Alyice on April 9th, 2008

The Crochet Phase

When I was a little girl my grandmother, a.k.a. Grams, bought me a very long crocheting needle and showed me the basic chain stitch. She told me that once I mastered the single stitch she’d teach me another stitch. Unfortunately that never happened. I held onto that blue needle for years, hoping to one day share the love of crocheting with my Grams.

Then last year, during an away baseball tournament, my mother-in-law brought along her bag of crocheting supplies and I was hooked! I crocheted my little heart out all weekend and by Sunday evening I had half a blanket completed. My son’s friends got a kick out of watching a “young mom” sitting in the stands with a bag of yarn, crocheting like there’s no tomorrow while screaming praises to the team.

I went on to make 10 blankets for my kids, my friends, my family, and even my chiropractor’s new baby. It was nice being able to sit down to a movie and not find myself fidgeting and thinking about a zillion other things I could be doing with my time. I simply pulled out the yarn and started crocheting. Counting stitches and keeping my fingers active helped me to just “sit and relax” and having lost my mom in March of 2006, the time spent crocheting and watching television was a welcome treat.

My only regret is that I didn’t learn more stitches because eventually I got bored with the single stitch and the fun began to disappear. That is until I learned a new stitch—one that involved creating squares. My only problem now is that I goofed up somewhere and the blanket I am completing is beginning to come loose as the colors transition from yarn to yarn. That means I’ll have to go back over those areas and tie some knots to keep everything together.

I think I will purchase one of those beginner’s videos on crocheting as I simply cannot understand the books I’ve checked out of the library or perused in the bookstores.

The best thing about crocheting, for me, is that it is one of those things I have absolutely no desire to turn into a side business which means it will always be a wonderful way for me to relax—guilt free—in front of the television set.

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Comments (2)

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Kelly H. says:
Alyice, I LOVE to crochet! If you can do a chain stitch, a single crochet and a granny square (includes double crochet) you can do anything! My grandmother taught me to do a granny square and I figured the rest out on my own. It’s really easy! If you ever have any questions, just email me. I’ll talk you through it.

Also, you may want to try your hand at doilies as you learn new stitches. The thread is much easier to work with (I think) and the doilies make wonderful presents (and ‘give aways’ on blogs… hint, hint!) If you want to stick with yarn, use light colors when you learn the new stitches. It’s much easier to see the stitches with light yarn.

Happy stitching!
Posted at 4:40 am April 17th, 2008
Alyice says:
Thanks for commenting Kelly! I’ll have to take you up on the offer! As for the doilies, that could work well with the canvas idea I have brewing in my mind, might just have to give that a try.
Posted at 2:04 pm April 17th, 2008