How do you feel Crochet enriches your life ?

[Katchkan]

I know we all crochet here or we wouldn't be here reading this.

 

But I was thinking ( I know dangerous activity ) about how crochet is a part of my life.

I look around me and I see my doilies, runners, curtins, lampshades, edgings on my towel, and a whole lot more around me. The list goes on and on. So I gain beauty in my life from what I do.

If I want to, I can also keep myself warm by crocheting clothing and afghans. I love wrapping myself up in one of my shawls to watch a movie and crochet.

But I also gain from the wonderful feeling of accomplishment when I finish a piece. The joy of creating is also important to me. That's why I love to design. Sometimes it is just being able so sit down and work on a mindless project, which helps me deal with other stresses in my life. You know soothing and relaxing.

I also have gained from coming into contact and sharing with all the great people out there who share my passion. It has been so rewarding to meet and get to know so many of you.

 

So how do You feel crocheting contributes to your life?

[tammymae]

I think crochet is a great stress reliever....its like therapy....it also gives you the opportunity to create something special for someone you love....something they can never find in the mass market....its also affords you the chance to make some extra money, if that's your goal... there's just too many to list, but that's a couple of my thoughts....

[vonnie]

Crochet keeps me sane, well as sane as I can be...LOL We travel for DH job, in a motorhome and car......DH works 8 days on, 7 days off, when he works we are out of state in our motorhome, he will work a 11 hour (at least) day so I am in the motorhome alone for long periods of time....I crochet (an internet) and then we travel home, by car, usually 12 to 14 hours one way so I crochet, this keeps me from going crazy. I make lots of afghans for the hospital chemo and teen pregancy centers. Keeps my hands limber and my mind awake..... Crocheting is very addictive to me...

[auntbubbels]

Crochet has allowed me to make friends, via C'Ville, that I probably wouldn't have met otherwise. Since I try to donate squares for comfortghans, it has also allowed me to make other people feel special when they are down and out. I also try to donate as much as possible and don't think I would have done any of the above without my desire to Crochet.

 

I feel really good when I can put a smile on someone else's face

[PBLKNP]

I'd definitely say it is my sanity--not to mention a great way to alleviate boredom. Instead of mindlessly staring at the tube at night, I can now have something to show for it. I also crochet in the morning, which helps me to start my day off on a positive note. It's also a great way to build up confidence. In the beginning, I barely knew how to do a tr stitch (shoot, I wasn't even doing a sc stitch right), but now I'm working my way through the 63 Cable Squares afghan.

 

I also like the fact that I can make things for others, whether it be for charity or for presents.

[missamorphosis]

For me, if I'm working on something repetitive, such as an afghan, that I can memorize, it's a stress reliever. I can totally Zen-out, and meditate while making something worth while. It's also something that keeps my mind active, especially when I'm working on something more challenging that needs most of my attention. It has also become an enormous outlet for my creativity. I enjoy making things for others, and with all the great patterns out there, I can most always find something I think someone else would like. And if I can't, I can try to come up with something totally on my own. Nothing boosts my confidence more than finishing something and being able to say "I made that!" It's amazing what one can do with a little yarn and a hook.

[Mermaiden]

I also really enjoy the feeling of a completed project. It's a great feeling!

 

There's something about crochet that makes me feel like I'm participating in a time honored tradition that people/women have practice for many long years. These days we may not do it for the necessity of needing clothing/fabrics like I suppose the original needleworkers did, but we still continue to do it for the recreation, the enjoyment, the satisfaction.

 

Sometimes I stop and laugh because once I get started with the hook and yarn, I just can't stop. Kinda like the instinctive drive a groundhog feels to dig. I just go and go and go!

[lhasaapsolady]

Kathy, this is a great question for us all.

 

I would have to say the accomplishment of finishing a beautiful project, and the smile it brings to the receiver.

[leesespieces]

i feel like crochet defines me. it's who i am and what i want to be known for. like some people play sports, others paint. i hate exercise and paint is messy, lol. crochet separates me from the crowd (well, not the crochetville crowd LOL) and gives me a purpose and something to work for.

 

i also hate to waste time doing unproductive things like just watching tv or "hanging out." i don't know why, i can't relax that way, i always feel like there's something i could be doing and getting done. crochet relaxes me and gets rid of stress...even when there's things i should be doing instead of crocheting LOL. and i love the feeling of finishing a project and just the thought of having it for years to come, for my children to appreciate it "because mommy made it" and just stuff like that. i also like it because it's something my mom and i have in common (besides our superly freakish close bond, kinda like the gilmore girls), and it links me to members of my father's side of the family that i otherwise don't seem to have anything in common with.

