Slowing Down: CROCHET

In this Uber-fast world, life continues at breakneck speed. In my earlier post (https://steemit.com/life/@joeylim/how-we-should-cultivate-mindful-eating-habits), I dealt with how the busy lifestyles we lead interfere with our eating habits and how we should rectify it.

Today, I would like to share one recreational activity that I do, which personally helps me to slow down. And that is crochet. It is a close cousin of knitting, except that for crochet you only need one crochet hook (instead of two needles for knitting).

I know many women in earlier generations (like my mummy and aunt) are very proficient at needlework, but it is slowly growing to be a dying art in this generation of women. There are attempts to revive this trend, especially by some crafters, but generally lesser and lesser girls possess this skill.

It is such a pity, because learning crochet is not difficult. It only requires
PATIENCE.

I found that when I took the time to learn and to crochet, I also gain precious time to
slow down,
breathe,
reflect.

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To make this pouch, you will need some materials: yarn and a crochet hook.

You can get these materials at Daiso, Spotlight or some stores specialising in handicraft materials. These balls of yarn were obtained from Spotlight, my go-to shop for yarn. I personally feel that the yarn sold at Daiso is not of satisfactory quality. Maybe I just have high standards.

For stores specialising in handicraft materials, I can only think of one example in Singapore, which is Golden Dragon. The yarn from Golden Dragon is different from the kinds sold at Spotlight - they have a wider range of pure wool products (like Alpaca wool!).

Once you have gotten your yarn and crochet hook, you can learn various stitches from the many helpful videos available on youtube (for example, Crochet Guru: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrochetGuru).

For this pouch, I used the single crochet stitch for the rectangular base, and the double crochet stitch for the height. The base of the pouch, as well as the handle, is sewn with baby pink coloured yarn - the rest with cream coloured yarn.

[The completed pouch storing another ball of yarn and my trusty crochet hook!]

What helps you to slow down? (: