My crochet beginning

Time to fill this blog up with some substance! I've got pictures of my latest project coming up in the next post, but first, I thought I'd put down a proper beginning to this blog.

Sometime in 2001 (summer? winter?), I became hit with the inexplicable urge to learn crochet. I say "inexplicable" because I am definitely not a handicrafty type of person, or artistic in any sense of the word, really. My hobbies have always been more cerebral or, rather, inside-my-headish; I'd never really gravitated towards activities where I actually produced something tangible.

But then again, I guess I come from crafting blood. My mother used to sew many of my clothes when I was a kid, both everyday kinds of playclothes and fancy frocks with oodles of smocking on the bodice. My Nanu (mom's mom) taught me how to knit when I was a little girl, and even today, spends hours crocheting fancy, fine-thread lace onto shawls and tupattas. And my dad tells me that his father (my Dada) used to crochet as well, mostly as a way to relieve stress.

Why did I choose to focus on crochet, instead of the more popular knitting? As I said previously, my Nanu taught me to knit, but it never really "stuck" until very recently. Somewhere, I got the impression that crochet would be easier, and on an impulse, bought some learn to crochet books from Amazon. I spent December 2001 in Bangladesh, and my Nanu gave me some hands-on lessons. Nonetheless, for a while, it seemed like crochet didn't "stick" either, and I put down my hooks for several years.

Blah blah blah. This explanation is taking too long, and possibly getting too schmaltzy. Long story short: I picked my crochet hooks back up in January 2004, bought myself a children's beginning crochet book, and finally managed to crochet myself a hat and a scarf in one evening. I was thoroughly amazed that I had actually MADE something that I could wear, and that feeling was good enough that I haven't looked back since.

Today, I crochet tons and tons and tons, with both thread and yarn. Additionally, with the aid of a good book, I FINALLY figured out how to knit for real this winter, and recently made my first pair of socks.

At this point, I've made my fill of flat, rectangular objects in single or double crochet. I'm ready to move on to more challenging things -- shaped garments, delicate laces, interestingly textured fabrics. I'm hoping that this blog will motivate me to push myself beyond my comfort zone.

So, here we go...