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Who inspired you most to start crocheting?


Guest lillian1969

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Hello everyone, my name is Terri and here's my story.

 

I was inspired to crochet by my mother who is now 89yrs old. She taught me when I was 3yrs old, and over the years I would periodically pick up some thread/yarn and a needle. I am now disabled and caregiver for my mother, so I have alot of spare time on my hands, so I decided to start crocheting again, and I just can't seem to put that needle and thread down. There are so many things I want to make, but my biggest interest is in Victorian crochet and crocheted Angels. I have many friends who now want me to make things for them, so I'm sure I will be quite busy. I will always have to thank my mother for teaching me such a beautiful craft. The angel projects have turned out just beautiful. So far I have made 8 and have 2 to put together. This is just a great craft and very relaxing.

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i made a crochet baby blanket for my daughter because a cousin had done it, it was my first and last project... then one day while i was walking my daughter in her stroller with the blanket, a sweet old lady stopped me and told me waht a nice blanket i had made. she had been crocheting for years and showed me all the pretty things she has made, and form that momment on i fell inlove with yarn and hooks. my mom taught me how to thread crochet when i was really little... but thread was not my thing so i never picked it up and eventually forgot my stitches. i had to relearn everyhting. that sweet lady helped me so much and my dh got me crocheting for idiots' book.

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My grandmother got me into it. When I was little, she taught me the basic chain and I would crochet nonstop until the entire skein of yarn was used up. She always used to ask me what she was going to do with 100 yards of chain. She tried to teach me the next step, but it never stuck. For my 10th birthday, she made me a ripple afghan that I cherish.

 

Fast forward many years to my last pregnancy. I was stuck on bedrest for a long time. Both of my sisters are scrapbookers, but I just couldn't get into it. However, I wanted to be able to make something for my kids that they would be able to pass on through the years. I knew how to make the basic chain even though I hadn't touched a crochet hook in over 20 years. I picked up the kit "I Taught Myself to Crochet" from a craft store. Within a couple of days, I was able to make an actual square (well, it looked like a square to me!). I presented it to my grandmother on her birthday. She cried because she was so proud of me.

 

My son is almost 2 and I've made tons of blankets on my own. I still have a hard time following a pattern, so I just kind of put something together that I think will look pretty. My favorite yarns are the variegated kind!

 

For Christmas this year, my grandmother took that sad little square I made her, put it in a shadow box, and gave it to me to hang at my home. She wrote on the back that she's never been so proud of anybody. I looked at it and realized how much I've improved in 2 years' time. When I told her that I started crocheting because of her, she encouraged me to try a ripple afghan next. I came home and started searching for pointers! Wish me luck...

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My grandmother got me into it. When I was little, she taught me the basic chain and I would crochet nonstop until the entire skein of yarn was used up. She always used to ask me what she was going to do with 100 yards of chain. She tried to teach me the next step, but it never stuck. For my 10th birthday, she made me a ripple afghan that I still cherish.

 

Fast forward many years to my last pregnancy. I was stuck on bedrest for a long time. Both of my sisters are scrapbookers, but I just couldn't get into it. However, I wanted to be able to make something for my kids that they would be able to pass on through the years. I knew how to make the basic chain even though I hadn't touched a crochet hook in over 20 years. I picked up the kit "I Taught Myself to Crochet" from a craft store. Within a couple of days, I was able to make an actual square (well, it looked like a square to me!). I presented it to my grandmother on her birthday. She cried because she was so proud of me.

 

My son is almost 2 and I've made tons of blankets on my own. I still have a hard time following a pattern, so I just kind of put something together that I think will look pretty. My favorite yarns are the variegated kind!

 

For Christmas this year, my grandmother took that sad little square I made her, put it in a shadow box, and gave it to me to hang at my home. She wrote on the back that she's never been so proud of anybody. I looked at it and realized how much I've improved in 2 years' time. When I told her that I started crocheting because of her, she encouraged me to try a ripple afghan next. I came home and started searching for pointers! Wish me luck...

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My dear mother (rest her soul) taught me to crochet at around the age of 8 (I'm pushing 40 now) It was not an easy task as I am a lefty and she a righty. I would sit for hours and watch her, she never followed a pattern she could just look at something and go home and make it. I lost my DM 2 yrs. ago and still miss her terribly. I have really got back into crocheting in the last 2 yrs. (guess it makes me feel closer somehow):coffee:hook

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My aunts and Mom. My mom couldn't crochet but could knit and I tried many times to learn but never did , my aunts crocheted but couldn't teach me , I picked it up from a book. They could only crochet something after someone showed them how but I learned how to read the patterns and was able to crochet anything with a pattern. I am currently learning how to knit using the continental method and am doing pretty good. I did 25 rows the other night when I started so , for me, that's pretty good.

 

Wendyb532

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I didn't need inspiration to learn to crochet. My mom was always crocheting or doing other needlework and wanted to teach me. I resisted and taught myself. She and I are the only ones in the family who crocheted, sewed and loved antiques. She's been gone for 20 years now.

