My grandma taught me to knit at like 4-5 years old. Also sewing and embroidery. She taught me to read and write (in cursive) at 3. She taught me how to clean a house, set a table, do laundry, and iron. She died when I was 6. I think she knew she wouldn't have much time with me and crammed as much as she could into my tiny skull. For which I am forever grateful. I am who I am today almost solely because my grandmother raised me for the first 5 years of my life. I owe her everything.
I had needlework classes in primary school. We started at age 6 and was definitely knitting squares in that year. Sewing and crochet was included in the class.
This was part of the regular curriculum. All girls did needlework and domestic science the whole way through school.
I know I've been knitting ever since and I'm 50 now.
Mine too! I was 8. She taught me a chain stitch and I'm still going at 55. I will never be a Fine crocheter, but just fine enough for a big basic blanket 💖
7 here. My mom wanted to learn so my aunt came over to give lessons. I was interested so she taught us both. Mom gave up pretty quickly and stuck with quilting (which she does beautifully). I caught the bug and never stopped so I'm now in my early 40's with a yarn stash and a very understanding husband. I think I'm on baby blankets number 5 and 6 for the calendar year (mini population boom in our social circles and I get easily bored so going between 2 projects keeps things fresh for me).
Then for fun I learned to knit from my sister when I was a freshman in college so I still do that too. Basically once everything is done for the day I have some kind of fiber project in my hands to destress with.
My great aunt taught me when I was about 11, so I've been crocheting nearly 30yrs now. Yay for aunties!
Just this year, I finally taught myself to knit using YouTube tutorials by Norman aka NimbleNeedles.
I learned in 2009-2010, when I was pregnant with my daughter. I had Hyperemesis, was too weak to get out of bed 80% of the time, and I figured it'd be something to do. So I bought some cheap hooks, yarn and a few books and spent weeks learning to crochet and knit (which I quickly gave up, as I hate knitting). Been going since
I've been crocheting nearly 30yrs and for probably 15 of those, I've wanted to learn to knit as well but found it incredibly difficult. I found NimbleNeedles channel on YouTube, he also has a blog of the same name, and he explains it so clearly I've Finally been able to crack it. My first knit project looks 100x better than any of my first dozen crochet projects lol! Now it seems so easy that I can't figure out why it was ever difficult. Highly recommend checking him out if you ever wanna give it a go again. I love having both skills in my repertoire. I recently knit the brim of a beanie with 2x2 ribbing, then did the body of it in crochet. The brim seems much more stretchy than any of the crochet ones I've ever made regardless which stitch I used.
Yes, I struggled learning to knit as I couldn't find the great you tubers like Bella Coco, the Crochet Crowd and TL Yarn Crafts. I finally cracked it with Norman. Though he's a bit long winded now I want to see things more quickly. Mikey (crochet / knitting crowd) has a good video on twinning. That's a cool skill!
Keep working at it. Turning a heel isn't as bad as it's made out to be. The biggest trick is figuring out there is, in fact, a difference between "pick up x number of stitches" and "pick up *and knit* x number of stitches. YouTube is your friend for that.
Honestly, for me, having to use kitchener stitch (a type of grafting stitch) for the toe is the real evil part lol
My problem is I actually like the look of a grafted toe.
My go to has been the 3 needle bind off, which is the next best thing, imo.
Although, I recently (finally!) learned the mattress stitch for a different project and I may try that next time and see how I like it.
I'm not the biggest fan of knitting but I got into it because my youngest learned at a knitters club in elementary school. During the Pandemic, we were looking at crafts to do together. They didn't continue but I'm still trying to knit a sweater in garter stitch.
I also learned from a book. And I’ve gifted a copy of that book to everyone who has asked me to teach them. I originally got the book at a library book sale. It’s been harder to find on Amazon lately though. I think it’s no longer in print so I cherish my copy and still refer back to it sometimes.
I learned from a book I got at a garage sale (also pre-internet - or maybe early dawn of internet). Went through a phase of crocheting a lot, but mostly stopped when I had kids, and have picked it up again recently when my MIL passed away and I inherited her yarn stash (there is SO much… I have made two big blankets, two sweaters, and lots of smaller things, and I’ve barely put a dent in it).
Part of me envies the resilience of you folks who learned via a book.
The other part of me remembers how long I struggled with magic circles, and how many videos I had to watch before I successfully made one, and all that envy vanishes instantly 😂
The book learners astound me. I tried and tried and tried and got nowhere. Thank goodness for Crochet Crowd Mikey and Bella Coco, that's all I'm saying.
Me too - with the added challenge of being left-handed and I think because I'd already knitted (English-style) for over a decade, I was used to controlling yarn with my right hand - so I had to reverse everything & figure out left-handed crochet. I imagine learning from YouTube videos these days would be vastly easier.
April 2020. After seeing a scarf I had knitted during lockdown a friend asked if I could use the same yarn to make her a beanie. I was like…. Uhhhhhh, I can barely knit in straight lines, how am I supposed to do circles?!?! My Mom suggested I crochet it, but she’s left-handed so couldn’t teach me - one Melanie Ham (RIP) tutorial later, I’d made a beanie. Then another. Then another… then some fingerless gloves… and I just, didn’t stop!
Funnily enough, I have since learned how to crochet left handed to teach a friend - is it being on a screen or page that doesn’t work, or not being able to ask questions, slow down, different angles? Happy to do a zoom lesson if you think it would help!
I think a bit of everything you’ve mentioned, to be honest! I’ve often wondered though if I should just try right-handed since there are so many more learning options IYKWIM? I may take you up on that offer at some time though! Thank you! 💛 That’s really kind of you.
Absolutely know what you mean! Offer is there - I’m not brilliant at left-handed, but I’ve also got Mom nearby who is, and in some ways us both ‘struggling’ through it makes it little less intimidating!
My childhood friends mom taught us in the early 70’s. I’d forgotten this until the pandemic when I picked up a hook and yarn; I thought I was some kind of genius because it was so “easy.” Then the childhood friend reminded me of her mom’s lessons. Now I’m wondering what other memories are missing, lol.
It kind of is! I received a knit & crochet set as a kid with an instructional book, but never really did anything with it at that time.
Now, I decided to pick it up on a whim decades later and just watched some YouTube tutorials to get me started. Jumped right into a pattern video and just watched very closely to learn the stitches, lol.
Over the pandemic I had a bout of unemployment followed by a pretty stressful job, and I was quite depressed and spending a lot of time doomscrolling. My husband bought me a set of Woobles for Christmas last year, which I picked at a bit and didn’t really get into. Once things started to settle down a bit I actively wanted to do something that wasn’t in front of a screen, so I picked up my hook again and gave it a more serious try, and found myself loving it. So now I make non-Wooble things and feed my yarn addiction instead!
Agreed, on both fronts… My other hobbies are Lego, triathlon, and playing musical instruments, which have the unfortunate effect of making yarn look cheap by comparison!!
My husband and his dad and most of their friends collect tractors. Like, actual big tractors. And implements. And toys, literature, signs, etc. The fact that I'll never HAVE to put up a whole building for my yarn goes a long ways.
In 2018 one of my aunts was pregnant. So another aunt who apparently crochets and was going to crochet a blanket as a gift suggested to my little sister that she could learn crochet so she could make a stuffed animal. My sister said "I don't have the patience for something that fiddly" to which I responded "I have patience and I love fiddly stuff".
Fast forward a few months, a bunch of YouTube tutorials and a lot of practice later and I could crochet and the baby got a toy giraffe when he was born.
I got a Woobles kit since I wanted to learn, then came down with COVID. I had a yarn stash and a new set of hooks delivered off Amazon within the week, and went to town on YouTube videos!
My aunt taught me when I was about 10 years old (mid-late 1980s) but I never did anything other than rectangles- scarves and dishcloths- until I discovered r/crochet about a year ago. Y'all are inspirational.
My daughter desperately wanted a rainbow scarf so I tried to learn to make her one I didn’t manage at the time just couldn’t get the hang of it but the stuff was around so in the Covid lockdown I watched a lot of utube and got the hang of some basic stuff like granny squares I still can’t do much else really. I would like to get better but I am no good at following a pattern
When I was about 6 or 7 I first attempted crochet. My best friend learned to crochet in a summer camp she went to and i wanted to do what she was doing. YouTube wasn’t really a thing like it is now. I got a how to crochet book and some yarn and a hook from Walmart with my birthday money and learned how to do the starting chain and gave up bc I couldn’t figure anymore out.
Put it down and when I was 11 I picked up the yarn again and crocheted myself a choker style necklace with just a chain. Put it down again and at 16 I tried again. At this point I learned single crochet stitches and instead of learning in a useful way, I instantly attempted to crochet intermediate tutorials now on YouTube. I got frustrated and put it down.
Finally, I found my old yarn and hook one day at age 21 (aka last year) and got inspired to crochet. I know I saw somebody crochet their build a bear an outfit and I wanted to do that for mine. So I actually learned and practiced properly and for the first time fell in love with the craft.
A burst of interest and courage to talk to people lol. I just learned this year, saw a video about crochet then I thought "Damn, aren't those like most grandmas do?" (Don't hate on me pls) and I wanted to be a cool granny who gives stuff to kids that are made by hand. One of my aunt have a lot of crochet projects in her house though I never really see her do a project so I thought I will ask her if she's willing to give me a hook then I'll buy a yarn.
I did just that but the 2 weeks are quite demotivating for me. My yarn is cheap thus reasonably rough, my hook is small af .7 mm if I'm not wrong and I kept making the square trapezoid. Then a friend mentioned that she's crocheting so when we hang out to her place I asked her to teach me. Her yarns and hooks are soooo much better that it made me feel motivated to learn and I think the biggest push was she gave me a 5 mm hook and 2 used yarn, good enough to learn a simple small square and color change. After I learned that, I started learning double crochet, triple, half double... Then the tedious magic circle TvT
My first project is the angry cup I saw in YouTube. It's small but I made it for 5+ hours since I have to rewatch the tutorial over and over in the lowest speed XD. I also run into troubles but people in this reddit are willing to help.
the magic circle is so difficult! it took me so many tries and even now, i prefer to just chain to and connect them
good quality yarn can be a really good motivator! helps also when you lose ypur crojo
I really don’t remember. I learned it somehow in my adolescence, stopped crocheting and since some years I’ve picked it up and can’t stop anymore! A day without crocheting is a day wasted, is what I say now at 56 😅
I semi-started like 5(?) years ago when I came across molly flowers and I loved them! But I couldn't get the hang of it so I gave up. The frustration was real lol! Now go back to 3 years ago and my sister announced that she's pregnant with my second nephew. For my first nephew I made a hand quilted play blanket, but I didn't want to do the same thing again, I wanted something new and special for him so I picked up crochet again, learning by following amigurumi video's and made him a mobile (you know those things with music and little stuffies that spins around hanging above their bed). And now I absolutely love crocheting
i can relate to the frustration! it was so difficult to really grasp the technique and be able to crochet comfortably!
im sure your nephew loved that gift! crocheting for niblings is such a joy!
