Who inspired you most to start crocheting?

[kiwikitti]

I actually learned in girl scouts but just the very very basics. I remember just kind of making things just a little and going with it since I didn't know much more than a sc. I made lots of triangular shaped things since I had no clue how to make proper rounds or anything. Then around 14 years later I picked it up again and actually went to the library and taught myself to read patterns, how to join, how to properly join yarn without just tieing it onto the end of the stand. But at that point I wanted to learn more because I saw all those pretty homemade items and decided that when I finally get my own apartment, I want the homemade blankets over the couch and the comfy pillows and warm scarves to wear. So, after the girl scouts, I basically inspired myself to crochet so I could have all those blankets!

[nnt]

My mother dabbled in all kinds of crafts when I was a kid (painting, puzzles, cross stitch, crochet, knitting) and I loved watching her work and BEGGED her to let me "help" (I'm sure I was a lot of help, too!). She showed me how to crochet FINALLY when I was 10, and when I learned my grandmother and both great-grandmothers also crocheted, well, that kind of sealed the deal for me. My mom says I crochet better than she does now, though.

[sonnets_and_stitches]

The pastor's wife in the church I was raised in. I still have the hook she taught me on.

 

:manyheart

[alibra]

My Aunt (godmother) she took the time to teach a nine year old lefty the art of crochet. She spent many hours with me, and here am I at the ripe young age of 56 cherishing her memory and her art.

[CheekyR]

Someone way back in college. She was making the prettiest afghan and taught me. It was a simple single crochet ripple pattern and I was "hooked" immediately!

[remclave]

My macrame class in 9th grade. It was one of the knotting crafts that was discussed (as an adjunct?) as an optional way to knot fibers.

[jessicathegranny]

When I went to college, we had a learn how to crochet party at my dorm (for the non-drinkers, non-party types). I wasn't able to go to it since i had to work but my aunt taught me how. From that point on I sat in my room a lot and crocheted.

[Threecats]

I saw a rug that a neighbor made and I knew I had to learn. I bought some yarn and a book and taught myself how to crochet. It was a natural extension of my sewing hobby.

[kmeiding]

I met two twin sisters who taught me how to crochet my sophomore year of college. Unfortunately, one of them died earlier this summer of meningitis.

[eebrs]

Although my mom taught me, it has been my son that keeps me crocheting. He loves the finished toys and thinks that you can solve anything through crocheting!

[Lefthook]

Me. I wanted to learn, so I got a book.

[momo]

I was taught by my grandmother as a child, but did not really get into it till I was in my 20's and grandma unfortunately was gone by that time so she never got to see what she taught me.

[mrscopperbottom]

My grandmother inspired me to learn. She crocheted me a lovely afghan to take with me to college years ago. She passed away back in 2001 and I just recently began to get serious about crochet. I started learning it on my own as a way to remember her because now that I look back on it, I should have asked her to teach me but by the time I wanted to learn, it was too late.

I still have the afghan and use it every winter as extra covering on my bed.

It is one of my most loved and used possessions.

[Warrior Princess]

My grandmother tried to teach me as a child, but I was left handed and couldn't figure it out. She made everyone afghans, and we had potholders galore. She made some really beautiful doilies and dresses for our dolls. She couldn't stand the sight of a naked doll, so when we were bored with our doll clothes, we'd strip them before going to visit Grandma, before we went home at the end of the day, we'd have a new dress for dolly! After I got married and moved away, I decided I needed a creative outlet and bought a skein of yarn and a booklet and taught myself. I just loved the idea that I could take a lump of yarn and turn it into a blanket. I gave her my first afghan as a birthday present. I didn't tell her I had learned and she was so pleased and surprised. She passed away a few years ago and I'm the only other person in the family who crochets. I inheirited her stash and all of her hooks. I plan on using some of it to make something for my mom for Christmas and for a baby afghan when my brother has kids.

[treasurehunter]

no one did. after i had my son and became a stay at home mom i needed a hobby to keep me sane so i took a class at a local high school. i just picked it out of their little catalog

[Titus2woman]

I was inspired by myrecycledbags.com . A dulcimer e-friend read on my blog that I wanted to learn, so she sent me a complete get started package! I've been at it two weeks maybe? and I've found Lullabiesandlace.com and drool over EVERYTHING I wanna make for my daughter. Just now I opened up the felting part of the forum~MAN! I wanna do it all! TODAY! LOL! (((((HUGS))))) sandi

[threadlover]

My Grandma.

