My Journey with Yarn & Needles

What is this mysterious ball of yarn, you ask?

I have always liked knitting. It may sound like an activity associated with grannies sitting in rocking chairs, but I'm proud to say that I certainly am breaking that stereotype! Heck, I knit on the bus and I don't even see old ladies knitting! :D

My knitting story dates back to high school, when I first came to Canada. Staying at the school library often after school ended, I often saw my librarian knitting away and one day, I was intrigued. I asked her if she would teach me and she gladly said yes!

I didn't catch on right away, but it was more like learn and fail, learn and fail, with gaps of months and years in between each cycle. But one day, it finally clicked! Everything just made sense even though it took a long time for me to get my stitches neither too tight or too loose.

I knitted on and off during my time in university, making several scarves and even hats! Sometimes I would forget how to begin or end projects, and I would refer to online videos. But it always came back to me after refreshing my memory.

After having mastered knitting (well, of course I'm not a pro!), the next thing on my mind was crocheting! It seemed pretty amazing how you can do so many things with just a little hook and some yarn! So I bought a crochet hook and tried learning online.

Nope. That didn't work. So my crochet hook had a nice long hibernation before I finally dug it out again a few months ago. I was interested in amigurumi (crocheted stuffed toys) this time and I tried to learn from online sources again, but no! I still couldn't get it. I decided I needed a actual teacher! My friend happened to be making amigurumis herself so we had a short lesson!

I got the basics of crochet, but I somehow couldn't count the stitches properly and I JUST DIDN'T GET IT! So I put away my crochet needle again. This doesn't mean that I am giving up. I remembered what happened with my knitting and believed that one day, a lightbulb will go off and I will be able to crochet!

Last weekend was that magical day when my crochet hook and yarn decided to finally become friends! I don't know why I picked up the crochet hook again out of the blue, but this time, I GOT IT! The picture above is my first crocheted ball of success!

I was so excited!! I am now looking forward to the wonderful world of amigurumi! I am still having some troubles counting and keeping track of my stitches, but at least this is a start! I'm glad I did not throw away my crochet hook! The day I had been waiting for is finally here!

Moral of the story? If you don't get something, don't give up. Put it away for awhile and come back to it another time. It will eventually come to you one day.

~Nikki