Since I recently wrote a post about about how I started to knit I decided to kick off Knit & Crochet Blog Week with my crochet story.
Early Halloween morning 2006, a small group of us - a range of ages but all women - stood shivering outside the Centerville library, waiting for it to open. We all had one thing in common: tucked somewhere in our purse or bag was a crochet hook.
I can't remember how I found out about the free beginner crochet class but I had wanted to learn for quite some time. The craft blogs I read were bursting with amazing crochet creatures and, even though I couldn't pronounce amigurumi (and still never get it right), I wanted to learn how to make them, too.
We learned how to make a simple granny square. If my craft room things weren't still in boxes on the third floor, I could show you that square as I pinned it to my inspiration cork board when I got home and there it stayed. Thanks to the woman who sat beside me who had crocheted in the past but was taking the class as a refresher, I was able to finish my square without too much trouble. As class drew to a close, though, I started to get a little panicky. Amigurumi weren't made out of granny squares!
We were lucky enough to grab our teacher and she took a moment to show us how to crochet a row. I could now race home and make my first amigurumi!
Um, yeah, for some reason that really didn't happen. I crocheted A LOT of granny squares, joined Crochetville and looked at loads of patterns. Eventually I crocheted a simple octopus but, for some reason I never sewed on eyes (although he's packed up with my craft stuff, too, and I'm determined to give him sight eventually) so don't consider him my first project. Then, in February, I found the amineko pattern and actually finished my first amigurumi!
I actually ran into the teacher of that class on Ravelry and was thrilled when she said, "I browsed through your projects, everything is just awesome. I absolutely loved the kitty!!! My husband looked at the pics and said (with doubt in his voice) 'And you say YOU taught this person to crochet?' LOL."
There have been lots of amis since then along with hats, bags, dishcloths and now a little baby sweater. I'll admit that I knit more but crochet for me is like a vacation from knitting. There are so many nearly instant gratification projects and I'm all about that. These days, though, I think I leave more projects unfinished than finished - I know for a fact that there are body parts for a lamb and a dog in on of my bedside drawers.... :)
If you'd like to read more beginning knitting and crochet stories from other Knit & Crochet Blog Week participants check out this link!
tags: knitcroblo1