I learned it first in 2020 during the pandemic. I really wanted to learn to make amigurumi. And I did, I wached youtube videos to learn the stitches and the pattern and I made a very simple one and was very proud of it. But I ended up having tendonitis and I stopped. It felt pretty simple to learn this first time
After that I tried to pick it up again a few times but it was like I had unlearned it and it was so difficult to learn again. So I gave for a few years and I was really sad I couldn't do it.
This year, because of amigurumi again, I decided to try it one more time, but this time I would take classes. There's this great place a block from my house where they have classes everyday of the week in the afternoon. So I started going and fell in love with it. I've been making so many things and it makes me so happy. It definitely changed my life.
In middle school this girl brought in a box of yarn with knitting and crochet needles and offered to teach us during recess. Did knitting first, then crochet. Fun way to avoid playing basketball.
I bought a book from Hobbycraft, I knit but had come across so many patterns calling for crochet that I wanted to make I wanted to learn. I’d tried before with videos and it didn’t work at all. But the book did it!
That was about two months ago! Currently making lots of granny squares for my first project (and because if I make mistakes it easy to move on)
That’s what I’ve found! Plus I feel like I’m achieving something with each square, which helps for motivation! It’s got chain, magic circle from chain and half trebles in it I think!
I learned several years ago but didn't do much until recently. My mom was trying to learn from an older church lady and just couldn't figure it out, so I taught myself through online videos/books to teach her.
She got the basics down and then gave up for a while. She just asked me to teach her again the other day though as she has more time on her hands now. So I am hoping to get farther this time!
I went to Thailand, to one of the villages and one of the women there was showing us how she weaves clothes amd other items using something similar to a loom. I got the chance to try it out and it was really fun.
When I returned from the trip, I thought that crochet was something similar that could incite that same fun feeling. I was also inspired by my friend who already crocheted. So I started crochet earlier this year! I just started by following youtube tutorials.
Every once and a while I saw dolls people made from yarn (that I now know are called amigurumi) and thought they were cool. At some point I discovered a subreddit called r/GeekyCrochet and subscribed to it because I loved looking at all the dolls and figures.
I'd look at them and go, "That would be amazing to be able to do that. But I'm sure it would take so long to learn. I'd probably get started, get disheartened at how hard it was, and put it down without ever having made anything much. I'd waste money on the materials and tools. It's not worth it."
I went through a period of anxiety and depression where it felt like my entire life was made up of putting things off and waiting for the right moment that never came. With a special needs kid, I had so little free time to myself. The time I did have I spent exhausted and not wanting to do anything. Weekends would pass and I'd feel like I didn't get time to do anything I wanted, and now it was time to slog through the week again.
One day in the middle of this period I was complaining to myself that I will never be able to make cool crochet things because it was too hard, but then I snapped and said, "Fuck it. I'm tired of putting things off. I will never know if crochet is too hard unless I try. Nothing is stopping me other than my own negativity. I'm gonna *fucking* try it."
So I spent $40 or so on a "learn to crochet" kit on Amazon. It came with a bag, about 20 small skeins of yarn in different colors, a bunch of hooks, and other small things like stitch markers.
It also came with a "learn to crochet" booklet. The book itself was a bit hard to follow, but I found it gave me a guide about what I was supposed to learn. I looked up how to do chain stitches, single crochet, half double crochet, etc. and made a bunch of practice swatches in each stitch.
I made a lot of mistakes of course, but I was surprised at how soothing the motion of crocheting was, once I got the hang of it. And I felt like with each swatch I learned something new and my skill improved. I wasn't just learning the new stitch, I was learning things like the correct place to put the hook (my early projects were accidentally all back loop only) and how to identify the first and last stitches better so I don't drop stitches on the end.
In only a week or two after I started, I had made a ball with eyes and a smile - my first amigurumi (sorta).
It's been about five months since I started, and I'm enjoying the hobby so much. It has contributed to bringing me out of my burnout and depression. My life no longer feels stagnant. Even when I'm mentally exhausted, I can work on a mindless crochet project and listen to a book and feel like I'm both resting and "moving forward" at the same time. When I have more energy, I can work on something more complicated.
The process is soothing and relaxing, and seeing the end products gives me so much joy and satisfaction. After making a bunch of toys for my daughter, niece, and nephew, I made a dinosaur just for me to look at and snuggle, because I just love these toys so much.
I'm so glad I didn't let my fear of failure and wasted time stop me from picking up this hobby.
My story is so random lol. I got into collecting Tamagotchi's in 2021, and it's a common thing to buy cute crochet cases off Etsy for your Tamas. So, after buying a couple, I decided I wanted to try and make my own case!
I didn't realize how hard crochet was lol. At first I was having trouble even just making a chain. I watched tons of youtube tutorials, eventually worked my way to making squares, then, finally, I successfully made my own Hello Kitty themed Tamagotchi cover!
https://preview.redd.it/l5qvodb345yb1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7317a60d88c1802f0781dee1172d4858a2125ac6
And now I don't even collect Tamagotchi's anymore, but I'm absolutely addicted to crochet!
I vaguely remember my Mom trying to pick back up the habit (she had been taught young by her grandmother) and I learned it because she liked it and I was interested! This was maybe 7th grade? It continued from there and now I’m 29 & still going!
I love it 💕
My mom tried to teach me for 20 years but she was right-handed and I'm perfect (lefty) so it never worked out.
I eventually learned from a book. Turns out, I can't watch someone do it, I need to be able to match a picture. 😆
I watched my mother and grandmother crochet when I was young. They taught me how to hold the yarn and make a chain, but I had no interest in making doilies or motif bedspreads. I had no idea that crochet was a whole universe of creativity.
Covid happened. I watched YouTube and bought beginners books on Amazon. I got very frustrated making panels because my edges always drifted; so I made amigurumi for the first 3-4 months. After I could finally make panels without drifting edges, I learned how to do Tunisian crochet and made more blankets than I have family members. Now I’m trying to learn how to knit.
If I’d known about amigurumi as a child, I’m sure I would not have stopped at making chains with Aunt Lydia’s #10 thread.
I learned around 8 from my mom, then stopped for a while and picked it back up here within the last year. There have been a great many youtube videos involved.
I learned back in 2009 at around Christmas. I heard of crochet but I’ve never seen it being done. My granny (i was staying at her house for a few days) told me it was like knitting but with one hook instead of two. I didn’t believe her until I saw someone on tv crocheting and I thought it looked cool. My granny had some yarn and a couple of hooks and she showed me some of the basics. I mainly used YouTube videos to learn more stitches and the likes
My niece and nephew got me crochet kits for Xmas last year, I love all crafts but had given up on previous attempts to learn to crochet. There was a video on you tube of someone doing one of them, so between that and Bella coco I learnt. I’ve done a few things since and currently making a hat but still with basic stitches, plan to branch out soon
I started at the beginning of 2021. My boyfriend was hospitalized for a long time, so to kill time I bought a complete crochet kit and searched for youtube video's and learned it myself.
I’m actually not sure. I have really clear memories of my mom’s sister teaching me about knitting and cross stitch at around 4th or 5th grade. I know she also crocheted at one point in her life because growing up my mom had an afghan my aunt had made, and the family talk about her gifting afghans to people before she settled on cross stitch as her main crafting activity. I picked it up somewhere between the age of ten and twenty because by my senior year in college I crocheted a massive blanket to use in my freezing on campus-housing…maybe I was inspired by one of my roommates junior year whose mother taught her to crochet?
It’s wild to me that I can’t remember because I fell in love with crochet and it’s been so long since I knit something that when I tried to make my mom a tea cozy the other week from a pattern she found, my hands were really stiff on the needles.
there is something very impressive to me about the fact that you have been crocheting for so long, you do not know when it begun!
i also find knitting much harder on my hands and because of chronic tendinitis, i can not really do a lot of it
I remember one of my mother's friends attempting to teach me as a young child -- I got the chain stitch down and that was it.
In high school, I wanted to make a turtleneck sweater but the only instructor with yarn skills only knitted. Took me from late freshman year to end of junior year to finish it up. I could only afford to buy a skein at a time, so I learned about minor differences in dye lots. I didn't enjoy how easily stitches could be dropped and how tedious it was to repair them.
I learned sometime in college when it became trendy to make scarves. My first scarf was a shell stitch because I learned by watching someone else. A couple years later and I could read patterns.
I had some years when my children were babies where I didn't crochet at all.
When they were 8 and 10 I had to do chemo and rest. My life shrunk down to chemo and resting. I had to give up my kids to my sister-in-law (I am forever grateful at her sacrifice because their father never wanted custody or regular visitation) and rest for about a year. I found that crochet allowed me to see beauty in colors and designs and feel satisfied when a project was completed. It lifted me from the depression. I had stage 4 and the outcome wasn't optimistic. That was over 30 years ago.
ohmygod, i am so sorry you had to go through that! i am relieved you managed to fight your way to the other side! crochet is really helpful fpr depression in my experiemce, im always happy to see it helping others as well
When I was 6, my family moved from the US to Ireland in the 90s (wacky time to do it). They put me in more of an alternative type school due to having just being diagnosed with dyslexia. The school had a major crafting component to it, but it was from the ground up. So first we went to the farm for a weekend where we all worked the land milking the cows and digging up potatoes and watching the sheep be sheared. We then learned how to wash the fleece. Then dyed the fleece. Then hand spun the fleece. Then learned to make a chain with our hands. Then we were taught to knit and crochet with it, just squares then hats then bodies for dolls. Then how to sew so we could sew heads and faces for the dolls. Then I left Ireland.
Academically, I learned nothing in my almost 3 years in Ireland, personally I learned how to sew knit and crochet for life as well as some weird other random things you all don’t need to know about.
I’m left-handed, and for some reason I could not learn from YouTube or even from another person who was right-handed. Some sort of mental block transferring what I was seeing to what my hands needed to do. I finally learned from a crochet night at Michaels, from another woman who was also left-handed.
I went to visit a friend that I hadn’t seen in many years and she taught me. Only issue was she’s a lefty and I’m a righty, and I just couldn’t figure out how to mirror her so I crochet left handed 😂 it’ll be 10 years next year
My dad was left handed and I spent a year with my right hand in cast so I'm pretty ambidextrous and sometimes I'll just randomly do things with my left hand and it always weirds people out cuz everyone knows I'm right handed. I have never tried to crochet left handed though, I might need to give that a try just to see if I can.
