Hi friends! After last weeks “big rock” of joining a gym, I needed something that appealed to the creative and artistic side of my brain. So, for Week 51, I took a crochet class. Why crochet? Well, there was a picture circulating on Facebook of this adorable little fox shawl, that had the cutest hood on it. It was perfect for Mini Sous! It’s also way outside my skill set. But I thought if I got started now and learned how to do it, I might be able to make it by the time Mini goes to college. HA!
Thankfully, there was a introductory crochet class being offered at a local craft store. A friend I hadn’t seen since high school was interested in learning too, so we teamed up for a Friday night class.
Y’all know I’m left handed and the perils of this particular predicament mean it’s much harder for someone to teach you how to crochet, or knit or pretty much anything else, unless they are left-handed too. Our instructor, bless her heart, was not left-handed. She disappeared out of class to go find a book (with pictures) that would show me how to crochet. It didn’t help. I ended up learning how to do it right-handed. It was quite confusing for a long time. Maybe I should have gone to the “Crochet for Dummies” class? The rest of the students (there were four of us) caught on very quickly. I simply could not grasp how to hold the yard and the needle and make it all work correctly.
Everyone else moved on to different stitches while I was still fumbling with hand placement. To be fair, I was probably over-thinking it. The picture above shows everything I was able to do in a three hour class. C is for Crochet!
Needless to say, I was very frustrated. I came home and sat up with the instructors picture book and kept trying. By the end of the night, this is what I had:
Right now, you’re thinking, “Oh look! She’s crocheting a map of the United States. How cute!” I think this looks like the West Coast, don’t you? Hahaha! Something about tension and counting stitches and terms like “yarning over” just eluded me. Have you ever had that happen to you when you were learning something new?
The next day, I sent a text to a friend who loves to crochet. She is left-handed and at the time, happened to be on her way home from her daughters soccer game and offered to come by to help. Isn’t it great to have talented friends?
She was able to explain how I should hold my hands and the yarn. She even got me started on an easy pattern and gave me extra yarn to complete it. What a blessing! The rest of the weekend was spent crocheting and texting, “Am I doing this right?” Crocheting and sending pictures, “LOOK! It’s so pretty!” Crocheting and taking aspirin because my head hurt so badly from focusing on stitches. “Just one more row… I can’t stop now!” Man, I was focused!
And at last, TA-DA!! A small finished blanket!
It’s not perfect, but neither am I. I’ve still got some work to do on proper tension and remembering to count stitches. I’m looking forward to learning a few more patterns and eventually building up to that Fox shawl. It was nice to have something to work on in the evenings after dinner. Most of the time we sit on our computers or watch mindless TV. I’d much rather be doing this. So thank you, Wendy for taking the class with me. It was nice to see you again after *mumblemumble* years. Thank you Theresa for spending time explaining and reexplaining in small words, and for your yarn. Extra shout-out to Jessica, who had to sit on my couch while her mother showed me how to do all this. You’re all amazing and I’m so very thankful for you.
What am I doing next week? Tune in to find out!
Until then, live life deliciously and to it’s fullest!
All my love,
Sara
P.S. Are you new to the 52 to 50 Project? Let’s catch up! Here’s how it all began:
