Your Satisfying Hobbies by Charlie Reese

Winter blues? Enroll in a beginning crochet class for a creative and socially satisfying hobby

When the chilly, wet winter weather sets in, there’s not a lot of outdoor activities you want to be doing in rain or snow. However, snuggling up by the fire with some brightly colored yarns with which to make a throw blanket can be a great way to relieve boredom and cabin fever. The art of crochet has been practiced by people around the world for more than 200 years, as much for the artistic satisfaction as for the practical and useful results.

If this artistic hobby appeals to you, consider signing up for a beginning crochet class. You can start simply, with a couple of potholders, until you’ve perfected an evenness of stitch. Then you can move right on to a baby blanket. It’s such a rewarding hobby, it’s small wonder that you’ll find a yarn shop right in your home town that offers crochet clubs and classes. Start with a beginning crochet class. You’ll be joined with other beginners to crochet and an instruction who knows her stuff!

Yarn shops often sponsor these classes to entice new customers. Once you’ve learned how easy it is to make a hat for your son or daughter, you’re hooked, so to speak. Where are you most likely to buy your supplies? More than this obvious marketing purpose, people involved in textile arts tend to be a chummy and cordial group. So classes and weekly social groups all benefit the students and members. Once you get involved, you’ll look forward to enhancing your skills while having a good chat with friends.

Crochet is not difficult to learn. Your instructor is able to give one on one instruction and tips and techniques on attaining an even gauge in your stitches, a most important step to learn before moving on to a big blanket project. In a beginning crochet class, the instructor will cover all the basics that will allow you to proceed to the next level of difficulty with ease.

Crochet instructions, much like knitting instructions, are given in a sort of shorthand. For example, an asterisk, following an instruction, generally means that you are to repeat the last instruction a specific number of times. Numerous abbreviations are used for the various stitches, such as ’sc’ denoting the single crochet stitch and ‘dc’ indicating the double crochet. It doesn’t take long to memorize all this shorthand. Besides, every crochet pattern gives you a cheat sheet in the form of a key at the front of the instructions. Eventually, you won’t even need to refer to the key.

When you’ve completed your beginning crochet class, you advance to the next level. Who wants to give up a new group of friends? Or the pleasure gained from making some gifts for family and friends? Give it a try. If you need further inspiration, just browse the lovely yarns you can use to make beautiful and original creations?

Add a comment December 11, 2009