I won’t tell you how many times it took for me to get there though. Fine, I’ll give you a hint – it was more than three and less than five. I just couldn’t figure it out! The booklet showed me step-by-step but my fingers just wouldn’t do what my brain wanted them to!

It starts with telling you how to make the slipknot. That part was no biggie aside from the 6″ tail of yarn being 7″ after (no joke) 15 tries to get it the right length. Anyway, once I got that I was doing alright and got the first row of single crochets no problem! It was the second step of looping that I couldn’t get. It required going through the ridge on the back of the loop, which I misread the first time and had to rip out the whole failed row. I also had to learn how to crochet more loosely as it was next to impossible to get the hook through the holes when I’d made them too tight.

I eventually got the hang of it and got the second row in. (I really don’t want to tell you I ripped the whole thing apparent twice before this worked). My fingers were finally doing it right! Slowly but surely, with fewer restarts by the end, I got the first four rows done and they turned out pretty well! I was tempted to start the double half crochet (which mathematically should be called a single crochet as well, but hey, I didn’t invent the lingo) but decided against it after looking at the explanation in the booklet. I thought I’d stick with what I was proud of and move on the next time I pick it up.

Getting started with crocheting is teaching me patience and understanding of my capabilities. I recognize that I won’t be able to do it first try since it’s something that’s brand new to me! This completely relates to learning in school – I need to help students understand that we all have to start at the beginning and that we will grow our skills through practice, perseverance, and a little self-compassion. Who knew that learning a new crafting skill would help me become so wise?