Well, here I go! This is my first post on the blog that I’ve been dreaming of starting for years. I never could really figure out the best way to get started, but sometimes the best way to start something is just to start it, as my grandmother would say.
My grandmother passed away when I was 16 year old, but not before teaching me how to crochet the single and double crochet stitches, as well as how to change colors, count stitches, hold tension, and all of the other basic things. She crocheted me (and my 3 siblings and 2 cousins) gorgeous afghans for us all to remember her by. They are treasured by us all – keepsakes.
I wish my grandmother had lived long enough to see some of the things I evenutally made. I was 9 when she first started teaching me how to crochet, sew, and embroider. I never really did pick up the latter two (at least I haven’t yet) but something about crochet stuck with me throughout the years. I didn’t crochet much after my grandmother passed away. For a while it brought back painful memories, plus, as a teen, it didn’t seem like the “cool” thing to do.
Fast forward about 10 years after my grandmother’s death, and I am expecting the arrival of my third child, my third baby boy. I remember buying a knit blanket for my second son and how much he loved it. I remember bundling him up in it during the first few months of his life and every time I did, all I could think was, I really wish I could make something like this. Around the same time, I started seeing so many cute crochet baby blankets on Pinterest. I knew I probably couldn’t make something like that without a lot of practice, but I determined to make a single crochet baby blanket for my third sweet baby.
I asked my mom to go to Hobby Lobby with me and help me pick out yarn. I’ll never forget I picked a fancy, artsy, boucle yarn. My mom warned me that it would be a little hard to work with for someone who hadn’t crocheted in a while, and never with a yarn like that. But I bought it anyway. I ended up having to go back to the store and buy a white size 4 regular yarn to work with the boucle because I couldn’t see my stitches – I had no clue what I was doing!
My first piece, my baby boy’s blanket, was definetely a starter piece. I remember feeling simultaneously proud and embarrassed – proud that I finished my first piece and it was actually something I could use, but embarrassed at how crooked it was, how sloppy my stitches were. I was also really disappointed because the double stranded nature of this project made this blanket very thick, nothing like the squishy and cuddly blanket I bought at Target for my second son, and, even though my third boy was born in January, this thick blanket was just too bulky to use like I used the machine-knit one. I ended up using the blanket more for tummy time on the floor. I finished the blanket in December 2010.
This is just about the only picture I got of this blanket. I didn’t even take pictures of my sweet baby with it.
I quickly progressed in my crochet skills, however, I was comitted to getting better with each project. In August 2011 (9 months after I made the not-so-great blanket for my son), I managed to create something I was really happy with for a friend’s new baby girl.
Then in March 2012, I finished my niece’s blanket. I was truly proud of it as I created my own border, and really enjoyed picking the colors for the blanket.
My niece was born 2 days after my daughter (and 4th baby) that year. Unfortunately, I never quite finished my baby girl’s blanket. It still upsets me to think about but it was a lesson learned. I had bought a few skeins of yarn to start her blanket with, but when I went back to get more, the yarn company had discontinued that particular color. I could have probably made a variation of what I wanted to but I struggle with a bit of perfectionism and just told myself I would start a new blanket. Well, life with four kids, five and under, got hectic fast and I never restarted her baby blanket.
The first few years of my crochet journey (the second time around) were hit or miss. In 2014 I opened my Etsy shop, and did a local craft fair. I did a lot of custom work and I got a lot of requests from people finding neat crochet things online and asking me to make those things for them. I undercut my profits in almost all cases in order to be “affordable” for customers.
Now that I have been crocheting for so long, I am seeing so many more options than seling finished products. I am excited about what the future holds for my crochet business. Currenlty I am developing 2 patterns to add to my blog for free. I can’t wait to share patterns and help others learn to crochet.
I am so glad to be here and I hope you are too… happy stitching!