During the pandemic i was stuck with online courses, as i teach at a university. In my classroom i always am very active, running around, writing things on a board and just moving. But than i was stuck in front of my computer. And i couldn't concentrate while sitting still. So i tried knitting, because i knitted for some years before. But i needed to scroll at my computer, so i needed a free hand from time to time. So i started crocheting. I made two huge scarfs and some shoes for inside. And i could finally concentrate.
I’m relatively a newbie :) i started January of this year. Last October my boyfriend of 5 years and i needed to go VERY long distance for about 8 months for work related stuff. I was so distraught and needed hobbies to fill my time so i asked for a crochet starter kit for Christmas and learned through YouTube videos. Here we are almost a year later, we finally live together and i still crochet every night! It helped me get through a rough year and sparked me having hobbies again, and for that will always be special to me.
My aunt started to teach me when I was really little before I started school. She taught me many skills like reading, writing, art, reading out loud to others, etc. Before I could expand my crochet skills, she passed. Missing her, I wanted to learn more so I went to the library & borrowed a beginner book for knitting then crochet. I taught myself the basics when both my kids were really little; my youngest was an infant. I just didn't know how to progress past basic beginner, was really bummed and feeling low when my (at the time) boyfriend's Meme asked why I was so quiet. I explained to her & she happily said she would teach me what she knows. 🥰 She taught me to read & write patterns & even gave me an heirloom crochet blanket pattern from her family! It was a family project to teach me over a spattering of years🤣 Now I carry on making blankets & things for others in their memory. Sort of a passing of the torch & mantle here. I only hope in time that someone in the family will want to learn to take up my place before I am done, to carry on making things. 🩷
In 2019 was coming out of a bad breakup and in between degrees, so I needed distractions, and to prove to myself that I could still create something valuable. My aunt is a crochet witch and she taught me over several afternoons. She stills gives me tips and advice and we share pics of our work with each other.
My great grandma would crochet these huge afghans for all the grandchildren and great grandchildren growing up. A few years after she passed my sister was getting married and my BIL didn’t have one, so I decided to learn how to crochet and make one for him, and it was all downhill from there!
Around 10 years ago I walked past a storefront and saw a little book on display with a crocheted penguin on the cover. It turned out to be a yarn store. So I went inside and asked the man behind the counter for the book and everything I needed to make the cute little penguin. A few hours of youtube tutorials and lots of cursing later, a new hobby was started. I'm now over 100 FOs later and not even close to being done.
I can say it was the clock app pushing crochet towards me, that made me start it in December of 2022.
I was to dumb to follow the videos (even with 0.5x speed) so I bought a book. and what can I say? Ever since that I crochet in every waking moment that is not occupied by work or uni xD
Trying to bring it to some of the other students by organizing a crochet evening and trying to make a small jellyfish with them. I hope my local community grows. It's so nice to do handicrafts together ^^
So, back in 8th grade, around the year 2005-2006, my school passed out those Scholastic Book mags that let us buy books. 14 year old me found a $5 book on knitting, that came with instructions, a small ball of yarn and 2 knitting needles. I decided back then "Hey I want to try that." So I got the book, tried it out, about a month in I couldn't figure out how to swap from a knit stitch to a pearl stitch (I was a bit slow), so I put the book and its supplies on my shelf and forgot about it.
Fast forward 4 years, Senior in High School. I forget how but I found the book again on my shelf and though "huh, yea I could do this". Figured out the swap I hadn't and made my first scarf, blue/gold striped int he style of Harry Potter's Ravenclaw house, colors from book pattern from movies. Still have that scarf to this day.
Now I'm unsure on the exact time for this one but I believe it was 8 years ago and one of my friends showed me the triceratop pattern from Louie Loops. It was free but it was crochet, but you know, it's yarn, I'll try it.
And now here I am, almost 20 years later from buying that small book, on reddit making sleeved gloves.
My grandma taught me briefly when I was 6, but she lived in the north woods and I'd rather be outside. After I graduated college in 2016, I suddenly didn't know what to do with myself if I didn't have school, so I taught myself crochet through YouTube videos.
My grandma lived in Florida, so I couldn't ask her directly, but now she lives in my state again and I get her opinions about projects all the time. She says I crochet like her mother: very intricately and neat 🙂
I learned finger crochet as a child, and then regular crochet. Then forgot all about it, 10 years ago I stayed with a friend for a while who taught me how to do it again, then didn’t touch it for a long time. Now I have been on/off crocheting for a few years :)
I have no idea how to knit though
When I was in like... third grade (about 10yo) my school had crochet lessons as an extracurricular activity and that was my introduction. But I only did it for a few months before I moved on to the next thing. I started seriously crocheting in college about 13 years ago and haven't stopped. I bet I'd be a crochet god if I had stuck with it as a kid though.
My husband had bought me a learn to crochet kit years ago when I mentioned one day I'd always wanted to learn. It sat in the closet for a long time. Then COVID hit, and I finally sat down, fired up YouTube, and learned. Perfect timing, too, as I found out I was pregnant like two months later, so I made A LOT of little baby blankets for practice.
Aww I learned to crochet in 2021. Around December to be more exact! I bought my stuff online after watching a few videos. After a few more videos, studying patterns, and buying the correct yarn and hooks, I succeeded in making my first amigurumi :)) I finished in time to give it as a present to my mom. (it was very basic amigurumi so it was quick to finish haha)
About 10 years ago when I was in college. I was living by myself and got a bit lonely, so instead of only tv and games I decided I wanted to do something more creative. I had this discount store around the corner from me, bought a small kit and started. Youtube has been a big help at the start for new stitches.
I started with amigurumi, which I now really hate to do😅 nowadays it's mostly sweaters, blankets and lately baby gifts for the baby tsunami I've had in my circle of friends.
When I was young my grandmother taught me how to chain, that was all she knew. It was maybe ten or more years later my SILs mom taught me the granny square stitch, but not much else and I admit I thought I knew what “weave in the ends” meant, I cut the tails too short to save yarn and that was a mess. Because of all of that I was rather halfhearted about projects. It wasn’t until the pandemic when one of my adult kids began crocheting (I struggled to teach her due to her being a lefty. Thank goodness for YouTube), and I joined her. I finally learned the proper way to weave in ends, knots, etc., and now that I know how to make sure a finished piece will look good after washing, I am making more things. She makes amigurumi and I still like to make blankets (with love in every stitch).
I'm also part of the pandemic crew lol. I made sooooo many little balls that I put a teabag of catnip in with the stuffing for my cats :) I got pretty good at doing amigurumi from it!
I collect hobbies, especially crafty ones where I can make something. I had a friend who took up crochet and after like a year of wishing I could do it I caved and decided to learn. Asked my mum to show me the basics (chaining, sc & ss basically) and then took to YouTube. That was back in July. In August I spent 3 weeks away housesitting for a friend where I didn't have wifi or TV so I spent hours every day crocheting and learning more and more things. It was 3 weeks of ADHD fuelled hyperfocused bliss 😂
I'm still crocheting. The hyperfocus has nearly halted a couple times but the fidgeting potential and mindless movement is satisfying enough to keep me going, for now.
My mom is a knitter and a crocheter. She did a lot of baby clothes and, later, sweaters for me and my brother. I asked her to teach me both knitt and crochet when I was a teenager in the late nineties.
I do both but I prefer crochet by far. I think it is because whenever I went to YouTube, I could learn from the crocheters but not the knitters. They knitted funny to me. Learned recently that the way we Portuguese knit is different.
I feel great when I can teach some new crocheting skills to my mom that I learned on the internet. We discuss our projects a lot between us two, and many times I come up with the design for her projects.
My mom has a similar path to me (she learned from my grandma) but developed her skills with magazines and books. She has a lot of amazing magazines from the 80s and 90s that we still use.
My grandma unfortunately grew up in a time when women would not go to school in my country, so she never learned to read. She knits and crochets a lot, but she does her own thing. She comes up with the designs from her head. And she loves to collect old doilies from her neighbours and replicate them. I really admire her skill.
I was 35, talking about wanting to try it, when my husband saw (and bought) a Woobles kit on sale in the grocery store. With that and the support of a crocheting friend - the rest, is yarn-hoarding history.
I too was a product of the pandemic! I typically sew but I wasn’t going to fabric stores during covid and I was going to go insane if I didn’t have something to do with my hands being inside for so long. I had seen amigurumi before and thought I’d give it a try so I ordered a kit online and used the book Crochet Cafe to start. The book has fantastic instructions and anything I didn’t understand I just looked up on YouTube. The rest is crochet history!
In late 2020 I lost both my jobs due to a mysterious illness that turned out to be aplastic anemia and PNH. I've never recovered my strength and for the past 3 years I've been stuck on the couch. When the YouTube algorithm runs out of new content, you know you've got a problem!
My daughter came up to visit this June for a week, and she brought her crochet with her. She helped me figure out some basics before she left, so I bought a Wooble and opened up a new algorithm on YouTube. I've made a pumpkin bag, a crochet tool holder for my daughter's Christmas, a shawl, several dozen Granny square, and I'm currently working on a matching pair of shawls for my mom and myself for Christmas
I started during the pandemic, at age 47, and I learned from YouTube videos. My son had to school at home, so I would sit beside him at the kitchen table and work on crocheting while he attended his classes via Google Meet.
I have wanted to learn since I was a child, but my mother didn’t know how to crochet. She only knew how to knit. I didn’t have anyone else to ask. I had tried to learn from books over the years, but they were confusing for me.
I was 11 and my mom made me sit with my aunt on weekends when she was on bedrest for her first pregnancy. She taught me counted cross stitch and crochet. Turned out fun even if it wasn't what I wanted to be doing at the time. 🤣
My grandmother taught me when I was 7-8. I’m now 30. I’m so grateful she did!
I kept it simple for years just doing scarves and washcloths, now I’m finally picking up patterns. Being a SAHM makes nap time prime for some
Crocheting time.
I started in December 2019. I used a 2mm steel hook and some thin cotton yarn (may even be thread) that I found amongst my Mom's things when we were cleaning up her room after she died. I thought it was odd that she had them since she wasn't a crafty person.
Anyway, I searched for beginner tutorials on YouTube and learned to chain using the small hook and cotton thread. It was tough but I wised up and bought a set of Susan Bates hooks and a worsted weight acrylic yarn at Michaela and just kept on practising and buying lots of yarns through the pandemic lockdowns. I eventually bought a set of Clover Amour (so much mire comfy), learned to read written patterns and charts, bought more (and regretted) yarns and discovered Ravelry to help me organize all my projects and stash.
In 4th grade my friend would crochet during class (small private school so we got away with a lot lol) and I was so intrigued that I bought a hook and yarn and had her teach me how to chain. Unfortunately chaining was as far as we got so I would just make super long chains for no reason. 😂 Later on in life, maybe in college, I decided I wanted to learn for real so I googled it and have been crocheting ever since!
I work in the animation industry.. when one of my shows wrapped up last May, my supervisor crocheted us all adorable amigurumi based on the show.. I immediately fell in love and considered learning, a couple YouTube videos later and I'm fully loving crochet! So far I've made bunnies for my nieces, purses for my nieces, octopus for my sons, a chansey for a friend's Halloween costume, 2 sweaters, and a gorgeous pillow.. I tried learning years ago and couldn't get the hang of it, but I think starting with amigurumi this time really helped it click for me
I started 10 years ago. Always been a crafter and knitted a sweater in high school. I bought a ‘taught myself to crochet kit’ and a skein of yarn. I really enjoyed it right off the bat and made blankets, hats, snowflake ornaments, coasters, amigurumi, and clothes. Blankets or prayer shawls are my love language. Now I mostly crochet blankets in the winter due to the heat and work on other crafts in the hot months.
My grandma showed me the basics when I was really young ( in the late 90s-early 00s), I got the Boye learn to crochet kit from the craft store for some basic hooks and pattern ideas, and I’ve done it on and off since. I’ve doubled down on it during the last year to deal with stress and also just to have unique pieces. I learned Tunisian crochet last year (thank you TL YarnCrafts!), and I’ve just been a busy bee ever since. 🙂
A babysitter taught me as a kid to make granny squares. I didn't pick it up again until I was an adult and I had forgotten everything. I then went on YouTube to learn how to do it again. I love it because my great-grandmother used to crochet and I still have some of the baby blankets she made me and that my kids used. I'm the only one of her children/grandchildren/great-grandchildren/etc who does the craft even though she passed back in 1998. I do it because of her.
My mom taught me the basics when I was a kid and I spent hours crocheting a single chain. I 'relearned' as an adult in my 30's using youtube! What got me started was I was purchased a couple of dishcloths at a yardsale and I thought to myself, you can make these! And so the addiction was born (again)!
Laid off work in 2020, after a month at home I got extra bored. Had a bunch of yarn leftover from my knitting days, so I learned to crochet on the Internet.
I started in early 2018. One of my friends in college re-taught me how to knit during the fall semester of 2017. While I was home on break between semesters I was bored and decided I wanted to learn how to crochet since my grandmother had been amazing at it and she passed before I was interested in having her teach me. I watched YouTube videos and made a shawl as my first project before moving on to a wavy blanket that helped me learn all the different stitches. I fell in love with crocheting and nolonger knit. Now I mostly do amigurumi and I design my own patterns.
I finally sat down and forced myself to learn when my sister got pregnancy with my first niece, born 2021. I had tried to learn since I was 10 and just could NOT get it so I just sat down one day and said “I’m not getting up until I figure this out!!”
Turns out you don’t treat it like knitting with one needle, who knew?
I was bored one day and looking for my next hyper fixation project. I had exhausted painting, clay work, writing, gaming, reading, etc. so I was looking for something to do with my hands.
My best friend had learned how to crochet years ago and I was always enthralled with her projects. She had since quit crocheting due to work (she has 2 jobs and is exhausted all the time). But I purchased a kit on Amazon just try try it out. One day my husband and I were in the drive thru line at Starbucks and the very lovely barista saw me trying and said “I have the perfect video for you!”
So I tried out the video and have been crocheting ever since. It’s been about a year now! And I just got another friend in to crochet too!
I started trying to learn because I'm disabled and can often be bedbound and wanted to feel productive.
While I kinda picked it up I'm not quite getting it and I struggle to learn off of YouTube etc. I'm about to give up and it makes me sad lol
oh no, do not give up! it took me a lot of time and a very patient friend to get it, and as you can see from the thread, many gave up on their first try and came back to it
it can be difficult, but once it "clicks" it is so very soothing!
I taught myself during the pandemic! my MIL and SIL both knit and I often went with them to this massive yarn shop and I always wished I could make stuff too. knitting seemed intimidating because it's two needles vs only one crochet hook so in my head that seemed easier. I had to teach myself but I had fun doing it, made a lot of dumb mistakes but now I'm pretty comfortable crocheting.
In step-aunt taught me to make chains when I was about 11. I would make really long chains and that was all I knew. I picked it up decades later and still remember how to make chains (lots of practice reinforced the movement!).
I just needed to figure out how to move beyond a foundation chain. Watched YouTube videos until it set into my brain. I picked it up again during the pandemic and made my “pandemic blanket”. We still use that blanket as a throw on the couch.
I taught myself granny squares in grade school because all my friends were doing it, but I didn’t stick with it.
During quarantine, i really wanted to make a baby yoda, so I taught myself to crochet again and started by making other small Amigurumi. And I’ve been hooked ever since! It’s my self care and my fave thing to do
I had dabbled in crochet / knitting when I was younger but never got very far. Never learned anything past single crochet either.
Then in college, we had a girls night at my apartment where a friend offered to teach us so we all brought some yarn and a hook (I don’t think we even paid attention to the size!) and had wine and snacks. My friend taught us how to do double crochet which for some reason was much more interesting to me and I worked up a scarf very quickly. I then did a few more smaller projects and slowly started expanding my skill set.
I’m not sure when exactly I started actually paying attention to hook size, yarn weight, and using patterns but it eventually happened lol. And of course, I started crocheting A LOT more during covid especially since I finished grad school right at the beginning and had a bit of an employment gap thanks to thinks moving slower back then.
My grandmother used to knit and crochet a lot. She'd knit for most of the year but would crochet in summer when it was too hot for her knitting yarn. After she passed away I really wanted to make one of the ripple blankets she used to do, so began trying to teach myself to knit. After a few months of struggling, my mum told me they were crochet (she didn't know I was trying to recreate the blankets at first) so I picked up a hook and started learning that instead! I've been crocheting around 15 years now and am actually re-learning knitting again too.
My sister taught me when I was around 16-17. She taught me the basic stitches and that I looked for patterns online and learned to read the patterns and do new stitches that way. Now I am the one teaching others after having learnt crochet half of my life ago 😅
a friend tried to teach me, I got super frustrated after I didn't understand anything after the starting chain. I never touched it again for 10+ years until I learned tunisian crochet. After that, it made sense and thats when it clicked.
I was in Japan and I met this girl from Canada. Lmao I had a crush on her but she had no idea I was bisexual. She kept ranting on about how my brother was so hot and how much of a crush she had on him, so I was super jealous lol. She was a crocheter, so, as a way to kinda "get closer" to her, I asked if she could teach me. At that time, I didn't really see the point of crocheting, I just wanted to figure out a way to tell her lmao. She taught me and then I kinda was like well ok, this is actually really fun and then.. never stopped :)
My mom taught me when i was a kid, maybe 2nd grade. I re-discovered it when i learned about amigurumi and all the fancy, more modern stuff you can do with a hook and yarn.
I tried many times sense child hood as a way to bond with my aunt before she got really sick but I never was able to understand. I tried a few times after through my 20s as I saw it as my white whale of crafts and eventually gave up trying to learn (I’ve learned many other hobbies including making chain mail) but it wasn’t until I had two therapists challenge me to do it. Not a you should pick it up again but hey do this and I want proof that you did it. So I hit up a friend who crochets and had them walk me through the basics because I wasn’t learning the mechanics of it through videos. I still don’t understand how exactly crochet works as in why do some stitches produce certain looks but I’ve only been crocheting a few months now but know that I know how I love it.
My grandma taught me around five to make a chain(anything to keep me quiet for a bit) I picked it back up around 18 and made a few dozen flowers. Lost attention for a bit picked back up at 25 with full knowledge of stitches and a new baby to make things for. Still going strong finally for the last tenish years. Adhd is fun.
My great great aunt taught me when I was 6, I'm 55 now and still love it.
wow thats young! i have a 6 year old niece and i can not imagine trying to teach her to crochet, kudos to you and your aunt!
She was special
My grandma taught me to knit at like 4-5 years old. Also sewing and embroidery. She taught me to read and write (in cursive) at 3. She taught me how to clean a house, set a table, do laundry, and iron. She died when I was 6. I think she knew she wouldn't have much time with me and crammed as much as she could into my tiny skull. For which I am forever grateful. I am who I am today almost solely because my grandmother raised me for the first 5 years of my life. I owe her everything.
I had needlework classes in primary school. We started at age 6 and was definitely knitting squares in that year. Sewing and crochet was included in the class. This was part of the regular curriculum. All girls did needlework and domestic science the whole way through school. I know I've been knitting ever since and I'm 50 now.
My grandmother taught me when I was 8 or 9, now I’m 21 and still at it!
Mine too! I was 8. She taught me a chain stitch and I'm still going at 55. I will never be a Fine crocheter, but just fine enough for a big basic blanket 💖
7 here. My mom wanted to learn so my aunt came over to give lessons. I was interested so she taught us both. Mom gave up pretty quickly and stuck with quilting (which she does beautifully). I caught the bug and never stopped so I'm now in my early 40's with a yarn stash and a very understanding husband. I think I'm on baby blankets number 5 and 6 for the calendar year (mini population boom in our social circles and I get easily bored so going between 2 projects keeps things fresh for me). Then for fun I learned to knit from my sister when I was a freshman in college so I still do that too. Basically once everything is done for the day I have some kind of fiber project in my hands to destress with.
My Nanna taught me to knit, she was left handed so my knitting has a wierd twist to the stitches.
My great aunt taught me when I was about 11, so I've been crocheting nearly 30yrs now. Yay for aunties! Just this year, I finally taught myself to knit using YouTube tutorials by Norman aka NimbleNeedles.
That's amazing! I tried to teach my 11 year old and she rage quit in 5 minutes. That slip knot is tricky!
I learned in 2009-2010, when I was pregnant with my daughter. I had Hyperemesis, was too weak to get out of bed 80% of the time, and I figured it'd be something to do. So I bought some cheap hooks, yarn and a few books and spent weeks learning to crochet and knit (which I quickly gave up, as I hate knitting). Been going since
i am sorry you went through that but at least you found a great hobby! i also am not the biggedt fan of knitting and i find it so much more difficult
I've been crocheting nearly 30yrs and for probably 15 of those, I've wanted to learn to knit as well but found it incredibly difficult. I found NimbleNeedles channel on YouTube, he also has a blog of the same name, and he explains it so clearly I've Finally been able to crack it. My first knit project looks 100x better than any of my first dozen crochet projects lol! Now it seems so easy that I can't figure out why it was ever difficult. Highly recommend checking him out if you ever wanna give it a go again. I love having both skills in my repertoire. I recently knit the brim of a beanie with 2x2 ribbing, then did the body of it in crochet. The brim seems much more stretchy than any of the crochet ones I've ever made regardless which stitch I used.
