Why I Am Learning Simple Crochet
Since I have been working on my simple crochet skills, I have shared the news with friends and family. Not to mention posting it on Facebook! Some people have reacted with surprise and have asked me why I am doing it. After all, I am a busy woman and have lots of other things to do.
Here are my top five reasons for learning simple crochet.
5. Believe it or not, it’s relaxing. Now, right now I am working hard at learning even simple crochet skills and can’t do any stitches mindlessly or easily. But, still, when I take fifteen minutes to sit in my favorite chair in my bedroom and pick up my crochet hook, it is very soothing. It’s like a quarter-hour retreat from the bustle of life.
4. In a mass-produced world, every hand-made crochet item is one-of-a-kind. Someone else on the planet may pick up the same crochet instructions to make the same project, and may even use the same color and variety of yarn. But no other piece of crochet will have my fingerprints on it, literally or figuratively. I am now just learning my stitches and I’m making a very simple crochet dishrag. It is not a piece of art. But there is no other dishrag like it anywhere.
3. When you crochet, you see visible progress. In many areas of life, you can not measure progress. In interpersonal relationships, for example, everything is intangible and sometimes completely subjective. But in even simple crochet, you see visible, tangible, even measurable results. After my fifteen minutes of crochet, I see that there are rows in my dishrag that weren’t there before I started. After a few days of fifteen-minute crochet breaks, I can see improvements in my work. My stitches are more even and the edges are cleaner. My little dishrag is a concrete expression of work and effort.
2. Once you have mastered it, even simple crochet allows you to be creative and self-expressive. You can mix and match colors, add crochet roses or pom-poms, throw in a row of a different stitch, or do any number of other things to create an individual piece that just screams you.
And my Number One reason for learning simple crochet:
1. Crochet is an act of love. You can create gifts to keep your family and friends warm and fashionable. You can make hats, gloves and scarves for people who would otherwise have to do without. You can make a prayer shawl for someone facing a difficult time in their lives. You can create a baby blanket for someone else celebrating a blessed event. And in each case, your gift is not an anonymous object, but an extension of your concern, attention and encouragement.
So that’s why I am learning simple crochet and why I’m looking forward to learning more advanced crochet. And why I encourage you to do so, too.
Want to read more about simple crochet? Read:
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Crochet – Beginning Projects – Including Amigurumi « – The basic pattern comes from the book, Single Crochet for Beginners; however, just like the scrubber I modified the pattern. I highly recommend this book by Cindy Crandall-Frazier for beginners! Most Amigurumi are made with only single …
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Crochet for Beginners « Teen Hobbies – Crochet for Beginners. Posted by teenhobbies on September 15, 2008. Many theorize that knitted and crochet items survived in the early period of imperialism. Many communities in this era used this kind of industry as their main source …