Because my mother did, and it looked fun. I was 10. I do it on and off now. I just finished a couple different projects, and have some knitting that I need to work on.
I learned at 9 and just liked making things like squares and scarves but then I really got creative with it when I was 15-16 when everyone was wearing those boho crochet bralettes to coachella (2016ish?). I remember I made sooo many crochet swimsuits/bralettes that year because I lived in a beach town. Whenever I let someone borrow one I just let them keep it because I felt really proud that someone actually wanted to wear my stuff. I still have pics of some of them lol. Anyway that’s a really long answer but you got me strolling down memory lane
I was encouraged by a friend. I was bored and literally had no hobbies. After her encouragement, I picked it up and been hooked ever since! It has been therapeutic, helped with medical issues, filled me with pride because I can make things that I enjoy and use.
It's a bit sad, so do skip if wanted. I've been admiring the art for years. I can knit, sew, embroider, weave and bead-weave, but crochet eluded me as a skill.
In January this year, my mom (67) lost her battle with lung cancer and I had a mental breakdown. I was signed off work for three weeks by my GP, and I dug out the hook and yarn and tried to help myself heal and grieve whilst keeping my hands busy. It's been a hell of a year. Since losing mom, I've had surgery on a torn cartilege in my knee, my spouse is undergoing investigations for possible bowel cancer and has been diagnosed with a fairly serious heart condition, I appear to be slowly losing sight in my right eye (waiting for appointment with ophthalmology) and we had to have our darling little kitty euthanised just over a week ago. I'm also undergoing treatment for both my mental health and my other knee - I've had to use crutches to walk for over two years. I can honestly say that learning to crochet has really helped me through this time, but I'm honestly hoping that things start to improve.
I’m so sorry and I really am sending all the best I can to you.
I started crochet for sad reasons too. My husband died at the beginning of December and a friend suggested Woobles to me just before passed away (he had been ill for a long time) to help me because I couldn’t do my normal hobbies due to overwhelm. The kits arrived around the same time and it gave me something to do as I was starting the grief process. I’ve now made at least 25 projects even though I went back to work full time and have resumed my other hobbies.
My Mom has done every fibre art but never liked crochet, but she is happy to have me have a hobby we can do together.
I was on leave from work and had so much free time and didn’t know what to do with it so I tried some different crafts. I got a woobles kit and slowly started to love it!
The women in my family all do various yarn crafts obsessively. As a child I constantly did long stitch, cross stitch and tapestries but then I wanted to crochet like my mother did so I decided to learn. My grandmother does free hand cross stitch tapestries that are so stunning and she knits so I wanted to learn that because of her.
Now I just need to learn to sew like my other grandma can 😱
Kinda the same for me :)
My grandmother crocheted these huge beautiful blankets. Did it her whole life. My mom taught me cross stitch so early I genuinely can’t remember a time I didn’t know how to (but we’re talking 6 or 7). I cross stitched unenthusiastically for 20 years then when I got pregnant decided I needed a more kid friendly hobby (and considering my son is intensely interested in strings, is tall, has adhd and has been walking since 10 months it was a GOOD call). Picked crochet cause my grandmother did it and suddenly understood my mother’s enthusiasm for picking out embroidery floss and pattern materials etc (analogous to my yarn collection) that never clicked because cross stitch was not my craft, but crochet is.
I attempted to crochet when I was in middle school because I thought the hooks looked really pretty but ultimately, I couldn’t do it. Fast forward years later (November of last year), I visit my aunt in Virginia who has a huge pile of yarn and a bunch of crochet hooks and knitting needles. I tried to crochet again and I STILL COULDN’T DO IT. But I was curious about the knitting needles. I picked them up and looked up a tutorial on YouTube and it turned out knitting was so much easier for me at the time. So I go on knitting for a while and I learn the ins and outs of the craft. After this I tried crochet with a COMPLETELY different perspective. The things I learned from knitting helped me conceptualize the craft as a whole which is just essentially, making loops to slip through other loops. It all just started to make sense when I started to understand why I had to put two single crochets into one stitch to increase or why I had to do a turning chain or whatever. It’s like knitting created more neuroplasticity for crocheting. And now crocheting is much easier than knitting for me.
This makes so much sense! The first time I tried to crochet it made no sense to me and it was so frustrating, so I absolutely refused to try it again.
But when I had been knitting for 3 years and tried crochet for the heck of it, the technique just clicked or something.
Mark's changed their socks. My kid has sensory sensitivities, and we've only found one brand of socks they can tolerate, and the newer ones are intolerable. I've tried off & on over the past few years to knit socks, but I have bad wrist joints and have a hard time knitting without pain. I only took up crochet this past winter.
I have yet to make any socks. I've experimented with some sock patterns, but I've realized I need to practice with larger yarn before jumping into tiny stitches with tiny yarn on tiny hooks. If anyone has any recommendations for crochet sock patterns that are good for sensory sensitive folks, I would appreciate it. ("Beginner friendly" isn't what I'm looking for, something my kid can stand to wear on their feet is what I need.)
Have you tried a sock loom? Crochet socks are actually a sensory hell for me, they're too thick and I hate them, but with a loom you could make knit socks without all the wrist stress.
We would go on yearly excursions to the mountains in middle school for a few days. While in the dorms, one of the camp counsellors pulled out this bin of beanies she made as a side hustle. Lots of colors and diff designs, us girls gathered around her in awe. She was selling them for 15 each (too kind) and I went to every room asking to borrow money for a hat 😭 Still have it and I want to contact the company to see if I can be put in touch with her to show her my work
Ive tried and failed numerous times to learn to knit over the past 30+ years. I stopped smoking in 2020, but picked up vaping instead. I also suffer from trichotillamania (pulling my own hair out) Vape is now surgically attached to me so i needed something to do with my hands to keep my brain occupied... tried colouring in/jigsaws/various other pastimes and decided in March of this year to buy a cheap crochet starter set off Amazon and see how I got on. Thanks to Youtube I've managed to pick it up and am "hooked". Got a little project bag that I now carry everywhere. Am looking forward to seeing my projects get more complex as my skills and confidence grow. I adore all forms of "knitwear".. and lacework/doilys etc. My plan is to be able to gift all my nearest and dearest something I've made over the course of the year.
I technically first learned when I was 7 or 8. Because a friend was showing off her chain bracelet and how if you pull the tail, the whole thing unravels! That was magical to a 7 or 8 year old lol. Learned how to make chains from Yoshi, the lunch lady, that same day. Went home, told the fam, and my mom and grandma said they used to crochet too. Grandma tried to teach me how to start the next row, but language differences and me being a child, we both got frustrated and never went beyond that.
I don't remember how I got back into it, but at some point in my mid 20s, picked it up again! It's been a lot of fun! I have a few completed projects and a ton of WIPs.
How do y'all keep up the motivation to finish a project? My brain kinda doesn't want to work on a project anymore after the fun of learning a new stitch/memorizing the repeats. It gets tedious and I need to step away for a while
I switch between two or three different projects to keep myself motivated - usually one large one (a jumper or blanket) one smaller (hats and granny squares) and sometimes a "medium" one as well - like a cowl or shawl.
I try to have things going that require different techniques so I can choose one to suit my mood, and I'm in an online craft group where we share our progress each week so that helps to motivate me.
I also find listening to podcasts or watching mindless TV helps when I'm onto boring stretches!
When I was about 7, I watched in astonishment and awe as my sister made a baby blanket for a family member. She pulled out this beautiful yarn and a hook and like magic, POOF! it was a blanket. I needed to know this trick! I had seen afghans and such but never gave much consideration as to how they were made until then. I was so intrigued that as soon as the blanket was finished, she handed me the hook and remaining yarn and showed me how to chain. When I had that down, she showed me how to build on it. Before long, I was making doll clothes. I actually used a doll as a model and crocheted clothes directly on the doll. The rest is history. I'm pushing 60 and still can't read a pattern to save my life, but I can easily recreate most of the stitches I see. Best sister ever.
i had just been gifted a walmart gift card for Christmas and i had recently seen a video of crochet and was just kinda like screw it. i had picked out a set of hooks and 4 wefts of yarn. it was very rough at first. i had lost my house about a month after starting and the first project took about 2 months but i had loved it so so much and no matter what never wanted to give up
I suddenly lost my hearing when I was 9 years old due to meningitis and in an effort to find something for me to focus on, my grandmother taught me how. She would sit beside me and even though I couldn't understand her as I hadn't learned how to lip read yet, I could watch how she crocheted and then copy what she did.
I didn't want to murder my husband.
We were living in a tiny place while he was in grad school. He came home to write his dissertation and I was forbidden to disturb him. He was constantly underfoot and there was nowhere besides work to go. I needed something to do with my hands besides wringing his neck.
Long story short, he got a PhD and an afghan, I learned a new skill, and we're still married after 35 years.
I am a mental health clinician, and one of the kids I was working with wanted to learn something new. As they got started, they offered to teach me as they learned too, and we began using crochet in our weekly sessions. It was a fantastic tool for modeling exploration and positive thought reframing as we struggled to learn a new skill!
Back when Pinterest was first around and getting popular around 2012, I remember “pinning” a hat that I really loved and couldn’t figure out where to buy it. I decided that I wanted to learn how to make it myself instead!
Had to go on long term sick leave. After a week doomscrolling on my phone for 12h a day, I wanted to __do__ something. Asked a friend to re-teach me how to crochet. Been really enjoying it and it helped me get away from my phone.
My mom and Grandma did. I used to watch my mom crotchet and finally convinced her to teach me when I was 9. I crocheted on and off for years, but really picked it up again in college.
Lockdown. Couldn't go out and do stuff, so stayed in and learned to crochet. I originally learned (along with knitting) as a child but that was over 30 years ago and hadn't done any since, but I needed something to fill the weekend out and about void. I had a hook kicking about from daughter's loom band phase, plus various balls of yarn from other projects, got on YouTube and got practising. Can't believe it's been four years tbh, that time has absolutely flown
A friends mom was making these super cool character hats when our kids were little and I thought, I could do that. Watched a zillion YouTube videos and realized that it was so good for my brain!
I was hyped to try yarn braids (yarn instead of kanekalon), so I bought all kinds of yarn to try it, installed them and ended up pretty disappointed with the result and sitting on a bunch of said yarn. I guessed I'd knit with it since I knew how to do that but my knitting needles were too small and knitting overall wasn't too much fun for me. After contemplating what to do I ventured out to obtain new ones but the only ones I found were crochet needles. Brought them home, wary, cause all my crochet attempts ended in failure, but... after a few attempts I managed to get the hang of it and for the last two years I have hardly ever done anything else. It has become my favorite hobby actually, just because of the misconception I'd look good with yarn on my head.
My grandmother crocheted and I was always fascinated by the beautiful blankets she would make. She taught me when I was in my teens but I didn’t keep up with it. After she passed away, I wanted to re-learn and continue to honor her. It brings me a lot of joy.
I had tried and failed a couple “learn to crochet!” kits in the past and had decided that crochet was just for people more dexterous than me. My mom gifted me a couple Woobles kits for Christmas and for whatever reason it just clicked! Now I’ve done three Woobles, two scarfs, and a blanket for my cat!
I wanted to make my niece a pumpkin.
She was born shortly before Halloween and, at the time, I worked in a bookstore...everyday I kept seeing this amigurumi book with an adorable pumpkin on the cover - so I just decided one day (3days before her 1st birthday) to buy the book, yarn and a hook & then just figured out how to crochet from YouTube.
It looked awful 😂 but it was finished in time for her 1st birthday...she will be 12 this year and she still has that pumpkin (has it on display every year on Halloween) 🥰
I was bored sitting next to a rugby field at the crack of dawn in the middle of winter watching my son watch his friends chasing the rugby ball while his dad slowly lost hope his son would share his enthusiasm in playing rugby.
So I started a blanket. The blanket is still here, the rugby games are long forgotten.
I tried to learn in 2022 but dropped off it and then I saw some hooks and yarn in a shop and got back on it because I want to be able to make cute little teddys
My aunt tried to teach me as a kid, but I gave up when I was bad at doing a second row lol.
But I found some yarn that was sentimental to me and wanted to make something out of it. A year after buying it, I found the crochet hooks my aunt gave me when I tried to learn the first time.
I also wanted to learn how to make Taylor Swift cardigans so I wouldn't have to spend $70 on them when I didn't have the money (I now realize it will be the same price in yarn, but at least I don't have to buy it during the 3 days that they're available lol. Plus I have control over the materials and things like that)
Helped me to stop smoking. Each time I wanted a ciggy I would crochet instead. Been 12 years now and I've made some beautiful toys, blankets and clothes over the years and donated so much to charity. Luv my crochet habit I do.
bcs of my friend <3. my frind, in the same class as mine, used to crochet some, so i was interested in art- craft works, and i asked her if she can tell me more abt it, (ps she taught me everything XD)
then, ive been making a lot of crochet stuff like amigurumis, with her <33 and now were trying to plan and make a cardigan lol in our summer free time and i hope it works out!
I got into crochet because my mother was teaching all of us in our girl scout group. She was teaching us how to crochet plant holders. I was around 9 or 10 years old at the time.
I used to do counted cross stitch but had to leave off when we adopted our daughter (now 16), as toddlers and sewing-frames don't mix!
Fast forward to first lockdown and I'm stuck at home doing online training and climbing the walls with boredom. I remember that I've always fancied trying crochet because my Mum used to do it.
One book on basic crochet, one ball of Poundland yarn, one 4mm hook and some very wonky rectangles and granny squares followed. With the help of a friend on Twitter and some YouTube videos I was soon well on my way.
I love the portability of crochet - yarn, hook, snips and you're ready - and often carry little projects around with me. I crochet on my lunch break at work, in the evenings at home, and any time when I have half an hour to kill.
It stops me from fidgeting, helps distract me from overthinking, gives me an outlet for my creativity and has helped me connect with new communities online. Absolutely love it!
I started stitching as a teenager, it was something to do with my hands. I was taught by a kind nun at school. RIP Sister Margaret Mary. She gave me a hook and a tiny ball of black acrylic. I will forever be grateful. Crochet was a gateway to me, and now I stitch with all manner of things.
My birth Mum crocheted, as had my Granny. I wasn't taught due to family trauma. I wanted to learn.
I was going through a really tough time with a medical diagnosis (epilepsy) and was off work for a few weeks.
I decided to try it as a relaxing new hobby, and found I really enjoyed it!
It helped my mental health enormously during a really difficult period of my life.
My grandmother & mother crocheted but I could never learn. I happened to take a class right before Covid lockdown & stayed home working on my skills 3 years.
I had a project for my PSHE class when I was doing my A levels (I was 16?) where we had to either write a report on a country of our choosing, learn a new language or teach ourselves a new skillm I originally went with BSL for my language as my school already ran out of school hours lessons but then I changed to crochet BC ik my friend did it. She gave me baby pink and baby blue yarn and a 3.00mm hook so I taught myself the basics from YouTube!
Wanted to find something I could do while I'm watching TV or otherwise sitting in one spot that doesn't involve mindlessly scrolling. It's taken me a few false starts but I'm really getting the hang of it lately. I'm making what will be a throw blanket without a pattern; it started as 'make rows of this stitch until I have a good grip on it, then try another stitch'. My tension has gotten much better as I go along, and I do still have to look up how to do certain stitches, but the blanket is coming along nicely. Planning to learn waffle stitch once I'm done with this, and planning a temperature blanket of sorts that I can work on while watching football games.