 

i also like to prove that crochet is NOT going out of style, despite the fact that it's a centuries-old skill and/or talent. crochet changes just like fashion trends and fads do, and there's always new ways to revolutionize it, whether it be a new stitch or a new fiber.

[monael]

Kathy, you really summed it up pretty well for me. I feel a wonderful sense of accomplishment when I finish a project. I love the beauty that I can create, something I did to contribute to my surroundings. I feel a little bit special when I know that there is no one else in the world that made what I did (even if I used a pattern that has been done countless times, I have put my own spin on it). It is very relaxing and stress relieving-I know it has helped me during some very trying times in the past. And I am trying out things on my own now so it can be a confidence booster, and a lesson in patience.

[Hookerangel]

I find crochet relaxing. It is very much a part of what I am. I enjoy creating gifts for family and friends and seeing their enjoyment when they receive them. In the mode of Jerry Maguire ' crochet completes me'!

[thebratfink]

Being of limited mobility, it allows me to 'do something'.

 

Plus I LOVE finding just the right person to give a doily to.

 

 

 

 

 

[antara]

Crochet has enriched my life in many ways. I've always prided myself on my creativity, and crochet has allowed me another way to express it. I recently saw a picture of a man wearing a hat made with one of my patterns...that was an awesome feeling.

 

I think crochet helped teach me patience. I have a tendency to want things done, and want them done now. When I look at the things I've finished, I feel like the time and effort I put into them was well worth it. This is especially true of items I make for charity.

 

When I'm watching TV, I have to have something to do with my hands. Crochet helps relax me.

 

To me, there are few things better than cuddling up in an afghan I made myself. It slightly amazes me that I'm capable of bringing things into existence (that sounds corny, I know). And to me, there's just something wonderful about homemade blankets, whether crocheted, knitted, or sewn. I think it's because I hate being cold.

 

Kathy, I'm glad you posted this. I know I've loved crochet for several years, but it was kind of cool to think of the reasons *why* I love it so much.

[The_Virginia_Hooker]

It's almost like a meditation for me. It's relaxing. It's a conversation starter. It's a self-confidence booster ("my brain and my hands made this").

[Rhane]

My grandma taught me how to crochet when I was a munchkin. She died Xmas day, 2003, though in truth she had left us a couple years before (Alzheimers). Crocheting reminds me of her and in an indirect way, of all the women in my family who have crocheted or did other needlework. Others take flowers to put on her grave, I take crocheted blocks.

 

I also find croceting relaxing and challenging all at the same time. It's exciting and soothing, always different and somehow, it never changes. LOL, okay, getting kinda Zen here. Sometimes I think the meaning of life can be found in a skein of yarn and crochet hook. Just one more chain, one more stitch, keep going, don't give up. Keep your eyes on the future, be mindful of the present and remember the past.

[chrispersmom]

Crochet means one great word to me....happiness. When my life is very hard, like when I took care of my mom and now that I take care of my brother, it calms me and helps to destress me. There is also a great feeling of accomplishment when I make something that someone loves. I can't imagine my life without it either. what would I do with my hands when watching tv? It is very important to me and sometimes people don't understand that, but at least my family understands that and no one downs me for it. I just wish my mom were still here sometimes. she taught me when I was 10 and she was the one person that totally understood my excitement and my pride about things that i made. I really miss her alot.....

 

I also enjoy donating to the comfortghans on the board here. I never realized what a great feeling that would be. i think I got more out of it than the people that get the ghans do. I have enjoyed the companionship here alot too. to have so many people in one place that understand what you feel about your craft is just great. And it's nice to know that you can always ask someone a question about something and someone will always pipe in with the answer. It's great!

[indililu]

Crochet helped me through a very long depression a year ago. That's all I could do to keep my mind occupied. It worked a majority of the time. Now I crochet for charity, friends and family. I don't know, it feels like crocheting for others help me do something productive with my down time. (like leeses' said how she can't just relax by hanging out or watching TV.) I crochet while I watch TV. I don't feel like I'm wasting my time. And I get a finished product that someone can enjoy and it will brighten their day. Crochet is a great way to show someone you care.

Great thread topic BTW! It's nice to see how just a 'hobby' can be so much more

[Addey]

Crochet enriches my life in the material ways that people have talked about, warm and snuggly ponchos, shawls, afghans and the like, but it also enriches my soul.

When I finish something I get that little jolt of "I did that!" that makes life happy. I get even bigger jolts when I make my Project Linus blankets and realize I've just made something that will make a little one's life much snugglier, at least letting them know someone cares. I also get a nice big jolt when I finish things for my friends and family. I have made something from my heart, just for them.

