Right now I'm making a fall throw blanket. It's from the company Searedar, and they have fun crochet-along patterns. They send you all the yarn and everything you'll need for the project, and then they break it up into six weeks so that you get one part of the pattern every week.
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I love them because they make these big projects feel less overwhelming, and they do them seasonally. So right now I'm making one; it's called something spicy, and it's just going to be fall fun.
Who taught me
This is kind of an interesting, funny story of how I learned. So I did not start learning how to crochet until I was a little over 30 years old. I had a co-worker at the time who would tell me that she would go home and just crochet little things like pot holders and beanies- nothing too crazy- but it kind of got me interested in learning how to do it, something to do with myself in the evening.
So back then there was Jo-Ann Craft Stores. And so I walked into one, and I was trying to buy, like, a crochet 101 book and some supplies, and the cashier told me that they actually had crochet classes to teach you how to. So I signed up for a beginner Jo-Ann class, came back to the store, and a sweet little old lady taught me the basics of crochet. We didn't make much, but it's where I got started, and they gave me my first book and everything.
Obviously, it's pretty frustrating right at first when you're trying to get going. At first, whatever you're making doesn't look quite like the picture, the stitches are loose and uneven, and you can't quite figure out how to hold the hook. The coworker who kind of got me into it still crochets to this day; she makes slightly different products than I do, and I haven't stopped since then.
The first thing I made
I think the first thing everybody makes when they first learn how to crochet is chains, right? So I was taught how to make a chain, and from there, I always warn people about this too: it becomes addictive, and you want to make more chains and more chains and longer chains, and you don't really have anything to do with them.
So, I initially found a pattern for a scarf that was just a bunch of chains you tied together. So that was one of the first things I tried. I remember the first big "project" I had was making coasters, which are just two granny squares sewn together to make them thick, with a different-color border, and pretty, pretty simple, but I was super proud of those coasters I made. So much so that I made a whole bunch of them, and those were everyone's Christmas gifts that year.
I still have family and friends tell me that they still have those coasters lying around, and at the time I was just so proud that I could make these squares, and they looked so nice and thick. And they worked so well.
When it clicked
Okay, I did have a steep learning curve to learn and feel comfortable with this craft.
But when I started making a bigger roomie and started kind of making the stuffed animals. I could see those coming together. And I could put different details on them. And I could kind of make them the way I wanted to. And everyone just thought they were so cute; that was probably when it finally clicked for me, and I loved it.
I made tons and tons of Omega Ruby, and I still do, to the point where I set up at the farmers market and sold them. The very first one I was super proud of was a fox; it just had pretty colors, and I got to sell those, put a stomach on it, put eyes on it, a tail on it, and the ears and everything.
And I guess just when I finally saw like a big project, it looks like a big finished thing instead of just little bits and bobs here and there, I just felt like, oh, I finally get this now, what other animal can I make. From there, people would start requesting animals; I would have to find patterns for them, and I've probably made hundreds and hundreds of stuffed animals that way.
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The stretch I quit
There have been times when my life has just gotten busier than usual, but I typically try to make time in my evenings to wind down and crochet a little, even just for a minute or two.
There have been frustrating projects. To this day, I'm still not very good at making beanies, so there was a moment there where I was trying to make beanies and getting very frustrated until I just kind of put the projects down and got, you know, kind of beat myself up about it.
But from there, I just want to learn. Maybe I'm not the best at making beanies, but I can figure out something else to make and add to my daily routine.
When I'd call myself good
When a friend made my first seasonal throw blanket, I think that's when I finally felt like I was pretty darn good at this craft. That was about two and a half years ago. I made my first Christmas throw blanket, which has a gingerbread house in the middle. It's very cute, and up until then I had not made any throw blankets.
The reason I did that one was that my mother loves gingerbread everything, so I just thought it was too cute to pass up. And it really stretched me, and I learned a lot from the other projects I worked on. As far as making a roomie and the smaller scarves and things like that, you can kind of fake it; you basically stretch it and make it work.
But when it comes to a nice throw blanket, you have to take your time; you have to block it; you have to make sure the size matches, that you're using the right hook, and that you're counting really well. And so when I finally could stand back and see this whole big blanket, all the things I've done work, I just felt really accomplished.
I do think I've gotten better and better. I pulled those old seasonal blankets out, even though I'm making a new one, and I can tell that I didn't block this one, or you don't block every single one of them. But I would say that I'm pretty good now.
That's more what I'm focusing on, because I do learn lots of new stitches. Making a roomie and scarves and things like that, it's a lot of the same thing; it's either single crochet or double crochet, and you do it in rounds, or you do it in a row, and it's just repeat, repeat. But with the seasonal blankets, it's been really fun for me to learn different stitches, like a spike stitch, and different ways to increase and decrease so it looks good.
Crocheting, like pinwheels and other details, like the V stitches and shell stitches that just turn out; they look so pretty. I've done lots of castle work and pom poms for the borders. So I love learning really fun, varied stitches that come out looking beautiful and unique. You have to take your time and make sure it works, and I would say I've gotten pretty good at it.
What people always ask
People always ask me how long things took to make, whether it's an animal that I've stuffed and sold, or a blanket I've made, or several cardigans. For those who don't crochet or maybe don't even craft, they don't know or understand how long everything takes; they're always amazed when I tell them how long each project actually took.
And it gets especially hard when people want to purchase things from you or when you make something for them; for your time, effort, and expertise to be worth it, the cost is pretty high. They just don't understand that those things don't get thrown together in about an hour.
People are always amazed when I tell them that the big throw blankets are probably 160-plus hours. I love telling them how much yarn it took, how many yards, and it took, because they don't understand how much that is either. And the fancier the yarn you buy, the more expensive it is. So I think people are always amazed just to hear how long I actually sat, counting and sewing and stitching everything together.