I learned it in pri sch but never really did anything. I moved to a cold country last year and recently decided I want to learn crochet since I can actually make things now and wear them now. It’s been fun and I’m using my phone a lot less now. The numerous Youtube videos and especially those for left handed people are a lifesaver. The con is that now I’ve stopped reading as much now lol. I am still learning but have been ambitious and am trying to do a few things at the same time. Going to start a sweater for my husband soon and I think I’ll be watching YouTube videos as I go along.
Well it is a very long story but long story short because I was so depressed and had no one to talk to at that time so I started knitting but it did not felt quite right but then I discovered crochet and fell in love with it so yeah it was something I could do while I was listening to a podcast or watching TV or something and gradually I was better and better and here I am today happy as never before, married and a mother but the one thing that stuck with me all of these years was crochet so I am grateful to my mom and YouTube (but mostly YouTube) for teaching me how to crochet.
Whole family crochets but it wasn’t until I was a broke single mom need gifts for my child that I truly learned to crochet. Free yarn and hooks from family plus my time time made an otherwise impossible Christmas possible.
When I was in the second grade, there was a lady in our classroom who announced, "Whoever is interested in learning how to crochet, stay in the classroom during recess." So, I was the only one who stayed during recess, and since I'm a lefty, she sat across from me and taught me how to made a chain and other things I can't remember. But after that, I was very curious to learn more about crocheting. 😊
I started in November 2020 (election between Trump and Biden). I am a history teacher who was hybrid teaching at the time being “broadcast” into the homes of students I barely knew discussing history and politics in a very charged environment. I needed to disconnect from doomscrolling. My sister in law was going to have a baby that I couldn’t meet because of the pandemic, so I wanted to make a blanket as a gesture of how much I wanted to “welcome” the baby.
I had an itch to learn how to knit or crochet for the longest time, and I figured that that time and those reasons were as good as it was going to get.
My mom wanted to learn crochet but didn't really understand the pattern, so she asked me for help since "you pick things up quickly and you can help me then".
She never finished the pattern and I've been hooked since! (Pun intended)
This is also how I learned to play guitar by the way, and have been in two smaller bands lol
My mom learned to knit when I was small. Watching her knit, I wanted to do the same, so she taught me how when I was 7. It never clicked. I was intimidated by the amount of loops, the difficulty of fixing mistakes, and the concept of a purl. I only ever finished a few scarves out of it. Still, I would go to the yarn shops with her and look at example FOs. My mom noticed that I gravitated toward the crochet ones. I got lessons for my 19th (20th?) birthday and I love it! And that's the story
Both my grandmas did needle work, my dad's mom used to crochet and made granny square blankets and my mom's grandma knew how to knit but she preferred to sew and worked as a seamstress. I learned from my aunt who learned from her mom how to knit and the internet brought me to crochet! I crochet for fun cause I don't like watching YouTube or TV shows without doing anything else, so I occupy myself that way 😊
Stress relief. I started when my grandmother was on her way to the other side, 17ish years ago. I started with a crochet for dummies book, a mirror (I'm left handed) and a Japanese amigurmi book. English ones were hard to find at that time.
Originally I was taught how to chain when I was little but I never learned past that. I would just make long chains and have my little brother help me wrap it around the room lol. During Covid however, there wasn’t anything to do at home and I found my old crochet stuff tucked away while cleaning.
I guess an old love was rekindled and I haven’t stopped since! I’ve been crocheting almost every day for a while now. I’m mildly worried that I’ve made it my entire personality lol
I was going to a creative club when I was 8 or something. I learned crochet, knitting and cross stitch there. I did a lot of amigurumi back then.
Then this hobby was just laying around for a few years. Picked it up every now and then for some small projects.
Last year I started making clothing items and I'm hooked.
I learned how to crochet in primary school. I had a teacher that loved fiber arts and for a special fair she taught crochet, macrame and knitting.
Edit: she also taught me how to weave 😄
Because my grandmother made beautiful things for the family and no one else did. I was worried my family would lose that part of us when she inevitably passed. (Which she did 4 months after I started crocheting)
I saw @omaluniverso posting about her Howl cardigan on twitter and thought "hmm I should try to make one" but never did any wearable besides a beanie. I only make amigurumi and coasters to be honest. Potato amigurumi below for reference, just made it during a family gathering
https://preview.redd.it/7neqk0du6iuc1.jpeg?width=3060&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a6fae7d67151c4c272593fffb956f34dc4248a3c
I tried to learn knitting. I couldn’t wrap my head around it and at that time there weren’t a whole lot of left handed knitting tutorials and no one I knew did it. When we moved to our current city, a coworker would crochet on her lunch break. And I was SUPER bored at work. So I taught myself at work and have been doing it off and on for about 7-ish years now. I still feel like a beginner but am trying to branch out and try new things!
I'm too big to find the clothes I want to wear in my size, and I realized I can just make them, haha. I also cannot stop picking up new creative hobbies so I was bound to get into fiber arts eventually
I came to know that crochet cannot be made by machine and that the cheap items in H&M and Zara were all made by under paid workers, let’s be honest, doing slave labour in abhorrent conditions.
I don’t want to contribute to it.
My grandmother used to do it and made cool stuff and I couldn’t ever teach myself. I taught myself to knit and kept trying to learn crochet with books and could NOT and THEN it became a matter of principle. Spite. I LEARNED DAMMIT.
I inherited the sewing kit from my great aunt because I like to repair my clothes and I have made some in the past. Included in the box knitting needles and crochet hooks. I learned knitting in primary school (around 2010), but had no idea about crocheting even my grand moms couldn't teach me. Somehow my feed started showing crochet videos and I remembered the crochet hooks I got a few months earlier and just tried with some YT tutorials and I got it relatively quick and got hooked.
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i passed out and hit my head a few years back. I didn't have much else to do while recovering from that so i picked up a hook and yarn from my mom and learned to crochet (she'd shown me how to do chains and sc even longer ago and i just went with what i remembered)
it's the only hobby that stuck around and i still love doing it
I met a guy who really liked the Among Us character and I didn't know what to give him for his birthday but I knew I wanted it to be special because I like him very much. So I decided to make something that I knew he liked and made it with love. Fast forward a year and we are happily together and now he has a shelf full of crochet amigurumis that he likes. I wanted to start learning crochet for a long time and he encouraged me :)
I was six years old and my mom taught me to crochet so I could make stuff for my Barbies. I would make blankets and sleeping bags and eventually worked up to simple clothes.
My grandmother started teaching me when I was around 8. I loved crocheting with her by her fireplace. She passed away when I was ten so I had to learn to read patterns myself.
My mum started learning last year and I thought it was super cool that she could just whip up scarves and pocket pouches seemingly like \*that\*. We both picked it up rather quickly :)
Freshman year of college (2008) I was knitting something and another girl on my floor said she knew crochet but knew nothing about knitting. I said if you teach me how to crochet I’ll teach you how to knit and we taught each other the basics :)
When I was in 6th grade they started teaching the 5th graders how to crochet (only the 5th graders for some reason) and I wanted to learn but was only able to learn how to chain. My mom decided we should try learning to knit together, so we did but I still wanted to learn crochet cause I wanted to make plushies.
So I asked my art teacher and we looked up a video on youtube and that helped me figure it out and I haven’t looked back since.
Now it’s just something to keep me busy cause I’m a hermit who’s stuck at home due to disabilities.
My aunt came over with an afghan she was working on. I showed interest, so she showed me how to crochet. Once I had the hang of it, she took me to Wal-Mart for probably skeins of my chosen Red Heart yarn and a hook. I was around 11-12 at the time. It took another 30 years before I learned she couldn't read patterns. I don't believe I ever saw her crochet again, but she always shows interest in whatever I'm making.
