I’m always on the lookout to learn new things, and in the midst of quarantine, I found myself bored out of my mind. I didn’t want to watch any more movies or shows, and I didn’t want to read any more books. I was just… tired of the same thing over and over again. That’s when I started to see posts of people crocheting and wearing their creations on social media, so I told myself, “I wanna make that too.”
I spent weeks watching tutorials on the basics of crochet because I didn’t have transportation to go buy the materials I needed to start. When I was finally able to buy them, I got my hands on the hooks as well as the yarn, and felt great. I decided that my first project was going to be a bucket hat, and let me tell you, while those tutorials sure do come in handy, nothing comes close to the real thing. When I was done with my first projectーthat excuse of a hatーI was pretty disappointed. It didn’t turn out very well. But I didn’t let that get the best of me. I immediately started a new one, and this one turned out surprisingly well!
That second hat led me to purchase my first crochet pattern: The Strawberry Shortcake Hat by StuffedByC on etsy (@claudiasstufff on instagram). This is probably one of my favorite things to crochet. It was an amazingly easy pattern to read and I had practiced enough with the other hats that I could make it without much trouble. This is one of the projects I am most proud of, and, after I got the hang of it, I finished many of these hats.
This summer, I challenged myself to an even bigger and more difficult project: The Butterfly Top pattern by Dreamcrochets on etsy. Although it’s a more advanced pattern, the instructions were very clear, and anyone with pattern reading knowledge and versed in the crochet terms could make it. It took me three whole days to make it, and I’m honestly really proud of myself. I’m even working on some tops for my friends!
Now that it’s been a few months since I started crocheting, I’ve become a little more daring. I’m even working on a pattern of my own. The me from a few months ago would have never had the courage to even think about making a pattern. But things like this become possible when you believe in your skills and stop being afraid of trying.
Crocheting has gotten me through quite a few months of the pandemicーand quite a few TV shows as well to be honest. I am proud of myself for choosing to try something different, and if you’ve been wanting to try to learn yourself, I fully recommend it. You’ll get a new lifelong skill, and a few cute things to wear. If I can do it, so can you.