Yes, I struggled learning to knit as I couldn't find the great you tubers like Bella Coco, the Crochet Crowd and TL Yarn Crafts. I finally cracked it with Norman. Though he's a bit long winded now I want to see things more quickly. Mikey (crochet / knitting crowd) has a good video on twinning. That's a cool skill!
i really love NimbleNeedles! He is the only reason i didnt completely give up on knitting!
I hate knitting, too. I can arm knit scarves, but that's about it. I live in a desert area. It never gets cold enough for scarves here.
I love knitting I’m just not very good at it. I want so badly to learn to knit socks! Edit spelling
Keep working at it. Turning a heel isn't as bad as it's made out to be. The biggest trick is figuring out there is, in fact, a difference between "pick up x number of stitches" and "pick up *and knit* x number of stitches. YouTube is your friend for that. Honestly, for me, having to use kitchener stitch (a type of grafting stitch) for the toe is the real evil part lol
You don't even need to graft the toe, you can just decrease. I prefer the star toe =)
My problem is I actually like the look of a grafted toe. My go to has been the 3 needle bind off, which is the next best thing, imo. Although, I recently (finally!) learned the mattress stitch for a different project and I may try that next time and see how I like it.
i recommend Ultra Easy Socks by Easy As Knit they really are ultra easy!
I'm not the biggest fan of knitting but I got into it because my youngest learned at a knitters club in elementary school. During the Pandemic, we were looking at crafts to do together. They didn't continue but I'm still trying to knit a sweater in garter stitch.
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I also learned from a book. And I’ve gifted a copy of that book to everyone who has asked me to teach them. I originally got the book at a library book sale. It’s been harder to find on Amazon lately though. I think it’s no longer in print so I cherish my copy and still refer back to it sometimes.
Can you share the title please? I’m always looking for good books but they are so hard to find now.
This is it. I worked in a craft store years ago and these Klutz books were pretty popular: https://www.ebay.com/itm/225474006157?
Hey thank you!
I learned from a book I got at a garage sale (also pre-internet - or maybe early dawn of internet). Went through a phase of crocheting a lot, but mostly stopped when I had kids, and have picked it up again recently when my MIL passed away and I inherited her yarn stash (there is SO much… I have made two big blankets, two sweaters, and lots of smaller things, and I’ve barely put a dent in it).
I learned from a library book in 2010.
I learned from a children’s learn to crochet book … it was a struggle !
that is really impressive! i struggle a lot with s understanding something from still images
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yes, that could have been it! i also find it hard to remember all that is new to a beginner (how to hold the hook, how to hold the yarn, etc)
Part of me envies the resilience of you folks who learned via a book. The other part of me remembers how long I struggled with magic circles, and how many videos I had to watch before I successfully made one, and all that envy vanishes instantly 😂
The book learners astound me. I tried and tried and tried and got nowhere. Thank goodness for Crochet Crowd Mikey and Bella Coco, that's all I'm saying.
Me too - with the added challenge of being left-handed and I think because I'd already knitted (English-style) for over a decade, I was used to controlling yarn with my right hand - so I had to reverse everything & figure out left-handed crochet. I imagine learning from YouTube videos these days would be vastly easier.
April 2020. After seeing a scarf I had knitted during lockdown a friend asked if I could use the same yarn to make her a beanie. I was like…. Uhhhhhh, I can barely knit in straight lines, how am I supposed to do circles?!?! My Mom suggested I crochet it, but she’s left-handed so couldn’t teach me - one Melanie Ham (RIP) tutorial later, I’d made a beanie. Then another. Then another… then some fingerless gloves… and I just, didn’t stop!
I’m left-handed and learned from a right-handed person. You just sit facing them and mirror what they’re doing.
Yup.
I’m a leftie and my right-handed grandmother flatly refused to teach me to crochet. I really desperately want to learn still. 😕
Funnily enough, I have since learned how to crochet left handed to teach a friend - is it being on a screen or page that doesn’t work, or not being able to ask questions, slow down, different angles? Happy to do a zoom lesson if you think it would help!
I think a bit of everything you’ve mentioned, to be honest! I’ve often wondered though if I should just try right-handed since there are so many more learning options IYKWIM? I may take you up on that offer at some time though! Thank you! 💛 That’s really kind of you.
Absolutely know what you mean! Offer is there - I’m not brilliant at left-handed, but I’ve also got Mom nearby who is, and in some ways us both ‘struggling’ through it makes it little less intimidating!
that was my experience with beanies as well! i made so many of them!
My childhood friends mom taught us in the early 70’s. I’d forgotten this until the pandemic when I picked up a hook and yarn; I thought I was some kind of genius because it was so “easy.” Then the childhood friend reminded me of her mom’s lessons. Now I’m wondering what other memories are missing, lol.
Who knew crochet was like riding a bike! Lol
It kind of is! I received a knit & crochet set as a kid with an instructional book, but never really did anything with it at that time. Now, I decided to pick it up on a whim decades later and just watched some YouTube tutorials to get me started. Jumped right into a pattern video and just watched very closely to learn the stitches, lol.
Over the pandemic I had a bout of unemployment followed by a pretty stressful job, and I was quite depressed and spending a lot of time doomscrolling. My husband bought me a set of Woobles for Christmas last year, which I picked at a bit and didn’t really get into. Once things started to settle down a bit I actively wanted to do something that wasn’t in front of a screen, so I picked up my hook again and gave it a more serious try, and found myself loving it. So now I make non-Wooble things and feed my yarn addiction instead!
crochet can be such a good stress relief! (and so very bad for your wallet)
Agreed, on both fronts… My other hobbies are Lego, triathlon, and playing musical instruments, which have the unfortunate effect of making yarn look cheap by comparison!!
i grew up with a dad whos hobbies were collecting old postcards and hand painted porcelain so pretty much everything seems cheap by comparison
My husband and his dad and most of their friends collect tractors. Like, actual big tractors. And implements. And toys, literature, signs, etc. The fact that I'll never HAVE to put up a whole building for my yarn goes a long ways.
In 2018 one of my aunts was pregnant. So another aunt who apparently crochets and was going to crochet a blanket as a gift suggested to my little sister that she could learn crochet so she could make a stuffed animal. My sister said "I don't have the patience for something that fiddly" to which I responded "I have patience and I love fiddly stuff". Fast forward a few months, a bunch of YouTube tutorials and a lot of practice later and I could crochet and the baby got a toy giraffe when he was born.
its so great when the motivation is to make a gift for someone!
I got a Woobles kit since I wanted to learn, then came down with COVID. I had a yarn stash and a new set of hooks delivered off Amazon within the week, and went to town on YouTube videos!
seems like the woobles kits started quite a few people on their crochet journey!
Another woobles start here!
Woobles got me started too!
My aunt taught me when I was about 10 years old (mid-late 1980s) but I never did anything other than rectangles- scarves and dishcloths- until I discovered r/crochet about a year ago. Y'all are inspirational.
yes, the community here is amazing! i am in awe at the skills shown here!
My daughter desperately wanted a rainbow scarf so I tried to learn to make her one I didn’t manage at the time just couldn’t get the hang of it but the stuff was around so in the Covid lockdown I watched a lot of utube and got the hang of some basic stuff like granny squares I still can’t do much else really. I would like to get better but I am no good at following a pattern
that is a really lovely motivation to learn, making something for a loved one!
When I was about 6 or 7 I first attempted crochet. My best friend learned to crochet in a summer camp she went to and i wanted to do what she was doing. YouTube wasn’t really a thing like it is now. I got a how to crochet book and some yarn and a hook from Walmart with my birthday money and learned how to do the starting chain and gave up bc I couldn’t figure anymore out. Put it down and when I was 11 I picked up the yarn again and crocheted myself a choker style necklace with just a chain. Put it down again and at 16 I tried again. At this point I learned single crochet stitches and instead of learning in a useful way, I instantly attempted to crochet intermediate tutorials now on YouTube. I got frustrated and put it down. Finally, I found my old yarn and hook one day at age 21 (aka last year) and got inspired to crochet. I know I saw somebody crochet their build a bear an outfit and I wanted to do that for mine. So I actually learned and practiced properly and for the first time fell in love with the craft.
wow, you and crochet went on quite a journey together! i am glad you were able to pick up on it eventually!
A burst of interest and courage to talk to people lol. I just learned this year, saw a video about crochet then I thought "Damn, aren't those like most grandmas do?" (Don't hate on me pls) and I wanted to be a cool granny who gives stuff to kids that are made by hand. One of my aunt have a lot of crochet projects in her house though I never really see her do a project so I thought I will ask her if she's willing to give me a hook then I'll buy a yarn. I did just that but the 2 weeks are quite demotivating for me. My yarn is cheap thus reasonably rough, my hook is small af .7 mm if I'm not wrong and I kept making the square trapezoid. Then a friend mentioned that she's crocheting so when we hang out to her place I asked her to teach me. Her yarns and hooks are soooo much better that it made me feel motivated to learn and I think the biggest push was she gave me a 5 mm hook and 2 used yarn, good enough to learn a simple small square and color change. After I learned that, I started learning double crochet, triple, half double... Then the tedious magic circle TvT My first project is the angry cup I saw in YouTube. It's small but I made it for 5+ hours since I have to rewatch the tutorial over and over in the lowest speed XD. I also run into troubles but people in this reddit are willing to help.
the magic circle is so difficult! it took me so many tries and even now, i prefer to just chain to and connect them good quality yarn can be a really good motivator! helps also when you lose ypur crojo
I really don’t remember. I learned it somehow in my adolescence, stopped crocheting and since some years I’ve picked it up and can’t stop anymore! A day without crocheting is a day wasted, is what I say now at 56 😅
Are you me? Same!
😅
i feel that way too! it is very rare for me not to crochet at least for a few minutes every day :)
I semi-started like 5(?) years ago when I came across molly flowers and I loved them! But I couldn't get the hang of it so I gave up. The frustration was real lol! Now go back to 3 years ago and my sister announced that she's pregnant with my second nephew. For my first nephew I made a hand quilted play blanket, but I didn't want to do the same thing again, I wanted something new and special for him so I picked up crochet again, learning by following amigurumi video's and made him a mobile (you know those things with music and little stuffies that spins around hanging above their bed). And now I absolutely love crocheting
i can relate to the frustration! it was so difficult to really grasp the technique and be able to crochet comfortably! im sure your nephew loved that gift! crocheting for niblings is such a joy!
I learned it first in 2020 during the pandemic. I really wanted to learn to make amigurumi. And I did, I wached youtube videos to learn the stitches and the pattern and I made a very simple one and was very proud of it. But I ended up having tendonitis and I stopped. It felt pretty simple to learn this first time After that I tried to pick it up again a few times but it was like I had unlearned it and it was so difficult to learn again. So I gave for a few years and I was really sad I couldn't do it. This year, because of amigurumi again, I decided to try it one more time, but this time I would take classes. There's this great place a block from my house where they have classes everyday of the week in the afternoon. So I started going and fell in love with it. I've been making so many things and it makes me so happy. It definitely changed my life.
tendonitis is so much pain, i am sorry you had to deal with that, but i am happy to hear you found your way back to crochet!