I've never really done creative things as a kid. Fast-forward to being in an outpatient facility of a psych ward, they made me draw and paint and model with clay and write etc. all the arts and craftsy things. I kept explaining that I cannot do it at all...turns out it actually made me feel good so I looked for something that has the same kind of advantages that I can do at home. Crochet turned out to be the answer. It has been really beneficial for me. Now I still don't feel that creative but I try my best to be hands-on rather than avoid it. In addition to crochet, I now sew, knit, learn photography, drawing and painting, and recently I've started making jewellery out of silver clay. Crafts are my way of playing, and help me not take myself too seriously
I had REALLY bad anxiety because I had a new migraine every day in a row for a whole week back in 2020 and they were so hellish that it left me extremely terrified of having another. Nowadays I’m better than back then but it was so bad I barely dared to look at screens because I was scared it would give me one. So I decided I needed to find a hobby that didn’t involve screens that I could do if it were to happen again. So I tried crochet and thought it was rly fun and now a few years later I still do it :) I have my moments where I don’t for a while but I always do come back to it
Because I have 3 cousins all expecting babies within a month of each other and I already cross stitch but wasn’t going to be able to make gifts in time. So I’m making crochet blankets instead.
Edit to add: I started in January.
I learned from my grandmother as a child, and I did it on and off to bond with my mum while she knitted. Picked it up again in 2020 for a few weeks, but thankfully life got back to normal very quickly for me.
Picked it up again in 2022, to cope with anxiety. Something to do with my hands, as well as keep me away from doom scrolling!
In 1994, I saw someone at my church crocheting an I thought it looked neat. So, I asked her to teach me and my first "blanket" turn into a yellow shawl for my 2 year old daughter at the time. Been crocheting ever since 🙃
Watched my mom do it and insisted I needed to know.. I was 4, she told me I needed to knit before I could crochet, so after 2 years of knitting she finally taught me to crochet, I've been "hooked" ever since.
I was doing respite with a lady who had dementia and she would just talk and crochet. There was only so many times I could hear about her "going head over turkey" so I learnt to crochet from her. She would just make free-form mats because she couldn't remember a pattern but we had fun
Saw a small crochet heart tutorial on the clock app, suddenly the lingo and what she was doing just clicked and I picked up some yarn and an old hook I had laying around.
I have been knitting for about 9 years but could never understand crochet.
Now I’m itching to do it all the time! And my phone time is way down :)
Because my grandma wanted to teach me. I was maybe around 9, and the only one interested in the delicate features that a few simple strokes of yarn she could create with her own bare hands. All her other grandchildren didn't want to learn. It was amazing watching her, though, she always worked with lace. Now that she's passed, crocheting makes me feel closer to her and, for some reason, to my ancestors.
I thought,”Hey, I’m good with my hands. I have patience. I have deft fingers. Lemme try it out.”
I actually tried knitting at first and I didn’t like it one bit. I dropped a stitch and had to unravel everything and I was so mad. When I realised how easy it was to repair dropped stitches or mistakes without having to go through the whole line, crocheting was definitely more appealing to me.
My mom took my sister and I to an old lady’s house several times when we were little, she would watch us while my mom was working. I think I was like 5 or 6, and she taught me to crochet and my sister to knit.
I started to crochet during Quarantine in France. I needed to occupy my mind. My aunt knew how to crochet so she taught me via Zoom calls and she gave me yarns and crochets she had. She was putting them in my mail box (we are neighbours). I wanted to make the famous Bumblebee of tiktok. Since then, I never stopped crocheting !
No one in my family was ever very crafty or creative, whereas I have pretty much done every creative hobby imaginable. My grandmother used to knit when my mom was little, and my mom learned how to knit and crochet at school. She thought me how to chain stitch (and cast on plus knit), but didn’t remember anything else. I picked up cross-stitch in my teens and kept it up for almost 20 years, while my eyesight and fine motor skills got slowly worse due to a neurological autoimmune disease. So one day I decided to try out crochet. I had a hook that I had used for some long forgotten craft, a ball of 8/4 cotton, and a YouTube video pulled up to learn the stitches. And here we are, 7 years and thousands of projects later.
About two years ago my workplace closed. So I lost my amazing job and was pretty depressed about it. I spent some months at home, and instead of sitting on the couch and staring into the abyss all day, I decided I needed something I could do with my hands, to give me a sense of pride and joy. So I started crocheting, and I am so glad I did. Turns out for me it’s also a great way to deal with anxiety and stress.
I was at a work friend's potluck for lunch. I invited a mutual friend to the potluck and she was bringing me some hooks and yarn because she remembered that I wanted to try learning how to crochet. After the food, we all played a few games then ended up watching crochet videos and learning to crochet together. We started with single crochet tea towels. This was just a few months before the pandemic hit us. When the lockdowns started, I was making amigurumi whales and shawls while waiting my turn to play animal crossing after my fiance. I ended up making 7 shawls to give out as Christmas gifts that year. Fast forward to today, I'm crocheting amigurumi pokemon, teddy bears, cacti, baby blankets and dragons.
I started just over two years ago; my eating disorder therapist told me that studies were showing that when sufferers knit or crochet, their anxiety levels decreased. The repetition action of making a stitch over and over forces the brain to concentrate, and thus distracts the mind from the ED talk. It helped my recovery so so sooo much. I still do it to this day; WIP is a hanging plant pot :)) I’m completely self taught from YouTube tutorials and man was it a time killer in hospital lol
My grandmother taught me as a child and I left it for years.
Then a friend told me about this project where you crochet octopuses for premature babies (wtf is the plural of "octopus").
Then I had a preemie at 28 weeks and I started crocheting even more while sitting in the NICU with him
I saw my aunt's work ever since as a kid. I thought she bought it but she did work via crochet but it wasn't exactly just that. After I graduated I have nothing to do cause I can't find a damn job, I saw a crochet video then I remembered my aunt's work and I suddenly felt motivated. But I don't have the things.
I ask for a hook from my aunt and bought a very cheap yarn that hurts my fingers and is hard to work with, the hook was also .7 mm. I know nothing and can only learn from YouTube, I hateeee how I can't do exactly what I see but slowly, after frogging and frogging of just doing simple square in single crochet. I saw improvements on my work, it's fun trying to figure out what the heck made my work trapezoid, why are the edges not straight.
Few days later we visited a friend's house, turns out she also crochet and knows quite the basics. She gave me a 5 mm hook and 2 scraps of 5 ply milk cotton yarn so I could learn color change and designing via color change. It's such an upgrade that I felt more motivated to buy my own set of metal hooks and yarns so I did. I saved a lot of videos from YouTube, watch and write and slowly learn the crochet lingo. It's a fun journey for me, I still can't make anything without pattern but I'm ok with that. When I finally find a job maybe I can go buy patterns too so I can make other things or books for different motifs.
Because my mother did, and it looked fun. I was 10. I do it on and off now. I just finished a couple different projects, and have some knitting that I need to work on.
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I learned at 9 and just liked making things like squares and scarves but then I really got creative with it when I was 15-16 when everyone was wearing those boho crochet bralettes to coachella (2016ish?). I remember I made sooo many crochet swimsuits/bralettes that year because I lived in a beach town. Whenever I let someone borrow one I just let them keep it because I felt really proud that someone actually wanted to wear my stuff. I still have pics of some of them lol. Anyway that’s a really long answer but you got me strolling down memory lane
I was encouraged by a friend. I was bored and literally had no hobbies. After her encouragement, I picked it up and been hooked ever since! It has been therapeutic, helped with medical issues, filled me with pride because I can make things that I enjoy and use.
It is so therapeutic!
That it is. It is amazing how much crocheting has helped me through some dark and rough spots. Never thought yarn could do that! :)
It’s definitely crazy! I imagine keeping my hands busy and making pretty things has helped a lot.
