Crochet: The art of grandma
Written By Juline Lussiana
EDITED BY MARGARET LICUP
This article will be about crocheting. Because, well, though I don’t know a lot about it, it is probably the only thing I know most about. So, here I go. My guess is that if you’re reading this article, you either are ‘interested in crochet’ or ‘already know way more than the author in terms of crochet’. Perhaps you also just clicked on this article due to extreme boredom. It’s okay. I mean, reading a school magazine due to boredom? Questionable, but very well then.
I actually began crocheting a while ago though it depends on your definition of a while. I’d say I started around 6 months ago. Surprisingly enough, I’m a bit of an ambitious person — though this doesn’t mean I’m not lazy. Like the type that’d admire people boxing, say that they’d take boxing classes, and ultimately end up never even seeing a boxing ring.
Well, it all really began when I happened upon someplace on the internet — ambiguity purely unintentional, I really just can’t remember where — that had a video of crocheting. The video really caught my attention as the plushie was adorable and my mum was pregnant at that time. So yes. In a totally unrealistic way, my goal as a beginner was to crochet a whole plushie that’d probably end up getting destroyed by an evil little baby.
Crocheting could’ve ended up being something like the boxing situation and might’ve never gone anywhere, but it did. I surmise the reason for my sudden dedication to crochet was my mum. She didn’t mind my crazy dreams about boxing, though she was especially excited about crocheting as it would be for my devilish sister. Admittedly, my mum is… a little crazy (non-derogatory). In a good way(?)! Actually, in a really, really stubborn way.
Once I’d talked about it, crochet wasn’t just an ‘idea’ anymore. She took me to the yarn shop two days later and suddenly boom — no excuses. She asked about my progress everyday so eventually, I had to get started. I planned to make an entire fox considering they’re cool and dangerous and I ended up crocheting the whole head! At the time I was very proud of myself, even beginning to imagine my next project. Another creature, this time a yeti. I knew I wasn’t even halfway on finishing the fox but, oh well. Abandoning the fox (only a head, which made it even sadder), I started on my yeti planning to send it to my best friend who was across the globe and the spirit of giving sending her something gave me all the motivation I needed considering making a plushie for someone ‘real, alive, and kicking’ rather than a baby really helped me. I finished it.
Yep, this is it. Not perfect or anything but the furry texture helped a lot to mask the errors. By the way, this isn’t at all my own design but if you recognise where it’s from, then I love you a lot (like a lot).
I looked back at my fox and well… started seeing all the imperfections. It was my first thing ever made, so the stitches were irregular, messy, and way too loose. You could see the stuffing through. And ambitious and perfectionistic me didn’t like it. So I totally forced myself to forget about it and wanted to try crocheting a whole doll instead for my baby sister because why not.
This is a gigantic doll foot. Took me 8 hours of work to realize that the whole doll was going to be enormous. And I honestly also didn’t have enough energy for such a long project. Another abandoned plushie.
After that, I actually stopped crocheting for a while. Why? Classes. Classes equal less time.
And then my sister was born three months after the start of my crochet journey. I did feel bad not having anything for her but she was way too young to care anyway. But my mum was still there and so I started to crochet again. Everything but plushies (trying to forget about the fox, remember?).
Sweater, dungies, and umm… that’s a lot less than what I thought. I did do baby pants too. But that's it, I think. Still felt like a whole lot. And I didn’t finish any of them.
Here they are. I haven’t given these ones up!! (yet)
My mum, even though she liked seeing me doing crochet in general, really wanted a plushie for the baby; she made herself pretty clear about that.
And then boom — lockdown. And about 2 weeks ago I finally got myself back together. I was motivated enough to continue on the fox, oh wow. Forcing myself to forget about it meant that it was hidden at the very bottom of my closet. I did forget how awful it was.
However, the motivated me doesn’t take no for an answer. So I un-crocheted the whole head. Does un-crocheted mean anything? No, but you know what I mean (right?). And I again began the fox from the very start. And in 3 days (super motivation still there) I finished it.
I was so proud. I actually kept my mouth shut about it so it was a surprise to my family and, again, it's so rare that I actually end up finishing something. Well, I sure was very proud.
Hehe, I know. Really cute right? Well, any of you could do it and that’s the cool thing. I think this model should be one of the very first you find when typing ‘fox amigurumi’ on youtube. Yes, Amigurumi is the fancy name for crochet plushie.
Crochet also really helped me with class. How? Let’s say I’m not very good at paying attention in class as I get bored very easily and need to do something with my hands. Crochet helped me listen instead of putting my attention on social media. Now, I crochet while I listen to meetings because though my hands may be full, my ears are still 100% functional. It’s also a really nice thing to do while listening to podcasts or music considering you don’t have to think too much because crochet is quite repetitive. It truly is perfect.
I received my yarn delivery earlier today and it is what pushed me to write this article. I don’t know if you already have something that is like crochet to me, but I hope you do. Because well, it is pretty damn cool. So. This really long — and, well, quite boring — article is your sign. A sign for what, you may ask. To start crochet, to start another thing, To start anything you have on your mind right now. Maybe you started doing something and ended up quitting. And that’s alright. But if you do want to do it, this is your sign. You can ignore it if you want, but at least I tried right?
I hope that you survived reading this long article of me ranting about my life. Have a wonderful day (or night)! And hopefully, you’ll remember to just do whatever it is that makes you happy ;).
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