My Favorite Hobby: Crocheting

Do you have a hobby?

I have many. I enjoy reading, and try to read every day. I enjoy boating and fishing in the warmer months, which I hope arrive soon. I have taken up some chalk painting, but I am very much a novice. I have painted a couple of Mason jars to date. I have other projects on my mind to accomplish this summer. Gardening is also a hobby I enjoy. Jeff has taught me so much about gardening. From tilling the soil, to planting, fertilizing, weeding the garden and the  best reward, enjoying the fruits of your labor. We enjoy sharing our garden vegetables with others as well. I have also grown my own herbs over the last few years, which I dry and use to season our meals all winter long. There is truly nothing better than homegrown vegetables and herbs. I also recently purchased a keyboard/piano. I have wanted one for a long time. I purchased a book to help me in my passion to learn how to play it. I try to set aside time three or more times a week practicing. I played the clarinet throughout school and have always enjoyed music. The keyboard/piano is quite different from a clarinet, to say the least, but I can read music, even after all these years since high school. I may never be a great pianist, far from it, but I am trying. That is important to me. Trying, learning, never letting my mind sit idle.

My favorite hobby is crocheting. I would say crocheting is my main passion. It is amazing to me how a skein of yarn, or a very delicate thread, can come to life as a baby blanket, an afghan, a pot holder, a dish cloth, a shawl, a rug, a purse and a doily. The items I listed, I have crocheted. Some of them several times.

My latest creation was the last item I mentioned, a doily. I have never crocheted using such a small hook or such delicate thread. I chose a beginner’s pattern, because for this project, I am a beginner! There isn’t such a thing as an easy pattern. I have made mistakes on patterns that are easy and torn out several rows of yarn. I consider this a lesson learned. All crochet patterns require counting stitches as your proceed along a row. I have missed a stitch before. It is frustrating and educating all at the same time. But, isn’t that true of everything in life? A person doesn’t gain success without failure.

I finished this small doily today. It is a small one, but a beautiful one, in my eyes. I know the effort it took me to make it. People that don’t crochet, quilt or knit can’t comprehend the time, and the money, required to make any pattern. This is true of any type of craft. I find it gratifying when I have completed a project. The joy a new completed project brings to me is hard to describe.

I thank my Grandma, Beatrice Sundquist, for my love of crocheting. Had I really been paying attention, I would be quite the seamstress and I would knit too! She did all of them! I am fine with crocheting. But, who knows, I may take on another hobby!

I have more thread, so I plan to crochet another doily, or ten, in the future. I want to make a bigger one next time!

Have a great evening!