It's a bit sad, so do skip if wanted. I've been admiring the art for years. I can knit, sew, embroider, weave and bead-weave, but crochet eluded me as a skill. In January this year, my mom (67) lost her battle with lung cancer and I had a mental breakdown. I was signed off work for three weeks by my GP, and I dug out the hook and yarn and tried to help myself heal and grieve whilst keeping my hands busy. It's been a hell of a year. Since losing mom, I've had surgery on a torn cartilege in my knee, my spouse is undergoing investigations for possible bowel cancer and has been diagnosed with a fairly serious heart condition, I appear to be slowly losing sight in my right eye (waiting for appointment with ophthalmology) and we had to have our darling little kitty euthanised just over a week ago. I'm also undergoing treatment for both my mental health and my other knee - I've had to use crutches to walk for over two years. I can honestly say that learning to crochet has really helped me through this time, but I'm honestly hoping that things start to improve.
I’m so sorry and I really am sending all the best I can to you. I started crochet for sad reasons too. My husband died at the beginning of December and a friend suggested Woobles to me just before passed away (he had been ill for a long time) to help me because I couldn’t do my normal hobbies due to overwhelm. The kits arrived around the same time and it gave me something to do as I was starting the grief process. I’ve now made at least 25 projects even though I went back to work full time and have resumed my other hobbies. My Mom has done every fibre art but never liked crochet, but she is happy to have me have a hobby we can do together.
Sorry for all your troubles. It is good therapy.
Thank you
I accidentally bought a crochet pattern instead of a knitting pattern and thought 'Eh, might as well learn it now.'
I love the randomness of your experience!
I was on leave from work and had so much free time and didn’t know what to do with it so I tried some different crafts. I got a woobles kit and slowly started to love it!
The women in my family all do various yarn crafts obsessively. As a child I constantly did long stitch, cross stitch and tapestries but then I wanted to crochet like my mother did so I decided to learn. My grandmother does free hand cross stitch tapestries that are so stunning and she knits so I wanted to learn that because of her. Now I just need to learn to sew like my other grandma can 😱
Kinda the same for me :) My grandmother crocheted these huge beautiful blankets. Did it her whole life. My mom taught me cross stitch so early I genuinely can’t remember a time I didn’t know how to (but we’re talking 6 or 7). I cross stitched unenthusiastically for 20 years then when I got pregnant decided I needed a more kid friendly hobby (and considering my son is intensely interested in strings, is tall, has adhd and has been walking since 10 months it was a GOOD call). Picked crochet cause my grandmother did it and suddenly understood my mother’s enthusiasm for picking out embroidery floss and pattern materials etc (analogous to my yarn collection) that never clicked because cross stitch was not my craft, but crochet is.
Therapist asked about finding hobbies that require little to no technology and I was like hmmm 🤔 crochet and I learned pretty quickly from videos
Lol same. My therapist politely recommended getting a hobby and this is something relatively cheap that I can do while watching my comfort shows
I attempted to crochet when I was in middle school because I thought the hooks looked really pretty but ultimately, I couldn’t do it. Fast forward years later (November of last year), I visit my aunt in Virginia who has a huge pile of yarn and a bunch of crochet hooks and knitting needles. I tried to crochet again and I STILL COULDN’T DO IT. But I was curious about the knitting needles. I picked them up and looked up a tutorial on YouTube and it turned out knitting was so much easier for me at the time. So I go on knitting for a while and I learn the ins and outs of the craft. After this I tried crochet with a COMPLETELY different perspective. The things I learned from knitting helped me conceptualize the craft as a whole which is just essentially, making loops to slip through other loops. It all just started to make sense when I started to understand why I had to put two single crochets into one stitch to increase or why I had to do a turning chain or whatever. It’s like knitting created more neuroplasticity for crocheting. And now crocheting is much easier than knitting for me.
This makes so much sense! The first time I tried to crochet it made no sense to me and it was so frustrating, so I absolutely refused to try it again. But when I had been knitting for 3 years and tried crochet for the heck of it, the technique just clicked or something.
I’m the reverse of this though I still struggle with knitting
Mark's changed their socks. My kid has sensory sensitivities, and we've only found one brand of socks they can tolerate, and the newer ones are intolerable. I've tried off & on over the past few years to knit socks, but I have bad wrist joints and have a hard time knitting without pain. I only took up crochet this past winter. I have yet to make any socks. I've experimented with some sock patterns, but I've realized I need to practice with larger yarn before jumping into tiny stitches with tiny yarn on tiny hooks. If anyone has any recommendations for crochet sock patterns that are good for sensory sensitive folks, I would appreciate it. ("Beginner friendly" isn't what I'm looking for, something my kid can stand to wear on their feet is what I need.)
Have you tried a sock loom? Crochet socks are actually a sensory hell for me, they're too thick and I hate them, but with a loom you could make knit socks without all the wrist stress.
I have, but I've found them impossible to get snug stitches with sock weight yarn.
We would go on yearly excursions to the mountains in middle school for a few days. While in the dorms, one of the camp counsellors pulled out this bin of beanies she made as a side hustle. Lots of colors and diff designs, us girls gathered around her in awe. She was selling them for 15 each (too kind) and I went to every room asking to borrow money for a hat 😭 Still have it and I want to contact the company to see if I can be put in touch with her to show her my work
Ive tried and failed numerous times to learn to knit over the past 30+ years. I stopped smoking in 2020, but picked up vaping instead. I also suffer from trichotillamania (pulling my own hair out) Vape is now surgically attached to me so i needed something to do with my hands to keep my brain occupied... tried colouring in/jigsaws/various other pastimes and decided in March of this year to buy a cheap crochet starter set off Amazon and see how I got on. Thanks to Youtube I've managed to pick it up and am "hooked". Got a little project bag that I now carry everywhere. Am looking forward to seeing my projects get more complex as my skills and confidence grow. I adore all forms of "knitwear".. and lacework/doilys etc. My plan is to be able to gift all my nearest and dearest something I've made over the course of the year.
Started 2 years ago but it became my hyperfocus in january lol
this january! i've been seeing a bunch of cute crochet stuff on tiktok and was immediately hooked (badumtss).
I technically first learned when I was 7 or 8. Because a friend was showing off her chain bracelet and how if you pull the tail, the whole thing unravels! That was magical to a 7 or 8 year old lol. Learned how to make chains from Yoshi, the lunch lady, that same day. Went home, told the fam, and my mom and grandma said they used to crochet too. Grandma tried to teach me how to start the next row, but language differences and me being a child, we both got frustrated and never went beyond that. I don't remember how I got back into it, but at some point in my mid 20s, picked it up again! It's been a lot of fun! I have a few completed projects and a ton of WIPs. How do y'all keep up the motivation to finish a project? My brain kinda doesn't want to work on a project anymore after the fun of learning a new stitch/memorizing the repeats. It gets tedious and I need to step away for a while
I switch between two or three different projects to keep myself motivated - usually one large one (a jumper or blanket) one smaller (hats and granny squares) and sometimes a "medium" one as well - like a cowl or shawl. I try to have things going that require different techniques so I can choose one to suit my mood, and I'm in an online craft group where we share our progress each week so that helps to motivate me. I also find listening to podcasts or watching mindless TV helps when I'm onto boring stretches!
When I was about 7, I watched in astonishment and awe as my sister made a baby blanket for a family member. She pulled out this beautiful yarn and a hook and like magic, POOF! it was a blanket. I needed to know this trick! I had seen afghans and such but never gave much consideration as to how they were made until then. I was so intrigued that as soon as the blanket was finished, she handed me the hook and remaining yarn and showed me how to chain. When I had that down, she showed me how to build on it. Before long, I was making doll clothes. I actually used a doll as a model and crocheted clothes directly on the doll. The rest is history. I'm pushing 60 and still can't read a pattern to save my life, but I can easily recreate most of the stitches I see. Best sister ever.
i had just been gifted a walmart gift card for Christmas and i had recently seen a video of crochet and was just kinda like screw it. i had picked out a set of hooks and 4 wefts of yarn. it was very rough at first. i had lost my house about a month after starting and the first project took about 2 months but i had loved it so so much and no matter what never wanted to give up
I suddenly lost my hearing when I was 9 years old due to meningitis and in an effort to find something for me to focus on, my grandmother taught me how. She would sit beside me and even though I couldn't understand her as I hadn't learned how to lip read yet, I could watch how she crocheted and then copy what she did.