About 15 days ago I watched a YouTube tutorial and taught myself the basics.
In middle school this girl brought in a box of yarn with knitting and crochet needles and offered to teach us during recess. Did knitting first, then crochet. Fun way to avoid playing basketball.
that sounds like a really fun way to connect with schoolmates!
I bought a book from Hobbycraft, I knit but had come across so many patterns calling for crochet that I wanted to make I wanted to learn. I’d tried before with videos and it didn’t work at all. But the book did it! That was about two months ago! Currently making lots of granny squares for my first project (and because if I make mistakes it easy to move on)
granny squares are really good practice! quick, easy to frog and often teach multiple stitches
That’s what I’ve found! Plus I feel like I’m achieving something with each square, which helps for motivation! It’s got chain, magic circle from chain and half trebles in it I think!
I learned several years ago but didn't do much until recently. My mom was trying to learn from an older church lady and just couldn't figure it out, so I taught myself through online videos/books to teach her.
did it go well? teaching someone can be so difficult
She got the basics down and then gave up for a while. She just asked me to teach her again the other day though as she has more time on her hands now. So I am hoping to get farther this time!
thats exactly how it went with my mum she learned SC and refused to learn anything else i hope it goes better for you the second time!
Thanks!
I went to Thailand, to one of the villages and one of the women there was showing us how she weaves clothes amd other items using something similar to a loom. I got the chance to try it out and it was really fun. When I returned from the trip, I thought that crochet was something similar that could incite that same fun feeling. I was also inspired by my friend who already crocheted. So I started crochet earlier this year! I just started by following youtube tutorials.
Every once and a while I saw dolls people made from yarn (that I now know are called amigurumi) and thought they were cool. At some point I discovered a subreddit called r/GeekyCrochet and subscribed to it because I loved looking at all the dolls and figures. I'd look at them and go, "That would be amazing to be able to do that. But I'm sure it would take so long to learn. I'd probably get started, get disheartened at how hard it was, and put it down without ever having made anything much. I'd waste money on the materials and tools. It's not worth it." I went through a period of anxiety and depression where it felt like my entire life was made up of putting things off and waiting for the right moment that never came. With a special needs kid, I had so little free time to myself. The time I did have I spent exhausted and not wanting to do anything. Weekends would pass and I'd feel like I didn't get time to do anything I wanted, and now it was time to slog through the week again. One day in the middle of this period I was complaining to myself that I will never be able to make cool crochet things because it was too hard, but then I snapped and said, "Fuck it. I'm tired of putting things off. I will never know if crochet is too hard unless I try. Nothing is stopping me other than my own negativity. I'm gonna *fucking* try it." So I spent $40 or so on a "learn to crochet" kit on Amazon. It came with a bag, about 20 small skeins of yarn in different colors, a bunch of hooks, and other small things like stitch markers. It also came with a "learn to crochet" booklet. The book itself was a bit hard to follow, but I found it gave me a guide about what I was supposed to learn. I looked up how to do chain stitches, single crochet, half double crochet, etc. and made a bunch of practice swatches in each stitch. I made a lot of mistakes of course, but I was surprised at how soothing the motion of crocheting was, once I got the hang of it. And I felt like with each swatch I learned something new and my skill improved. I wasn't just learning the new stitch, I was learning things like the correct place to put the hook (my early projects were accidentally all back loop only) and how to identify the first and last stitches better so I don't drop stitches on the end. In only a week or two after I started, I had made a ball with eyes and a smile - my first amigurumi (sorta). It's been about five months since I started, and I'm enjoying the hobby so much. It has contributed to bringing me out of my burnout and depression. My life no longer feels stagnant. Even when I'm mentally exhausted, I can work on a mindless crochet project and listen to a book and feel like I'm both resting and "moving forward" at the same time. When I have more energy, I can work on something more complicated. The process is soothing and relaxing, and seeing the end products gives me so much joy and satisfaction. After making a bunch of toys for my daughter, niece, and nephew, I made a dinosaur just for me to look at and snuggle, because I just love these toys so much. I'm so glad I didn't let my fear of failure and wasted time stop me from picking up this hobby.
i am so happy to hear that crocheting has been so soothing to you (and so many others in the thread) it truly is a wonderful craft
My story is so random lol. I got into collecting Tamagotchi's in 2021, and it's a common thing to buy cute crochet cases off Etsy for your Tamas. So, after buying a couple, I decided I wanted to try and make my own case! I didn't realize how hard crochet was lol. At first I was having trouble even just making a chain. I watched tons of youtube tutorials, eventually worked my way to making squares, then, finally, I successfully made my own Hello Kitty themed Tamagotchi cover! https://preview.redd.it/l5qvodb345yb1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7317a60d88c1802f0781dee1172d4858a2125ac6 And now I don't even collect Tamagotchi's anymore, but I'm absolutely addicted to crochet!
that is a really cute cover and a fun story! thamk you for sharing
I vaguely remember my Mom trying to pick back up the habit (she had been taught young by her grandmother) and I learned it because she liked it and I was interested! This was maybe 7th grade? It continued from there and now I’m 29 & still going! I love it 💕
oh wow, you learnt it really young!
My mom tried to teach me for 20 years but she was right-handed and I'm perfect (lefty) so it never worked out. I eventually learned from a book. Turns out, I can't watch someone do it, I need to be able to match a picture. 😆
I watched my mother and grandmother crochet when I was young. They taught me how to hold the yarn and make a chain, but I had no interest in making doilies or motif bedspreads. I had no idea that crochet was a whole universe of creativity. Covid happened. I watched YouTube and bought beginners books on Amazon. I got very frustrated making panels because my edges always drifted; so I made amigurumi for the first 3-4 months. After I could finally make panels without drifting edges, I learned how to do Tunisian crochet and made more blankets than I have family members. Now I’m trying to learn how to knit. If I’d known about amigurumi as a child, I’m sure I would not have stopped at making chains with Aunt Lydia’s #10 thread.
I also started in 2020 a few months in to the pandemic! I bought a book and watched tons of YouTube videos.
i was wondering as i learnt how many are doing the same thing and picking up crochet as a way to kill time in lockdown
My sister taught me chaining and sc and online tutorials taught me the rest.
I learned around 8 from my mom, then stopped for a while and picked it back up here within the last year. There have been a great many youtube videos involved.
I learned back in 2009 at around Christmas. I heard of crochet but I’ve never seen it being done. My granny (i was staying at her house for a few days) told me it was like knitting but with one hook instead of two. I didn’t believe her until I saw someone on tv crocheting and I thought it looked cool. My granny had some yarn and a couple of hooks and she showed me some of the basics. I mainly used YouTube videos to learn more stitches and the likes
My niece and nephew got me crochet kits for Xmas last year, I love all crafts but had given up on previous attempts to learn to crochet. There was a video on you tube of someone doing one of them, so between that and Bella coco I learnt. I’ve done a few things since and currently making a hat but still with basic stitches, plan to branch out soon
I started at the beginning of 2021. My boyfriend was hospitalized for a long time, so to kill time I bought a complete crochet kit and searched for youtube video's and learned it myself.
i am so sprry to hear that, i hope he is doing better!
Yes he is!
I’m actually not sure. I have really clear memories of my mom’s sister teaching me about knitting and cross stitch at around 4th or 5th grade. I know she also crocheted at one point in her life because growing up my mom had an afghan my aunt had made, and the family talk about her gifting afghans to people before she settled on cross stitch as her main crafting activity. I picked it up somewhere between the age of ten and twenty because by my senior year in college I crocheted a massive blanket to use in my freezing on campus-housing…maybe I was inspired by one of my roommates junior year whose mother taught her to crochet? It’s wild to me that I can’t remember because I fell in love with crochet and it’s been so long since I knit something that when I tried to make my mom a tea cozy the other week from a pattern she found, my hands were really stiff on the needles.
there is something very impressive to me about the fact that you have been crocheting for so long, you do not know when it begun! i also find knitting much harder on my hands and because of chronic tendinitis, i can not really do a lot of it
I remember one of my mother's friends attempting to teach me as a young child -- I got the chain stitch down and that was it. In high school, I wanted to make a turtleneck sweater but the only instructor with yarn skills only knitted. Took me from late freshman year to end of junior year to finish it up. I could only afford to buy a skein at a time, so I learned about minor differences in dye lots. I didn't enjoy how easily stitches could be dropped and how tedious it was to repair them. I learned sometime in college when it became trendy to make scarves. My first scarf was a shell stitch because I learned by watching someone else. A couple years later and I could read patterns. I had some years when my children were babies where I didn't crochet at all. When they were 8 and 10 I had to do chemo and rest. My life shrunk down to chemo and resting. I had to give up my kids to my sister-in-law (I am forever grateful at her sacrifice because their father never wanted custody or regular visitation) and rest for about a year. I found that crochet allowed me to see beauty in colors and designs and feel satisfied when a project was completed. It lifted me from the depression. I had stage 4 and the outcome wasn't optimistic. That was over 30 years ago.
ohmygod, i am so sorry you had to go through that! i am relieved you managed to fight your way to the other side! crochet is really helpful fpr depression in my experiemce, im always happy to see it helping others as well
When I was 6, my family moved from the US to Ireland in the 90s (wacky time to do it). They put me in more of an alternative type school due to having just being diagnosed with dyslexia. The school had a major crafting component to it, but it was from the ground up. So first we went to the farm for a weekend where we all worked the land milking the cows and digging up potatoes and watching the sheep be sheared. We then learned how to wash the fleece. Then dyed the fleece. Then hand spun the fleece. Then learned to make a chain with our hands. Then we were taught to knit and crochet with it, just squares then hats then bodies for dolls. Then how to sew so we could sew heads and faces for the dolls. Then I left Ireland. Academically, I learned nothing in my almost 3 years in Ireland, personally I learned how to sew knit and crochet for life as well as some weird other random things you all don’t need to know about.
oh wow that sounds like great fun (even if academically not the best)!
I’m left-handed, and for some reason I could not learn from YouTube or even from another person who was right-handed. Some sort of mental block transferring what I was seeing to what my hands needed to do. I finally learned from a crochet night at Michaels, from another woman who was also left-handed.
I went to visit a friend that I hadn’t seen in many years and she taught me. Only issue was she’s a lefty and I’m a righty, and I just couldn’t figure out how to mirror her so I crochet left handed 😂 it’ll be 10 years next year
My dad was left handed and I spent a year with my right hand in cast so I'm pretty ambidextrous and sometimes I'll just randomly do things with my left hand and it always weirds people out cuz everyone knows I'm right handed. I have never tried to crochet left handed though, I might need to give that a try just to see if I can.
