Major Crochet Fail!

On the seventh day of the sixth month, in the year 2017, a voyage was begun...

In enthusiasm, naivete, and optimism, a woman devoid of skill and knowledge picked up some string and a hooked stick.

She was blissfully ignorant of what her journey would entail, blind to the gremlins of frustration and unrealistic expectations that would attack her at each turn in her path. Alone, she stumbled forward in the dark, armed with a pattern printed in a foreign craft language and muttering, "How hard could this be?"

The pictured monstrosity was supposed to be a tiara for my daughter...

In reality, an absolute disaster of a project that almost derailed my crochet journey before it got its feet under it. It was truly worthy of a 'Pinterest Crochet Fail' title if anything was.

I often think back to this project and chuckle. Nothing challenges perfectionism like trying to learn something new.

But unless you're a prodigy, what skill in life ever comes without struggle, maybe some blood, a sprinkle of sweat, and copious tears? Not one that I can think of...

After many attempts, restarts, and angry muttering, I managed to make something usable and my easy-to-please daughter was over the moon.

I wasn't satisfied with the mediocrity of the finished product, so I jumped on the Tubes of You and found videos that showed me what I didn't comprehend from the written instructions. This was a complete and total game changer; I had never realized how hard it was for me to grasp something until I saw it done.

Six years later, after a good amount of success ( and a few failures, since not all patterns are created equal), I had the opportunity to design my own amigurumi pattern for a contest. I didn't win anything (not that I expected to as a novice in the field), but the attempt showed me that I grasped the skill that I had set out for in 2017 enough to give this side of the craft a "go"...

While she is not perfect, and there are a lot of things I will fix in her pattern (there are ALWAYS revisions and improvements to make), she definitely isn't the "Crochet Fail" I started with in the beginning!

I didn't think when I started that I would become proficient to the point of designing my own ideas and making them a reality, let alone that I would be inviting anyone along in the journey of learning with me as I tackle my fear of "tech" and build this website!

I hope you'll come along with me for this ride as I continue to learn, and attempt to perfect, my craft of bringing joy through toys!

Don't forget to give yourself grace in this journey, don't give up when you fail, and seek out the knowledge you need. This internet world has people just like you and me that want to help you on your way.

Hop aboard this crazy ship as we set sail...