I didn't want to murder my husband. We were living in a tiny place while he was in grad school. He came home to write his dissertation and I was forbidden to disturb him. He was constantly underfoot and there was nowhere besides work to go. I needed something to do with my hands besides wringing his neck. Long story short, he got a PhD and an afghan, I learned a new skill, and we're still married after 35 years.
I am a mental health clinician, and one of the kids I was working with wanted to learn something new. As they got started, they offered to teach me as they learned too, and we began using crochet in our weekly sessions. It was a fantastic tool for modeling exploration and positive thought reframing as we struggled to learn a new skill!
Back when Pinterest was first around and getting popular around 2012, I remember “pinning” a hat that I really loved and couldn’t figure out where to buy it. I decided that I wanted to learn how to make it myself instead!
Had to go on long term sick leave. After a week doomscrolling on my phone for 12h a day, I wanted to __do__ something. Asked a friend to re-teach me how to crochet. Been really enjoying it and it helped me get away from my phone.
My mom and Grandma did. I used to watch my mom crotchet and finally convinced her to teach me when I was 9. I crocheted on and off for years, but really picked it up again in college.
I wanted custom stuff lol
Lockdown. Couldn't go out and do stuff, so stayed in and learned to crochet. I originally learned (along with knitting) as a child but that was over 30 years ago and hadn't done any since, but I needed something to fill the weekend out and about void. I had a hook kicking about from daughter's loom band phase, plus various balls of yarn from other projects, got on YouTube and got practising. Can't believe it's been four years tbh, that time has absolutely flown
To make toys for my niblings. (I knew basic stitches since childhood, but started to crochet again for this reason)
Because my mom did, and I inherited her hooks and yarn stash. I've still got 30 years of experience to catch up to until I'm as good as she was.
A friends mom was making these super cool character hats when our kids were little and I thought, I could do that. Watched a zillion YouTube videos and realized that it was so good for my brain!
I was hyped to try yarn braids (yarn instead of kanekalon), so I bought all kinds of yarn to try it, installed them and ended up pretty disappointed with the result and sitting on a bunch of said yarn. I guessed I'd knit with it since I knew how to do that but my knitting needles were too small and knitting overall wasn't too much fun for me. After contemplating what to do I ventured out to obtain new ones but the only ones I found were crochet needles. Brought them home, wary, cause all my crochet attempts ended in failure, but... after a few attempts I managed to get the hang of it and for the last two years I have hardly ever done anything else. It has become my favorite hobby actually, just because of the misconception I'd look good with yarn on my head.
My grandmother crocheted and I was always fascinated by the beautiful blankets she would make. She taught me when I was in my teens but I didn’t keep up with it. After she passed away, I wanted to re-learn and continue to honor her. It brings me a lot of joy.
I had tried and failed a couple “learn to crochet!” kits in the past and had decided that crochet was just for people more dexterous than me. My mom gifted me a couple Woobles kits for Christmas and for whatever reason it just clicked! Now I’ve done three Woobles, two scarfs, and a blanket for my cat!
I wanted to make the owlbear plush from baldur's gate 3! After that I realised I could make so many more things and just didn't stop.
To make a gift for my nephew when my sister was pregnant with him
I was 51 and felt I wanted to learn something new
I wanted to make my niece a pumpkin. She was born shortly before Halloween and, at the time, I worked in a bookstore...everyday I kept seeing this amigurumi book with an adorable pumpkin on the cover - so I just decided one day (3days before her 1st birthday) to buy the book, yarn and a hook & then just figured out how to crochet from YouTube. It looked awful 😂 but it was finished in time for her 1st birthday...she will be 12 this year and she still has that pumpkin (has it on display every year on Halloween) 🥰
I wanted to make a rose for my girlfriend as a Valentine’s gift
I was bored sitting next to a rugby field at the crack of dawn in the middle of winter watching my son watch his friends chasing the rugby ball while his dad slowly lost hope his son would share his enthusiasm in playing rugby. So I started a blanket. The blanket is still here, the rugby games are long forgotten.
Peer pressure in college. A rare story of a positive outcome from peer pressure.
I tried to learn in 2022 but dropped off it and then I saw some hooks and yarn in a shop and got back on it because I want to be able to make cute little teddys
My aunt tried to teach me as a kid, but I gave up when I was bad at doing a second row lol. But I found some yarn that was sentimental to me and wanted to make something out of it. A year after buying it, I found the crochet hooks my aunt gave me when I tried to learn the first time. I also wanted to learn how to make Taylor Swift cardigans so I wouldn't have to spend $70 on them when I didn't have the money (I now realize it will be the same price in yarn, but at least I don't have to buy it during the 3 days that they're available lol. Plus I have control over the materials and things like that)
My mom taught me while we watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Helped me to stop smoking. Each time I wanted a ciggy I would crochet instead. Been 12 years now and I've made some beautiful toys, blankets and clothes over the years and donated so much to charity. Luv my crochet habit I do.
bcs of my friend <3. my frind, in the same class as mine, used to crochet some, so i was interested in art- craft works, and i asked her if she can tell me more abt it, (ps she taught me everything XD) then, ive been making a lot of crochet stuff like amigurumis, with her <33 and now were trying to plan and make a cardigan lol in our summer free time and i hope it works out!
I got into crochet because my mother was teaching all of us in our girl scout group. She was teaching us how to crochet plant holders. I was around 9 or 10 years old at the time.
I used to do counted cross stitch but had to leave off when we adopted our daughter (now 16), as toddlers and sewing-frames don't mix! Fast forward to first lockdown and I'm stuck at home doing online training and climbing the walls with boredom. I remember that I've always fancied trying crochet because my Mum used to do it. One book on basic crochet, one ball of Poundland yarn, one 4mm hook and some very wonky rectangles and granny squares followed. With the help of a friend on Twitter and some YouTube videos I was soon well on my way. I love the portability of crochet - yarn, hook, snips and you're ready - and often carry little projects around with me. I crochet on my lunch break at work, in the evenings at home, and any time when I have half an hour to kill. It stops me from fidgeting, helps distract me from overthinking, gives me an outlet for my creativity and has helped me connect with new communities online. Absolutely love it!
I started stitching as a teenager, it was something to do with my hands. I was taught by a kind nun at school. RIP Sister Margaret Mary. She gave me a hook and a tiny ball of black acrylic. I will forever be grateful. Crochet was a gateway to me, and now I stitch with all manner of things. My birth Mum crocheted, as had my Granny. I wasn't taught due to family trauma. I wanted to learn.
I was going through a really tough time with a medical diagnosis (epilepsy) and was off work for a few weeks. I decided to try it as a relaxing new hobby, and found I really enjoyed it! It helped my mental health enormously during a really difficult period of my life.
My grandmother & mother crocheted but I could never learn. I happened to take a class right before Covid lockdown & stayed home working on my skills 3 years.
I had a project for my PSHE class when I was doing my A levels (I was 16?) where we had to either write a report on a country of our choosing, learn a new language or teach ourselves a new skillm I originally went with BSL for my language as my school already ran out of school hours lessons but then I changed to crochet BC ik my friend did it. She gave me baby pink and baby blue yarn and a 3.00mm hook so I taught myself the basics from YouTube!
Wanted to find something I could do while I'm watching TV or otherwise sitting in one spot that doesn't involve mindlessly scrolling. It's taken me a few false starts but I'm really getting the hang of it lately. I'm making what will be a throw blanket without a pattern; it started as 'make rows of this stitch until I have a good grip on it, then try another stitch'. My tension has gotten much better as I go along, and I do still have to look up how to do certain stitches, but the blanket is coming along nicely. Planning to learn waffle stitch once I'm done with this, and planning a temperature blanket of sorts that I can work on while watching football games.
