Experience

I taught a Beginning Crochet class at Fiber Art, Inc. As in any class, regardless of subject matter, there were some students who grabbed the baton and took off running right away. And there were also students who struggled with the new skills. These were students who were already accomplished in other needle arts.

This reminded me of my own experience with crochet. While in Girl Scouts (oh, so many years ago!) I diligently worked toward earning badges to adorn my banner. I did embroidery, needlepoint and knitting. I earned all of those badges.

However, there was one skill that I could not master, and that was crochet. So I gave up.

Until . . . my 2nd daughter (K) was adopted. My best friend had given my oldest daughter (MM) a blanket, and MM dearly loves that blanket. Naturally, I wanted K to have a crocheted blanket too. But circumstances change and a crocheted blanket was not in the cards. K did get a blanket that she sleeps under each night, even though she is a whopping 5 yrs old now. But, this need sent me searching for blanket patterns and I saw so-o-o many beautiful crocheted baby blankets.

One night after all was quiet, I sat down with yarn and a needlework book published in 1974; 2 hours later I was crocheting!

But, I didn't master everything about crochet in that one sitting. My skills have evolved and improved over time. Some techniques I worked on months-trying different hook sizes, yarn types and weights-before I was satisfied with the result.

I also learned and relearned how to hold my yarn, how to pull a loop through, and I had to practice "the right way" a little each day until my hands and brain worked in tandem.

I didn't give up, because it was something that I loved, and I hope the students who struggled (yesterday and in the future) will keep trying until their hands and brain work in harmony too.