Jumping in

I was unsure about how to get started on this crochet journey I have recently embarked on and realized I may need some help, actual human help. One of my office mates suggested that I come to her clinical placement where there is a resident teaching her students how to crochet. Well that made my day! We set up a time for Friday, Oct 18 – however…the resident informed me that I would need all cotton wool and we would be making a dishcloth. Of course I think big and had already purchased enough yarn for an army tarp…but off I went to Micheals…again🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Just a few images of the rows and rows of yarn to choose from!

I was truly looking forward to my crochet “date” on Friday with Joyce, the crochet “expert”. When I arrived at Joyce’s apartment with my wool in hand she was very excited to meet me. I had recognized some of the students in the lobby and they gave me many words of encouragement. The first thing Joyce did was show me the perfectly square dishcloths that the students had all completed. That was going to be me! We sat on her couch and she taught me the chain stitch and the double crochet stitch. I worked so intently for about an hour, undoing if I wasn’t getting it right. What I ended up with was not quite like the students 🙈

Not giving up…

Friday evening I crocheted at home until my fingers hurt. Joyce has told me that I wanted to stick with dishcloths as an Afghan is too big of a project. The bigger the better has always been my motto so I’m not giving up on the Afghan dream quite yet.

Every evening as my husband watches baseball or his beloved maple leafs- I crochet. I am using this as my project practice piece and feel more confident each day.

This week my goals included taking the plunge and starting a project, feeling confident in one or two stitches and to fit in some de-stressing over this project. All completed!

As I reflect on my meeting with Joyce, I think about how different times for choosing crochet are different. Joyce is a long retired nurse who primarily only crochets dishcloths to give to family. She still uses the time to be productive and uses her hands to create. I want to complete bigger projects with my crochet, however I love to sit and still be productive. One interesting reflection is that the use of wool to practice didn’t bother me in the least, whereas Joyce couldn’t fathom not undoing all of the practice stitches and using the wool over again.

Goals for this week:

– Meet Joyce again on Friday to learn another stitch

– go to chapters to look at books on crochet

– learn how to include a video and a hyperlink in next weeks blog😊

– move on from the practice to the project

The last goal is to figure out where my fingers and hands should be. Sounds small- but it feels awkward holding the wool and I am having to readjust often to wrap the wool around my fingers.

Happy crocheting!