 

My mother-in-law crocheted also and only used thread and small hooks I have a tablecloth she made about 50 or 60 years ago. When she made herself a new one I asked her for the old one. :hug

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I envy those of you who had a relative to share the learning process and connect with. I was 16 and it was the 70's. I had bought a georgeous crocheted shawl and everytime I wore it to school, one or more classmates would ask me if I had made it and, until then, it didn't occur to me that I COULD have made it. I bought a copy of McCall's Crochet magazine and used the directions in the back to teach myself. I had a whole wardrobe of shawls that year. Sincew then I've made a ton of afghans but only recently (Aug or so of this year) expanded to sweaters. I just can't stop making them! I tried knitting by hand but am really akward and slow. I have a couple knitting machines to use when I want to knit something. I think one of the things I like about crochet is that there is no "crochet machine" and has to be hand worked.

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My mother taught me to crochet when I was about 7, 27 years ago. I remember watching her do granny squares, and being amazed at her speed and 'sureness'. She taught herself out of a library booklet, and could make anything she wanted to make very quickly.

 

And she taught me that crochet can be as cheap or as expensive as you can afford, and still be useful and fun. If she had some $$ to spend, she bought fine yarns and made something nice. And if she was broke, she bought clearance yarn in unwanted colors, and still made something useful and nice. She still goes to thrift stores and buys old fashioned sweaters to take apart and use for the wool or yarn. She made me feel that ALL crochet is beautiful and worthwhile, even a plain sc cotton potholder or dishcloth made with odds and ends.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My two best friends, definitely. They were alwasy chatting about hooks and yarn and this and that and I felt so left out!! LOL! So I picked up a beginner's kit and taught myself--now they laugh and laugh at me about my latest idea for a project and the amount of yarn I have stashed away from my hubby. LOL!

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My mother taught me when I was much younger but my inspiration came when my daughter opened KPixie.com and I got to got try some truly fabulous yarns that I didn't know existed! So it's the yarns that actually inspire me.

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When I was 8, a lady down the street could crochet beautifully. My mom crocheted a little bit. We visited the neighbor lady every Sunday. During a visit, I begged her to teach me. She held the hook with a pencil grip and I just didn't get it. I held it with a knife grip. I worked so hard on my stitches. She told me that I was holding the hook backwards and I would not be able to get my stitches right unless I held the hook right. (she didn't know any better.)

 

When I was 26, I had taught a friend to knit. She had knitted a lovely sweater and it said to crochet some shells around the collar. she asked if I could crochet and I told her that I did it backwards but I would give it a try. I did it. It worked. I've been crocheting ever since.

 

The lady that taught me is now 82. We have spoken about the hook grip and she is amazed at how fast I can crochet. Perhaps it's because I do it backwards. =)

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I was taught by my ex-step-MIL almost 35 years ago! Thank you Ruth!! I remember having a tough time catching on at first, but I was determined to do it! It just takes practice and perseverence! :yes

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My brother-in-law, he is so talented and when he gave a beautiful blanket for my son's baby shower, I know I had to learn to crochet. He tried to teach me but he had no patience for it.(not everyone is a teacher) So I gave up for a time until my hubby and I moved north. I meet the most wonderful woman in my apartment building and she was a stay at home mom as well. Now that is history, she taught me to crochet in one afternoon. I am forever grateful to her for teaching me this beautiful art.

 

I have since moved away but not before I presented her with a baby blanket for the bundle she was carrying.

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Definitely my ma. She's good at knitting, crocheting, cooking, sewing, all sorts of hand-work.

 

I wasn't too much into doing stuff like her as a kid, but now I'm realizing what skills she has. And if I could crochet half as good as she does, I'd be really happy about that.

 

It's cool that we can talk about & exchange patterns and stuff.

 

...So yeah, my crochet inspiration is my ma.:cheer

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Definitely my grandma. She would knit and crochet and craft all day long. We always talked about having her teach me, but then I grew up, time went by and then she passed on. A few years after she died, I pulled out a crocheted baby afghan that she had made for one of my sons and really wanted to honor her memory by learning to crochet myself and continue the tradition of making afghans for my kids and my grandkids. So, I bought myself the leaflet "I Can't Believe I'm Crocheting" and the rest is history.

 

Typing this post up in this thread brings back those same memories of when I was missing my grandma and first decided to learn to crochet. Thanks for that.

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Oh that was definately my great grandma. she used to sit crocheting all the time and then at school they started crochet activitities so i decided that was for me but could not pick it up at school so my great grandma taught and i think she would be proud of me now if she could see my work.:hook:manyheart

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I was inspired by the lack of flu shots a little while back! I thought I would start to crochet to make a bunch of scarfs (I'm a vocal teacher so I gotta protect the pipes) and I have been addicted ever since!

 

But if my Grandma asks, she was my inspiration.

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My mom was and still is my biggest inspiration regarding crocheting. I actually crochet more than she does anymore. My mom taught me when I was 4 years old. It stuck and I keep telling her thank you over and over for teaching me. She has left me with this advice "Teach children when they want to learn something...even if you think, they are too young. Wanting to learn is the greatest motivator. Even if they can't do it by themselves, they have the desire to learn." So she taught me when I was really little....I could make the best chains..:lol

 

I was blessed with both grandmothers who crocheted. So I always had it around. But my grandmothers didn't live close by, so it was my mom who had the greatest impact.:manyheart

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My mother taught me to crochet, knit, embroider, and sew. She does them all and still does at 69. If I need something knitted I just show her I need and she will do it for me. I have to crochet my own stuff, though occasionally I get some things here and there.

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