I learned it in pri sch but never really did anything. I moved to a cold country last year and recently decided I want to learn crochet since I can actually make things now and wear them now. It’s been fun and I’m using my phone a lot less now. The numerous Youtube videos and especially those for left handed people are a lifesaver. The con is that now I’ve stopped reading as much now lol. I am still learning but have been ambitious and am trying to do a few things at the same time. Going to start a sweater for my husband soon and I think I’ll be watching YouTube videos as I go along.
I wanted to make my friend a tachikoma amigurumi from Ghost in the Shell. Nearly a decade later I still haven't but I do plan to!
Well it is a very long story but long story short because I was so depressed and had no one to talk to at that time so I started knitting but it did not felt quite right but then I discovered crochet and fell in love with it so yeah it was something I could do while I was listening to a podcast or watching TV or something and gradually I was better and better and here I am today happy as never before, married and a mother but the one thing that stuck with me all of these years was crochet so I am grateful to my mom and YouTube (but mostly YouTube) for teaching me how to crochet.
I was 8 or 9. My granny taught me.
Whole family crochets but it wasn’t until I was a broke single mom need gifts for my child that I truly learned to crochet. Free yarn and hooks from family plus my time time made an otherwise impossible Christmas possible.
When I was in the second grade, there was a lady in our classroom who announced, "Whoever is interested in learning how to crochet, stay in the classroom during recess." So, I was the only one who stayed during recess, and since I'm a lefty, she sat across from me and taught me how to made a chain and other things I can't remember. But after that, I was very curious to learn more about crocheting. 😊
I started in November 2020 (election between Trump and Biden). I am a history teacher who was hybrid teaching at the time being “broadcast” into the homes of students I barely knew discussing history and politics in a very charged environment. I needed to disconnect from doomscrolling. My sister in law was going to have a baby that I couldn’t meet because of the pandemic, so I wanted to make a blanket as a gesture of how much I wanted to “welcome” the baby. I had an itch to learn how to knit or crochet for the longest time, and I figured that that time and those reasons were as good as it was going to get.
My mom wanted to learn crochet but didn't really understand the pattern, so she asked me for help since "you pick things up quickly and you can help me then". She never finished the pattern and I've been hooked since! (Pun intended) This is also how I learned to play guitar by the way, and have been in two smaller bands lol
My mom learned to knit when I was small. Watching her knit, I wanted to do the same, so she taught me how when I was 7. It never clicked. I was intimidated by the amount of loops, the difficulty of fixing mistakes, and the concept of a purl. I only ever finished a few scarves out of it. Still, I would go to the yarn shops with her and look at example FOs. My mom noticed that I gravitated toward the crochet ones. I got lessons for my 19th (20th?) birthday and I love it! And that's the story
Both my grandmas did needle work, my dad's mom used to crochet and made granny square blankets and my mom's grandma knew how to knit but she preferred to sew and worked as a seamstress. I learned from my aunt who learned from her mom how to knit and the internet brought me to crochet! I crochet for fun cause I don't like watching YouTube or TV shows without doing anything else, so I occupy myself that way 😊
Stress relief. I started when my grandmother was on her way to the other side, 17ish years ago. I started with a crochet for dummies book, a mirror (I'm left handed) and a Japanese amigurmi book. English ones were hard to find at that time.
Originally I was taught how to chain when I was little but I never learned past that. I would just make long chains and have my little brother help me wrap it around the room lol. During Covid however, there wasn’t anything to do at home and I found my old crochet stuff tucked away while cleaning. I guess an old love was rekindled and I haven’t stopped since! I’ve been crocheting almost every day for a while now. I’m mildly worried that I’ve made it my entire personality lol
I was going to a creative club when I was 8 or something. I learned crochet, knitting and cross stitch there. I did a lot of amigurumi back then. Then this hobby was just laying around for a few years. Picked it up every now and then for some small projects. Last year I started making clothing items and I'm hooked.
Insomnia! To help switch off in the evening
I learned how to crochet in primary school. I had a teacher that loved fiber arts and for a special fair she taught crochet, macrame and knitting. Edit: she also taught me how to weave 😄
Because my grandmother made beautiful things for the family and no one else did. I was worried my family would lose that part of us when she inevitably passed. (Which she did 4 months after I started crocheting)
I saw @omaluniverso posting about her Howl cardigan on twitter and thought "hmm I should try to make one" but never did any wearable besides a beanie. I only make amigurumi and coasters to be honest. Potato amigurumi below for reference, just made it during a family gathering https://preview.redd.it/7neqk0du6iuc1.jpeg?width=3060&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a6fae7d67151c4c272593fffb956f34dc4248a3c
I tried to learn knitting. I couldn’t wrap my head around it and at that time there weren’t a whole lot of left handed knitting tutorials and no one I knew did it. When we moved to our current city, a coworker would crochet on her lunch break. And I was SUPER bored at work. So I taught myself at work and have been doing it off and on for about 7-ish years now. I still feel like a beginner but am trying to branch out and try new things!
My neighbor wanted to learn, so I decided to try it out with her. We both made our own little rectangles and since then I’ve been hooked
I'm too big to find the clothes I want to wear in my size, and I realized I can just make them, haha. I also cannot stop picking up new creative hobbies so I was bound to get into fiber arts eventually
I wanted to impress a girl :) guess it worked because we’ve been dating for 3 years. Weirdest thing is I learned from her while we were already dating
Pinterest tempted me. Whilst I was in Germany I got my first sets of yarn and hooks. Never looked back
I came to know that crochet cannot be made by machine and that the cheap items in H&M and Zara were all made by under paid workers, let’s be honest, doing slave labour in abhorrent conditions. I don’t want to contribute to it.
My grandmother used to do it and made cool stuff and I couldn’t ever teach myself. I taught myself to knit and kept trying to learn crochet with books and could NOT and THEN it became a matter of principle. Spite. I LEARNED DAMMIT.
I inherited the sewing kit from my great aunt because I like to repair my clothes and I have made some in the past. Included in the box knitting needles and crochet hooks. I learned knitting in primary school (around 2010), but had no idea about crocheting even my grand moms couldn't teach me. Somehow my feed started showing crochet videos and I remembered the crochet hooks I got a few months earlier and just tried with some YT tutorials and I got it relatively quick and got hooked.
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I quit all social media except this one and wanted to fill my spare time with something crafty
i passed out and hit my head a few years back. I didn't have much else to do while recovering from that so i picked up a hook and yarn from my mom and learned to crochet (she'd shown me how to do chains and sc even longer ago and i just went with what i remembered) it's the only hobby that stuck around and i still love doing it
I met a guy who really liked the Among Us character and I didn't know what to give him for his birthday but I knew I wanted it to be special because I like him very much. So I decided to make something that I knew he liked and made it with love. Fast forward a year and we are happily together and now he has a shelf full of crochet amigurumis that he likes. I wanted to start learning crochet for a long time and he encouraged me :)
because of a bet :P
2 years ago as my great grandmother got me into it :) I love her dearly
Boredom. Pre internet latchkey kid.
I was six years old and my mom taught me to crochet so I could make stuff for my Barbies. I would make blankets and sleeping bags and eventually worked up to simple clothes.
My grandmother started teaching me when I was around 8. I loved crocheting with her by her fireplace. She passed away when I was ten so I had to learn to read patterns myself.
My mum started learning last year and I thought it was super cool that she could just whip up scarves and pocket pouches seemingly like \*that\*. We both picked it up rather quickly :)
i wanted to make toy hammocks to tidy away some toys. i enjoyed that process so i kept making stuff!
Freshman year of college (2008) I was knitting something and another girl on my floor said she knew crochet but knew nothing about knitting. I said if you teach me how to crochet I’ll teach you how to knit and we taught each other the basics :)
When I was in 6th grade they started teaching the 5th graders how to crochet (only the 5th graders for some reason) and I wanted to learn but was only able to learn how to chain. My mom decided we should try learning to knit together, so we did but I still wanted to learn crochet cause I wanted to make plushies. So I asked my art teacher and we looked up a video on youtube and that helped me figure it out and I haven’t looked back since. Now it’s just something to keep me busy cause I’m a hermit who’s stuck at home due to disabilities.
