5 Challenges to Make You a Better Crocheter


Do you want to be a better crocheter? I’ve learned that it’s not always about how many stitches you know or how many hours a week or month you crochet. Sometimes the lessons run much deeper.

5 Challenges That Will Make You a Better Crocheter

 


5 Challenges to Make You
a Better Crocheter


This past June I tore my ACL and had to have ACL reconstruction surgery. For those that don’t know me personally, let me just say this was one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever had to overcome. I don’t like to sit…..at all. I like to be up and moving, so I do almost everything standing. This surgery about crushed me. I was literally forced to sit for 3 weeks. I quickly felt myself frustrated and on the verge of getting depressed. Instead, I decided to turn my attention to all those things in my business that get neglected because I never have time to do them. I finished editing some of my patterns and published them, I worked on my website, etc.

As I sat there, I learned some valuable things about myself and my crochet business that I thought I would share.

Perspective – Do you focus on how many patterns you don’t have time to make, or do you enjoy the project you’re working on? Do you focus on why your business isn’t doing as well as someone else’s crocheting? (The #1 thing I will not do in 2016) Or do you appreciate the customers you do have? It’s all about perspective. Changing your expectations and just enjoying and appreciating what you are able to do, will change your perspective.

Face Your Fears – When I started physical therapy I was so afraid of overdoing it and re-injuring myself. I was literally living in fear, to the point that I held myself back and slowed my progress. While your crochet fears probably aren’t as drastic, don’t be afraid to try something new. Face your fears and you may just end up with a new favorite stitch or technique. My Word of the Year is Confidence and I’m trying really hard to work on this myself.

Accept Help – Don’t try to do it alone. Most of us know, there are tons of websites and YouTube channels that offer tutorials. But sometimes that might not be enough. Don’t be afraid to reach out to a fellow crocheter (or even a designer) and ask for personal help. You never know, you might just make a lifelong friend.

Learn from Your Mistakes – I always tell my kids, mistakes are ok as long as you learn from them. Crochet is no different. We all make mistakes, especially when you’re learning. Nobody likes to frog their work, but sometimes the best way to learn is to “rip-it” out again and start over. You’ll be excited to see your progress.

Being still and doing nothing are 2 completely different things – This was the biggest lesson I learned! Just because I was stuck in a chair didn’t mean I couldn’t do anything. But surfing Ravelry, Pinterest, and the internet for hours and hours, for the next perfect pattern (and maybe even saving 25 new ones) is not being productive. I would consider that doing nothing. Most of us get sucked into that black hole every now and then but there are better ways to spend our crochet time.

Life is about daily choices and our crochet time is no different. I thought this quote by Sandi Krakowski fit perfectly with my theme.

“We ALL have trials. We all have challenges. No one is exempt. But the one who rises above and doesn’t get sucked into a vacuum of the downward pull is the person who makes a DAILY CHOICE to keep their perspective and SEE things changing. See things turning around.” ~ Sandi Krakowski

Together we can overcome challenges, change our perspective, and see our crocheting evolve into something amazing.

Happy Crocheting!



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