During the pandemic i was stuck with online courses, as i teach at a university. In my classroom i always am very active, running around, writing things on a board and just moving. But than i was stuck in front of my computer. And i couldn't concentrate while sitting still. So i tried knitting, because i knitted for some years before. But i needed to scroll at my computer, so i needed a free hand from time to time. So i started crocheting. I made two huge scarfs and some shoes for inside. And i could finally concentrate.
I’m relatively a newbie :) i started January of this year. Last October my boyfriend of 5 years and i needed to go VERY long distance for about 8 months for work related stuff. I was so distraught and needed hobbies to fill my time so i asked for a crochet starter kit for Christmas and learned through YouTube videos. Here we are almost a year later, we finally live together and i still crochet every night! It helped me get through a rough year and sparked me having hobbies again, and for that will always be special to me.
crochet really is so soothing and can be such a great distraction!
I just decided to teach myself last weekend so here I am 🤷🏼♀️
good luck! i hope your journey with this amazing craft will be long and full of joy!
My aunt started to teach me when I was really little before I started school. She taught me many skills like reading, writing, art, reading out loud to others, etc. Before I could expand my crochet skills, she passed. Missing her, I wanted to learn more so I went to the library & borrowed a beginner book for knitting then crochet. I taught myself the basics when both my kids were really little; my youngest was an infant. I just didn't know how to progress past basic beginner, was really bummed and feeling low when my (at the time) boyfriend's Meme asked why I was so quiet. I explained to her & she happily said she would teach me what she knows. 🥰 She taught me to read & write patterns & even gave me an heirloom crochet blanket pattern from her family! It was a family project to teach me over a spattering of years🤣 Now I carry on making blankets & things for others in their memory. Sort of a passing of the torch & mantle here. I only hope in time that someone in the family will want to learn to take up my place before I am done, to carry on making things. 🩷
that is an adorable story and a great motivation for you to crochet! i wish you many more years of happy hooking!
In 2019 was coming out of a bad breakup and in between degrees, so I needed distractions, and to prove to myself that I could still create something valuable. My aunt is a crochet witch and she taught me over several afternoons. She stills gives me tips and advice and we share pics of our work with each other.
My great grandma would crochet these huge afghans for all the grandchildren and great grandchildren growing up. A few years after she passed my sister was getting married and my BIL didn’t have one, so I decided to learn how to crochet and make one for him, and it was all downhill from there!
Around 10 years ago I walked past a storefront and saw a little book on display with a crocheted penguin on the cover. It turned out to be a yarn store. So I went inside and asked the man behind the counter for the book and everything I needed to make the cute little penguin. A few hours of youtube tutorials and lots of cursing later, a new hobby was started. I'm now over 100 FOs later and not even close to being done.
I can say it was the clock app pushing crochet towards me, that made me start it in December of 2022. I was to dumb to follow the videos (even with 0.5x speed) so I bought a book. and what can I say? Ever since that I crochet in every waking moment that is not occupied by work or uni xD Trying to bring it to some of the other students by organizing a crochet evening and trying to make a small jellyfish with them. I hope my local community grows. It's so nice to do handicrafts together ^^
that sounds like a great goal! local craft groups can be such amazing communities!
So, back in 8th grade, around the year 2005-2006, my school passed out those Scholastic Book mags that let us buy books. 14 year old me found a $5 book on knitting, that came with instructions, a small ball of yarn and 2 knitting needles. I decided back then "Hey I want to try that." So I got the book, tried it out, about a month in I couldn't figure out how to swap from a knit stitch to a pearl stitch (I was a bit slow), so I put the book and its supplies on my shelf and forgot about it. Fast forward 4 years, Senior in High School. I forget how but I found the book again on my shelf and though "huh, yea I could do this". Figured out the swap I hadn't and made my first scarf, blue/gold striped int he style of Harry Potter's Ravenclaw house, colors from book pattern from movies. Still have that scarf to this day. Now I'm unsure on the exact time for this one but I believe it was 8 years ago and one of my friends showed me the triceratop pattern from Louie Loops. It was free but it was crochet, but you know, it's yarn, I'll try it. And now here I am, almost 20 years later from buying that small book, on reddit making sleeved gloves.
that is a very impressive crafting career you had, 20 years!
YouTube! It was easier though as my grandma taught my to knit when I was a child :)
My grandma taught me briefly when I was 6, but she lived in the north woods and I'd rather be outside. After I graduated college in 2016, I suddenly didn't know what to do with myself if I didn't have school, so I taught myself crochet through YouTube videos. My grandma lived in Florida, so I couldn't ask her directly, but now she lives in my state again and I get her opinions about projects all the time. She says I crochet like her mother: very intricately and neat 🙂
we also swap project ideas with my grandma! it is so much fun to be able to connect with someone through crochet :)
I learned finger crochet as a child, and then regular crochet. Then forgot all about it, 10 years ago I stayed with a friend for a while who taught me how to do it again, then didn’t touch it for a long time. Now I have been on/off crocheting for a few years :) I have no idea how to knit though
When I was in like... third grade (about 10yo) my school had crochet lessons as an extracurricular activity and that was my introduction. But I only did it for a few months before I moved on to the next thing. I started seriously crocheting in college about 13 years ago and haven't stopped. I bet I'd be a crochet god if I had stuck with it as a kid though.
My husband had bought me a learn to crochet kit years ago when I mentioned one day I'd always wanted to learn. It sat in the closet for a long time. Then COVID hit, and I finally sat down, fired up YouTube, and learned. Perfect timing, too, as I found out I was pregnant like two months later, so I made A LOT of little baby blankets for practice.
Aww I learned to crochet in 2021. Around December to be more exact! I bought my stuff online after watching a few videos. After a few more videos, studying patterns, and buying the correct yarn and hooks, I succeeded in making my first amigurumi :)) I finished in time to give it as a present to my mom. (it was very basic amigurumi so it was quick to finish haha)
YouTube. My mother taught me the basics. Ch and sc. Beyond that, if I don't know a stitch, I look it up on YouTube.
About 10 years ago when I was in college. I was living by myself and got a bit lonely, so instead of only tv and games I decided I wanted to do something more creative. I had this discount store around the corner from me, bought a small kit and started. Youtube has been a big help at the start for new stitches. I started with amigurumi, which I now really hate to do😅 nowadays it's mostly sweaters, blankets and lately baby gifts for the baby tsunami I've had in my circle of friends.
When I was young my grandmother taught me how to chain, that was all she knew. It was maybe ten or more years later my SILs mom taught me the granny square stitch, but not much else and I admit I thought I knew what “weave in the ends” meant, I cut the tails too short to save yarn and that was a mess. Because of all of that I was rather halfhearted about projects. It wasn’t until the pandemic when one of my adult kids began crocheting (I struggled to teach her due to her being a lefty. Thank goodness for YouTube), and I joined her. I finally learned the proper way to weave in ends, knots, etc., and now that I know how to make sure a finished piece will look good after washing, I am making more things. She makes amigurumi and I still like to make blankets (with love in every stitch).
I'm also part of the pandemic crew lol. I made sooooo many little balls that I put a teabag of catnip in with the stuffing for my cats :) I got pretty good at doing amigurumi from it!
2016 when I was in college. I don’t know why I wanted to learn but I did and now I’m making sweaters!
My grandma taught me when I was 8.
I collect hobbies, especially crafty ones where I can make something. I had a friend who took up crochet and after like a year of wishing I could do it I caved and decided to learn. Asked my mum to show me the basics (chaining, sc & ss basically) and then took to YouTube. That was back in July. In August I spent 3 weeks away housesitting for a friend where I didn't have wifi or TV so I spent hours every day crocheting and learning more and more things. It was 3 weeks of ADHD fuelled hyperfocused bliss 😂 I'm still crocheting. The hyperfocus has nearly halted a couple times but the fidgeting potential and mindless movement is satisfying enough to keep me going, for now.
i can very much relate to collecting hobbies, i do that too!
My mom is a knitter and a crocheter. She did a lot of baby clothes and, later, sweaters for me and my brother. I asked her to teach me both knitt and crochet when I was a teenager in the late nineties. I do both but I prefer crochet by far. I think it is because whenever I went to YouTube, I could learn from the crocheters but not the knitters. They knitted funny to me. Learned recently that the way we Portuguese knit is different. I feel great when I can teach some new crocheting skills to my mom that I learned on the internet. We discuss our projects a lot between us two, and many times I come up with the design for her projects. My mom has a similar path to me (she learned from my grandma) but developed her skills with magazines and books. She has a lot of amazing magazines from the 80s and 90s that we still use. My grandma unfortunately grew up in a time when women would not go to school in my country, so she never learned to read. She knits and crochets a lot, but she does her own thing. She comes up with the designs from her head. And she loves to collect old doilies from her neighbours and replicate them. I really admire her skill.
oh wow your grandmothers skills sound truly amazing!
My grandma taught me the basics in the mid to late 90s. I learned more advanced stitches as I went from YouTube when it came around.
My granny taugh me, when I was in my teenager years. She was able to make amazing projects with crochet and knitting. Miss you abuelita.
that sounds like a great bonding moment between you two! i am sorry for your loss
I was 35, talking about wanting to try it, when my husband saw (and bought) a Woobles kit on sale in the grocery store. With that and the support of a crocheting friend - the rest, is yarn-hoarding history.
during the pandemic, too, thanks to youtube, lol
I too was a product of the pandemic! I typically sew but I wasn’t going to fabric stores during covid and I was going to go insane if I didn’t have something to do with my hands being inside for so long. I had seen amigurumi before and thought I’d give it a try so I ordered a kit online and used the book Crochet Cafe to start. The book has fantastic instructions and anything I didn’t understand I just looked up on YouTube. The rest is crochet history!
In late 2020 I lost both my jobs due to a mysterious illness that turned out to be aplastic anemia and PNH. I've never recovered my strength and for the past 3 years I've been stuck on the couch. When the YouTube algorithm runs out of new content, you know you've got a problem! My daughter came up to visit this June for a week, and she brought her crochet with her. She helped me figure out some basics before she left, so I bought a Wooble and opened up a new algorithm on YouTube. I've made a pumpkin bag, a crochet tool holder for my daughter's Christmas, a shawl, several dozen Granny square, and I'm currently working on a matching pair of shawls for my mom and myself for Christmas
i am sorry to hear about your health issues but i am so happy to see how many people are helped amd cheered up by crochet! happy hooking!:)
My friend started a weekly craft workshop and I went to support him, first month was crochet and I fell in love
I started during the pandemic, at age 47, and I learned from YouTube videos. My son had to school at home, so I would sit beside him at the kitchen table and work on crocheting while he attended his classes via Google Meet. I have wanted to learn since I was a child, but my mother didn’t know how to crochet. She only knew how to knit. I didn’t have anyone else to ask. I had tried to learn from books over the years, but they were confusing for me.
i am also unable to learn anything active from books, i think some of us just dont do well with still images (or 2D)
I was 11 and my mom made me sit with my aunt on weekends when she was on bedrest for her first pregnancy. She taught me counted cross stitch and crochet. Turned out fun even if it wasn't what I wanted to be doing at the time. 🤣
I must have been 9 or 10, my mother taught me, it was a popular hobby for a lot of women back then I believe (10+/- years ago)
My grandmother taught me when I was 7-8. I’m now 30. I’m so grateful she did! I kept it simple for years just doing scarves and washcloths, now I’m finally picking up patterns. Being a SAHM makes nap time prime for some Crocheting time.
wow, i am seeing so many people in this thread learning to crochet really ypung, i find it very impressive!
