiming too high. Crochet is an art. Did Leonardo di Vinci pick up a paint brush for the first time and create the Mona Lisa? Of course not, but he probably didn't paint anything worthy of a small town art gallery to display either. I concede that there is natural talent involved in any art, but there are also skills you can learn to become profficient at it. As with painting or sculpting, a person new to crochet needs to start small to prevent being overwhelmed.

In our society, people want results...now! Crochet is not something you can expect to master over a weekend, or a month. It takes years to get to the point where you can create some crochet items. I began crocheting at 8 years old, so that gives me 21 years experience, and I am still learning new techniques. I sometimes may prefer to do things my way after playing around with a new technique, but I always learn something new and sometimes can incorporate it into what I already know, which strengthens my abilities as an artist.

Crocheting is not difficult at all, but a person must take it one step at a time in order to succeed. Start with small projects and learn one stitch at a time and what you can do with it, then move on to the next. This builds your repertoire of skills so that over time, you will enable you to do most, if not all, patterns and make your own patterns.

I hope to introduce people to the world of crochet one step at a time. I will post to my blog each step along the way and even provide a pattern to go with a new skill so that you can take baby steps to your crochet goals.