How it Started!
COVID was a time for a lot of people, myself included. At the time, I was living in Appleton, WI and as my job at the time was considered “essential” I went to work every day. I am fortunate that there was no time frame where I wasn’t working or was uncertain about if I would be able to work or even have a job, but everything else around me was shut down still in 2021. Restaurants, bars, movie theaters, anything fun you could think of doing, you couldn’t. I had already binged my fair share of shows on Hulu and Netflix (yes, I had a reason to watch One Tree Hill again, darn!) and read through all the Harry Potter books for the 4th time; I needed something new. I had never had any experience working with yarn in crochet or knitting except for a unit in 6th grade art class where we were supposed to make a scarf. That ended with an A for effort but a “I am never doing this again” comment from yours truly. To this day, I still can’t knit to save my life, but crochet on the other hand….
I don’t even know how I got started with it. Maybe I saw a video about it on Facebook but somehow I ended up on YouTube looking up “how to crochet” videos and watching a few basic starter videos. Next thing I knew I was at the local craft store purchasing my first skein of yarn and my first crochet hook. Initially, I started practicing by only making chains and figuring out how to adjust my grip and tension. Next thing I knew I was doing a simple single crochet, but I was happy with how it was going! The first project I ever made was a headband, and not to toot my own horn but it turned out pretty great! Before I knew it I had a decent yarn stash (probably one normal size Rubbermaid bin) of mostly acrylic and a few cotton yarns and I had taught myself to make dishcloths and can coozies!
Now I always say, if you can dream it, I can probably make it. But by that, I probably really mean if you can dream it, I’m sure someone else has too and there is a pattern out there somewhere that I can find and learn. I love finding other creators and making items using their patterns. There is so much talent out there and I love being part of this community. Maybe someday I’ll design my own patterns, but for now I am content with learning all the wonderful patterns already out there.