Marcia

[FancyFingers]

I suppose you could say I was inspired by my great-aunt (my grandmother's sister), who gave me a crocheted "bookworm" when I was a child. I was fascinated watching her work. I only ever saw her a few times before she died, so that is pretty much all I remember about her.

 

Skip forward 20 years, and I had the urge to learn to knit and crochet. I started with knitting thinking it must be easier ("only 2 stitches" as opposed to the millions of stitches the crocheters I knew seemed to use). A few years later I got up the nerve to try crochet and discovered it was easy! One of the first things I did was make a bunch of bookworms for all my little cousins in memory of my Aunt Nellie.

[Jeanie]

My Mom got me started into crochet and some other crafts. My grandma knitted but I was never quite able to get it.

[The_Virginia_Hooker]

I honestly don't know. My mom owned the book i learned from, but she didn't inspire or teach me to.

 

Maybe Vanna White did. I remember thinking "Hmm, she's on TV, wears these glamorouos gowns, and she loves crochet?" when i picked up the "Vanna's A to Z Afghans" book that i learned crochet from.

[snefferdoodle]

I was inspired by co-workers. About 4 of them were working on Christmas gifts during lunch hours and the only one who was willing to teach me (a righty) was a lefty! I didn't do very well on that project and put my hook away for a long time.

[Real Deal]

My Mom taught me. I'm left handed and she was right handed. She and my grandmother (her mom) both knit and crocheted. Today, between my sisters and myself, 3 of us crochet and 1 knits.

Real Deal

[jojamali]

my mother (and her mother, and her mother ) crocheted. my mom taught me the chain when i was little, but she always refused to teach me anything else until i was 32. i was living in another state, and one summer when visitng her, i "demanded" that she teach me a stitch. mom finally taught me the double crochet, and then helped me with my first blanket.

 

i wanted to make lots of stuff, not just afghans, but since i lived 3 states away from her, it seemed impossible. i had no help, no support and so stopped working on anything for 7 years.

 

my mother was always ill with a long list of health conditions. Four years ago she was in the hospital for the last time with kidney failure due to diabetes (and other stuff). in disbelief that she would die and leave me, i went to michaels with my aunt, who wanted to look at yarn. i saw some pretty yarn, black micro soft, with a shawl pattern on the label. i asked my aunt if it was an easy pattern, and she had replied yes. i bought the yarn, and started the shawl. mom died 5 days later.

 

i finished the shawl, and bought a how-to book on crocheting. I read it front to back, and put that knowledge towards making other patterns. i was never told that a newbie couldn't/shouldn't make a long chevron sweater by herself. it turned out beautiful, and i was amazed that it actually fit!!!

 

since that time, i have tried my hand at many projects. most have turned out, with only a few flops. my dad gave me some of my mom's yarn (8 30 gallon garbage cans worth!), all her crochet magazines and hooks. by crocheting with mom's yarn, using her patterns, and by teaching others, i keep her spirit alive.

 

thanks, mom

 

joni

[Lavelle26]

Ummm...does myself count as an answer? No one really inspired me since no one I really knew crocheted. I just wanted to learn and so I did. Later on in my life I learned that my grandmother (who passed away when I was about 9 years old) crocheted. I even have some of her beautiful threadwork that she made. I now think of her whenever I work with thread.

[chrispersmom]

My mom taught me when I was 10 yrs old. Then , she and I would work on granny squares that she would make into blankets and we would make tons of different sized houseshoes and then she would sell them to feed us, pay bills , whatever. My Dad was an alcoholic and he never contributed much. Often on christmas morning, he didn't even know what we had or where it had come from. She also kept lots of baby blankets, booties and sweaters made and then whenever someone had a baby shower, people would flood our house to buy them.

 

Sadly, I don't own one thing that she ever made and when I had my son, she was blind and crippled in one arm, so my baby never got to wear one of her lovely sweaters or cover up and cuddle one of her blankies. I have been looking for someone that has something that she made, in hopes that I could buy it, but no one wants to part with them. Instead, my baby wore things that I made. But , she taught me, so that gives her a very big part in it I guess. She never read patterns, most of her things were things that just came from her head. My son, now 5, was 4 when she passed last year and I am just so grateful that he got to know her. He was her little sweetheart and I always tell him that mommy learned to make him all of his beautiful things from his special maw maw. He likes that. And so do I .........it's something special that we always shared.