A Skill I Admired, A Struggle I Faced

I have always admired people who have this crochet skill, turning yarns into dresses, bags, a shawl, a blanket, a cardigan, and many more beautiful things with this skill. And so I desired to learn this skill. The thought of creating some of the things I use myself clouded my mind, and I quickly made up my mind to go for crochet skills.

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The zeal was so high, and I was excited about the whole learning journey I was starting then. There was one little girl in her secondary school then just beside my home. She usually stays with her sister in their salon shop, and each time I visit there to get my hair done, I see her crocheting all manner of beautiful stuff. The way she combines colorful yarns to crochet a dress, it will look as if you ordered that dress from the UK, lol. Then the way her fingers move so fast while she crochets looks like she is a machine in human form. I had no doubt she would make a good coach for me, and we discussed it and sealed the deal.

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My journey into learning this new skill of crochet began, and I got my materials, the hook, the measuring tape, etc. I also downloaded some basic videos through YouTube to assist me with the ones I learn from my tutor, the little girl. All I was hearing from her in each class was "insert the hook, ma'am, yarn over,turn the hook right, turn it left, pull through, double the crochet", oh boy!, It wasn't for the faint-hearted; I was lost at one point, hahaha, but I was putting all my energy and mind toward the whole thing so I wouldn't mess up in the face of the little girl.

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The thing is that, seeing that little girl turn yarns into something amazing challenged me, and I told myself that if this girl can learn and grasp this skill, I too can, but one thing about skill is that it is not about how big or small the person is. Some people are just talented right from birth, like a natural gift. Funny enough, this girl said she learned it from nowhere or no one. She just saw people doing it, and she got a hook and started.

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I never missed my classes; in fact, most of the days, I would arrive before the time, waiting for her to return from school. I think my little commitment helped me grasp the little I did those days, but at a point, hmmm, the whole thing started looking complicated. I began feeling tense. It started looking like a chore and was no longer fun. My fingers ache, and getting to crochet a simple project takes me weeks. I watched her get a project done in hours, but mine takes longer than required even as a learner. It was frustrating, and I wondered if that was my calling, lol.

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Life happens; a lot of responsibilities were still calling, a bunch of yarns were waiting for me to crochet, and there was a lot of incomplete work, but my fingers were frustrated. I kept struggling with the skill until I decided to keep calm for the time being. Maybe when life feels a little bit less busy for me and I find crochet relaxing, I will resume, but for now, the skill is on pause, and I didn't get to grasp it well enough nor master the skill.

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Below are some works I did back then while learning how to crochet. My Hive profile pic has the tote bag I did back then, something I turned some yarns into, but I'm not totally proud of it, especially when I visit the needlework community and see what people craft with their hands, hehehe

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This post is in response to the #HiveLearners community contest on the topic titled, Difficult To Grasp.

Images are mine