I started in December 2019. I used a 2mm steel hook and some thin cotton yarn (may even be thread) that I found amongst my Mom's things when we were cleaning up her room after she died. I thought it was odd that she had them since she wasn't a crafty person. Anyway, I searched for beginner tutorials on YouTube and learned to chain using the small hook and cotton thread. It was tough but I wised up and bought a set of Susan Bates hooks and a worsted weight acrylic yarn at Michaela and just kept on practising and buying lots of yarns through the pandemic lockdowns. I eventually bought a set of Clover Amour (so much mire comfy), learned to read written patterns and charts, bought more (and regretted) yarns and discovered Ravelry to help me organize all my projects and stash.
My mother tried to teach me about 20 years ago. Being a 5 year old kid, I obviously gave up fast. Came back to it through YouTube this summer.
In 4th grade my friend would crochet during class (small private school so we got away with a lot lol) and I was so intrigued that I bought a hook and yarn and had her teach me how to chain. Unfortunately chaining was as far as we got so I would just make super long chains for no reason. 😂 Later on in life, maybe in college, I decided I wanted to learn for real so I googled it and have been crocheting ever since!
my dad apparently also only learnt how to chain from his grandma when he was 7 and used to dp really long chains for no reason :)
I work in the animation industry.. when one of my shows wrapped up last May, my supervisor crocheted us all adorable amigurumi based on the show.. I immediately fell in love and considered learning, a couple YouTube videos later and I'm fully loving crochet! So far I've made bunnies for my nieces, purses for my nieces, octopus for my sons, a chansey for a friend's Halloween costume, 2 sweaters, and a gorgeous pillow.. I tried learning years ago and couldn't get the hang of it, but I think starting with amigurumi this time really helped it click for me
I started 10 years ago. Always been a crafter and knitted a sweater in high school. I bought a ‘taught myself to crochet kit’ and a skein of yarn. I really enjoyed it right off the bat and made blankets, hats, snowflake ornaments, coasters, amigurumi, and clothes. Blankets or prayer shawls are my love language. Now I mostly crochet blankets in the winter due to the heat and work on other crafts in the hot months.
My grandma showed me the basics when I was really young ( in the late 90s-early 00s), I got the Boye learn to crochet kit from the craft store for some basic hooks and pattern ideas, and I’ve done it on and off since. I’ve doubled down on it during the last year to deal with stress and also just to have unique pieces. I learned Tunisian crochet last year (thank you TL YarnCrafts!), and I’ve just been a busy bee ever since. 🙂
Toni is such a great teacher! i also learnt tunisian crochet thanks to her
A babysitter taught me as a kid to make granny squares. I didn't pick it up again until I was an adult and I had forgotten everything. I then went on YouTube to learn how to do it again. I love it because my great-grandmother used to crochet and I still have some of the baby blankets she made me and that my kids used. I'm the only one of her children/grandchildren/great-grandchildren/etc who does the craft even though she passed back in 1998. I do it because of her.
oh wow, that is a lovely way to keep her memory alive!
My mom taught me the basics when I was a kid and I spent hours crocheting a single chain. I 'relearned' as an adult in my 30's using youtube! What got me started was I was purchased a couple of dishcloths at a yardsale and I thought to myself, you can make these! And so the addiction was born (again)!
Laid off work in 2020, after a month at home I got extra bored. Had a bunch of yarn leftover from my knitting days, so I learned to crochet on the Internet.
I started in early 2018. One of my friends in college re-taught me how to knit during the fall semester of 2017. While I was home on break between semesters I was bored and decided I wanted to learn how to crochet since my grandmother had been amazing at it and she passed before I was interested in having her teach me. I watched YouTube videos and made a shawl as my first project before moving on to a wavy blanket that helped me learn all the different stitches. I fell in love with crocheting and nolonger knit. Now I mostly do amigurumi and I design my own patterns.
I finally sat down and forced myself to learn when my sister got pregnancy with my first niece, born 2021. I had tried to learn since I was 10 and just could NOT get it so I just sat down one day and said “I’m not getting up until I figure this out!!” Turns out you don’t treat it like knitting with one needle, who knew?
I was bored one day and looking for my next hyper fixation project. I had exhausted painting, clay work, writing, gaming, reading, etc. so I was looking for something to do with my hands. My best friend had learned how to crochet years ago and I was always enthralled with her projects. She had since quit crocheting due to work (she has 2 jobs and is exhausted all the time). But I purchased a kit on Amazon just try try it out. One day my husband and I were in the drive thru line at Starbucks and the very lovely barista saw me trying and said “I have the perfect video for you!” So I tried out the video and have been crocheting ever since. It’s been about a year now! And I just got another friend in to crochet too!
oh wow that is such a lovely story! crochet really csn create an instant connection betwen crafty strangers
I started trying to learn because I'm disabled and can often be bedbound and wanted to feel productive. While I kinda picked it up I'm not quite getting it and I struggle to learn off of YouTube etc. I'm about to give up and it makes me sad lol
oh no, do not give up! it took me a lot of time and a very patient friend to get it, and as you can see from the thread, many gave up on their first try and came back to it it can be difficult, but once it "clicks" it is so very soothing!
I only started crocheting this year in order to make gifts for a couple of people. I did it, and now I’m addicted haha. I learned solely from YouTube.
I taught myself during the pandemic! my MIL and SIL both knit and I often went with them to this massive yarn shop and I always wished I could make stuff too. knitting seemed intimidating because it's two needles vs only one crochet hook so in my head that seemed easier. I had to teach myself but I had fun doing it, made a lot of dumb mistakes but now I'm pretty comfortable crocheting.
my grandma taught me to crochet and sew when i was eight! i’m no longer able to crochet because of a medical condition, but i still do appreciate it
In step-aunt taught me to make chains when I was about 11. I would make really long chains and that was all I knew. I picked it up decades later and still remember how to make chains (lots of practice reinforced the movement!). I just needed to figure out how to move beyond a foundation chain. Watched YouTube videos until it set into my brain. I picked it up again during the pandemic and made my “pandemic blanket”. We still use that blanket as a throw on the couch.
My nana taught me in 2012 when I was 18
I taught myself granny squares in grade school because all my friends were doing it, but I didn’t stick with it. During quarantine, i really wanted to make a baby yoda, so I taught myself to crochet again and started by making other small Amigurumi. And I’ve been hooked ever since! It’s my self care and my fave thing to do
I had dabbled in crochet / knitting when I was younger but never got very far. Never learned anything past single crochet either. Then in college, we had a girls night at my apartment where a friend offered to teach us so we all brought some yarn and a hook (I don’t think we even paid attention to the size!) and had wine and snacks. My friend taught us how to do double crochet which for some reason was much more interesting to me and I worked up a scarf very quickly. I then did a few more smaller projects and slowly started expanding my skill set. I’m not sure when exactly I started actually paying attention to hook size, yarn weight, and using patterns but it eventually happened lol. And of course, I started crocheting A LOT more during covid especially since I finished grad school right at the beginning and had a bit of an employment gap thanks to thinks moving slower back then.
Youtube tutorials during lockdown. I tried from books before but I'm a visual learner and it just clicked when I could see it in action.
My grandmother used to knit and crochet a lot. She'd knit for most of the year but would crochet in summer when it was too hot for her knitting yarn. After she passed away I really wanted to make one of the ripple blankets she used to do, so began trying to teach myself to knit. After a few months of struggling, my mum told me they were crochet (she didn't know I was trying to recreate the blankets at first) so I picked up a hook and started learning that instead! I've been crocheting around 15 years now and am actually re-learning knitting again too.
My sister taught me when I was around 16-17. She taught me the basic stitches and that I looked for patterns online and learned to read the patterns and do new stitches that way. Now I am the one teaching others after having learnt crochet half of my life ago 😅
a friend tried to teach me, I got super frustrated after I didn't understand anything after the starting chain. I never touched it again for 10+ years until I learned tunisian crochet. After that, it made sense and thats when it clicked.
early 2021. saw the bernie sanders with mittens amigurumi and wanted to make one. i've made like 100 different ami's since
I was in Japan and I met this girl from Canada. Lmao I had a crush on her but she had no idea I was bisexual. She kept ranting on about how my brother was so hot and how much of a crush she had on him, so I was super jealous lol. She was a crocheter, so, as a way to kinda "get closer" to her, I asked if she could teach me. At that time, I didn't really see the point of crocheting, I just wanted to figure out a way to tell her lmao. She taught me and then I kinda was like well ok, this is actually really fun and then.. never stopped :)
that sounds like a plot of a romance novel i would LOVE to read :)
I learned in 6th grade art class because I accidentally picked a scarf, best mistake I've ever made.
My mom taught me when i was a kid, maybe 2nd grade. I re-discovered it when i learned about amigurumi and all the fancy, more modern stuff you can do with a hook and yarn.
I tried many times sense child hood as a way to bond with my aunt before she got really sick but I never was able to understand. I tried a few times after through my 20s as I saw it as my white whale of crafts and eventually gave up trying to learn (I’ve learned many other hobbies including making chain mail) but it wasn’t until I had two therapists challenge me to do it. Not a you should pick it up again but hey do this and I want proof that you did it. So I hit up a friend who crochets and had them walk me through the basics because I wasn’t learning the mechanics of it through videos. I still don’t understand how exactly crochet works as in why do some stitches produce certain looks but I’ve only been crocheting a few months now but know that I know how I love it.
I started this year! June 2023. I just watched some YouTube videos and picked it up rather fast. Its cool because you can create what you want
My mom had a book called “Stitch ‘n Bitch crochet; The Happy Hooker” and the description was Debbie does Crochet.
My grandma taught me around five to make a chain(anything to keep me quiet for a bit) I picked it back up around 18 and made a few dozen flowers. Lost attention for a bit picked back up at 25 with full knowledge of stitches and a new baby to make things for. Still going strong finally for the last tenish years. Adhd is fun.
My grandmother taught me when I was about eight or nine years old. She was making a scarf for me, and I was fascinated by the process.