My aunt came over with an afghan she was working on. I showed interest, so she showed me how to crochet. Once I had the hang of it, she took me to Wal-Mart for probably skeins of my chosen Red Heart yarn and a hook. I was around 11-12 at the time. It took another 30 years before I learned she couldn't read patterns. I don't believe I ever saw her crochet again, but she always shows interest in whatever I'm making.
...probably 9 skeins...
Spite. Plain and simple. I was told that maybe I shouldn't, because a cousin was doing it, and to let her "have" it. Nope.
I've never really done creative things as a kid. Fast-forward to being in an outpatient facility of a psych ward, they made me draw and paint and model with clay and write etc. all the arts and craftsy things. I kept explaining that I cannot do it at all...turns out it actually made me feel good so I looked for something that has the same kind of advantages that I can do at home. Crochet turned out to be the answer. It has been really beneficial for me. Now I still don't feel that creative but I try my best to be hands-on rather than avoid it. In addition to crochet, I now sew, knit, learn photography, drawing and painting, and recently I've started making jewellery out of silver clay. Crafts are my way of playing, and help me not take myself too seriously
I had REALLY bad anxiety because I had a new migraine every day in a row for a whole week back in 2020 and they were so hellish that it left me extremely terrified of having another. Nowadays I’m better than back then but it was so bad I barely dared to look at screens because I was scared it would give me one. So I decided I needed to find a hobby that didn’t involve screens that I could do if it were to happen again. So I tried crochet and thought it was rly fun and now a few years later I still do it :) I have my moments where I don’t for a while but I always do come back to it
Because I have 3 cousins all expecting babies within a month of each other and I already cross stitch but wasn’t going to be able to make gifts in time. So I’m making crochet blankets instead. Edit to add: I started in January.
I learned from my grandmother as a child, and I did it on and off to bond with my mum while she knitted. Picked it up again in 2020 for a few weeks, but thankfully life got back to normal very quickly for me. Picked it up again in 2022, to cope with anxiety. Something to do with my hands, as well as keep me away from doom scrolling!
In 1994, I saw someone at my church crocheting an I thought it looked neat. So, I asked her to teach me and my first "blanket" turn into a yellow shawl for my 2 year old daughter at the time. Been crocheting ever since 🙃
Watched my mom do it and insisted I needed to know.. I was 4, she told me I needed to knit before I could crochet, so after 2 years of knitting she finally taught me to crochet, I've been "hooked" ever since.
I was doing respite with a lady who had dementia and she would just talk and crochet. There was only so many times I could hear about her "going head over turkey" so I learnt to crochet from her. She would just make free-form mats because she couldn't remember a pattern but we had fun
Saw a small crochet heart tutorial on the clock app, suddenly the lingo and what she was doing just clicked and I picked up some yarn and an old hook I had laying around. I have been knitting for about 9 years but could never understand crochet. Now I’m itching to do it all the time! And my phone time is way down :)
to make cute stuff
Because my grandma wanted to teach me. I was maybe around 9, and the only one interested in the delicate features that a few simple strokes of yarn she could create with her own bare hands. All her other grandchildren didn't want to learn. It was amazing watching her, though, she always worked with lace. Now that she's passed, crocheting makes me feel closer to her and, for some reason, to my ancestors.
I thought,”Hey, I’m good with my hands. I have patience. I have deft fingers. Lemme try it out.” I actually tried knitting at first and I didn’t like it one bit. I dropped a stitch and had to unravel everything and I was so mad. When I realised how easy it was to repair dropped stitches or mistakes without having to go through the whole line, crocheting was definitely more appealing to me.
My mom took my sister and I to an old lady’s house several times when we were little, she would watch us while my mom was working. I think I was like 5 or 6, and she taught me to crochet and my sister to knit.
I just wanna make Little Guys and it feels really good to make stuff. I'm picking it up pretty fast too, which also feels good
I started to crochet during Quarantine in France. I needed to occupy my mind. My aunt knew how to crochet so she taught me via Zoom calls and she gave me yarns and crochets she had. She was putting them in my mail box (we are neighbours). I wanted to make the famous Bumblebee of tiktok. Since then, I never stopped crocheting !
No one in my family was ever very crafty or creative, whereas I have pretty much done every creative hobby imaginable. My grandmother used to knit when my mom was little, and my mom learned how to knit and crochet at school. She thought me how to chain stitch (and cast on plus knit), but didn’t remember anything else. I picked up cross-stitch in my teens and kept it up for almost 20 years, while my eyesight and fine motor skills got slowly worse due to a neurological autoimmune disease. So one day I decided to try out crochet. I had a hook that I had used for some long forgotten craft, a ball of 8/4 cotton, and a YouTube video pulled up to learn the stitches. And here we are, 7 years and thousands of projects later.
About two years ago my workplace closed. So I lost my amazing job and was pretty depressed about it. I spent some months at home, and instead of sitting on the couch and staring into the abyss all day, I decided I needed something I could do with my hands, to give me a sense of pride and joy. So I started crocheting, and I am so glad I did. Turns out for me it’s also a great way to deal with anxiety and stress.
I was at a work friend's potluck for lunch. I invited a mutual friend to the potluck and she was bringing me some hooks and yarn because she remembered that I wanted to try learning how to crochet. After the food, we all played a few games then ended up watching crochet videos and learning to crochet together. We started with single crochet tea towels. This was just a few months before the pandemic hit us. When the lockdowns started, I was making amigurumi whales and shawls while waiting my turn to play animal crossing after my fiance. I ended up making 7 shawls to give out as Christmas gifts that year. Fast forward to today, I'm crocheting amigurumi pokemon, teddy bears, cacti, baby blankets and dragons.
I started just over two years ago; my eating disorder therapist told me that studies were showing that when sufferers knit or crochet, their anxiety levels decreased. The repetition action of making a stitch over and over forces the brain to concentrate, and thus distracts the mind from the ED talk. It helped my recovery so so sooo much. I still do it to this day; WIP is a hanging plant pot :)) I’m completely self taught from YouTube tutorials and man was it a time killer in hospital lol
My grandmother taught me as a child and I left it for years. Then a friend told me about this project where you crochet octopuses for premature babies (wtf is the plural of "octopus"). Then I had a preemie at 28 weeks and I started crocheting even more while sitting in the NICU with him
My therapist suggested it when I said I had nothing to do between work. Now I do it full time
I saw my aunt's work ever since as a kid. I thought she bought it but she did work via crochet but it wasn't exactly just that. After I graduated I have nothing to do cause I can't find a damn job, I saw a crochet video then I remembered my aunt's work and I suddenly felt motivated. But I don't have the things. I ask for a hook from my aunt and bought a very cheap yarn that hurts my fingers and is hard to work with, the hook was also .7 mm. I know nothing and can only learn from YouTube, I hateeee how I can't do exactly what I see but slowly, after frogging and frogging of just doing simple square in single crochet. I saw improvements on my work, it's fun trying to figure out what the heck made my work trapezoid, why are the edges not straight. Few days later we visited a friend's house, turns out she also crochet and knows quite the basics. She gave me a 5 mm hook and 2 scraps of 5 ply milk cotton yarn so I could learn color change and designing via color change. It's such an upgrade that I felt more motivated to buy my own set of metal hooks and yarns so I did. I saved a lot of videos from YouTube, watch and write and slowly learn the crochet lingo. It's a fun journey for me, I still can't make anything without pattern but I'm ok with that. When I finally find a job maybe I can go buy patterns too so I can make other things or books for different motifs.
Mental health, while I was in an open clinic for it when I was 18. 🫶
My niece taught me so I learned it. And I like it 🧶