 

In a much more mundane way, it enriches my life by giving me something to keep me occupied on airplanes. I travel almost 60% of the time for business. Usually on long airplane trips. I don't sit still well. Also, a lot of the places I go are the middle of nowhere so there's nothing really to do in the evenings, other than TV, crochet and the internet.

[Yaviiniia Loenla Enath]

I can't draw, so crochet lets me play with colors.

[Tapanga]

I haven't murdered anyone yet

[cgd]

I haven't murdered anyone yet

 

I agree!!!

 

Seriously though, I like the relaxing, unwinding feeling crochet gives me. I'm not greatly creative, but this makes me feel creative. I too like the feeling when I give someone a gift I made and they like it, or when you give one, and it leads to more requests. I've had a lot of cap/flower combination requests lately, which makes me feel good. My DH and DS have afghans I made just for them in colors of their choosing, and even though they were very simple, it felt good to give them that.

 

It's just nice to make something with my hands. I'm paid for heavily mental think- labor on my job, and I'm much better at thinking than at using my hands. But the more I crochet, the better I get, and people love even the simple things I do. It makes me feel productive and centers me.

[ladybug.leah]

It is a great stress buster! But I feel pure joy when I am in the crochet "zone" . Im not worrying about bills, family, or work.....there is only the next stitch, the next row, the next round. I guess in a way, it is my form of meditation;)

 

 

:ladybug

[twistedthreads79]

To start off, I'm not a very creative person. I have tried to do many crafts - stamping, scrapbooking - and those were very unfulfilling. Once I started to crochet, it felt like it was something I was meant to do. My mom crochets and my grandma used to crochet (she has arthritis, and cannot anymore)

My BF's father saw me crochet a bag once and said "Wow, you just made something out of nothing!" and whenever I finish a project, I think "Wow, I just made something out of nothing!"

[chessie]

Crocheting keeps me sane,its very relaxing,I always say its the best nerve pill in the world.I can watch TV while I crochet or do alot of pondering about a number of things.And more importantly it lets my DH live another day

[eurolyons]

How does crocheting enrich my life? This is actually a hard question. I mean I like that it's a skill I can do and be creative with. I get great satisfaction out of making something with crochet (but really with any skill...sewing, knitting, cooking...) Crochet is special to me just because. *cueing Man of La Mancha here* "I like it, I really like it, pluck me naked as a scolded chicken, I like it...don't ask me the whys or wherefores, for I don't have a single good because or therefore..."

 

As I've gotten more experienced with crocheting, I like that I can make something that not only makes me happy but usually makes other people happy too. From an intricate doily to a toy school bus made out of Red Heart Super Saver. It was probably the first real skill that I started designing stuff with back when I was a kid. Crochet almost never fails me. It's a skill I always fall back on, even more so than sewing when I get right down to it. I can make practical things and I can create "Sistine Chapels" with it. It's only been in the last 3 ot 4 years that I have gone light years ahead with crocheting from where I spent most of the last 38 years. It was like warp speed. I have yet to really find a pattern or a crochet discipline that had me throwing the work across the room, which possible exception of the bullion stitch. But as long as I can subtitude another stitch in it's place, I'll be happy.

 

Most of the 38 years I crocheted, I'd say I was probably borderline advanced intermident and that's only because I was rebellious about using patterns. I liked to make up my own stuff. But then when a friend clued me in on all the free patterns out there and I tried them, well it's only been in the last I started slowing down from obsessive crocheting that I did for nearly 3 years solid. It was exciting to find out that reading a pattern wasn't all that hard, once I got the concept and who knew there was so much more one could do with crocheting besides making afghans and baby sets. Actually I always made things for myself and unless it was doll clothes, I never made a baby set, except for the occasional baby afghan, and that was a pet peeve of mine. Until the internet I couldn't find anyone to crochet with that wasn't just making an afghan or a baby set. Dish clothes? No...doilies? No. I spent many years basically crocheting alone.

 

So if you'd asked me this question 10 years ago, I would have probably answered in the negative and probably would have said that the skill was all but dead, except to me. And I was only doing my own thing with it anyway. So what did I know?

 

Crocheting is allowing me to have a dream that I thought was long dead...that of maybe, just maybe becoming that designer and making an honorable dollar with it as I've seen many a member here do.

 

I still think of this one instructor for a one day seminar for starting a business for one's self and when she asked me what I had in mind, I said crocheting. (I didn't even know what I wanted to crochet for my business back then, not sure I know even now...) I allowed this woman to derail me for the next 20 years when she said, "Well good luck, but I think we have quite enough toilet paper covers and bed dolls." Do you know I've never made either?

 

There is a time for everything and I believe that I will get my heart's desire...this is the closest I've been to this dream yet, who knows what the future holds.

 

I don't know if this is the type of answer for the question asked...but that's how I feel about crocheting.