#needleworkmonday : Passing on skills ... crocheting
Last summer my youngest daughter was doing revision. To keep her company I did crocheting quietly in a corner. Below you can see what I was crocheting. The actual work required a very small crochet hook (1 mm) and endless single crochet stitches …
Clearly she could see what I was up to and every so often I had to undo the work because the crochet hook kept on just getting one strand of the cotton rather than the whole thread … I didn’t complain because that would have distracted her, but somehow she noticed and took an interest…
Eventually she came over and asked to be taught how to crochet that stitch. Having breaks during revision is encouraged at home especially during the holidays so I gladly taught her how to do single crochet and she learnt quite quickly - she'd been watching... She did some samples and undid them and kept on practising it … Her study break became a bit longer than she'd planned...
Here’s her photo showing the henna designs on her left hand and practising the single crochet :
Incidentally, I often take photos of my work and what my daughters are up to because my family lives really far away and we send daily messages showing what we are doing.
When she managed to keep the sides straight I gave her a nice ball of self-striping yarn and she produced a 17cm x 22cm rectangle… Unfortunately, she had to abandon the crochet scarf she wanted to make because of her studies… I kept her piece in case she came back to it (and out of pride). It looked great !
Recently I sewed the sides to make a mini pencil case and managed to find a zipper in amongst my supplies.
As you can see the zipper was too big so I decided to undo the sides and slightly stretch the piece to fit the zipper size …. (I wouldn’t recommend this method, but there was no other possibility at the time. In fact, I have seeing tutorials where you do a row of single crochet around the zipper because that determines the width of the piece. It makes sense doing it that way, in my case we had the piece and needed to find a zipper to match that size.)
I pinned the zipper in place and sewed (using slipped stitch) … I also used matching thread to avoid it showing too much.
In the photo the pink side is already sewn and it doesn't show on the right side at all.
The biggest problem came at the end, so I just decided to neaten as best I could by sewing the ends.
I am happy with the end result though; it could be embellished further : add some sort of applique or better still a lining.
I will just leave it like that…
I was pleased to ‘inadvertently’ pass an interest and a skill to one of my daughters. I feel crocheting, knitting, sewing are important life skills that give us a creative outlet. These skills also give us opportunities to be self sufficient to make our own things : clothes, presents and daily use items and to make do.
Due to schooling my daughter was not able to expand her interest at that point, but I hope she will continue to see me enjoying crafty activities and that will encourage her to continue...
It reminds me of how I learned needlework as a child. I also watched my mother stitching and was curious how to do it.
Thanks for the comment @creative-life... I remember learning a knitting stitch during a train journey once. A knitter was sitting in front of me and was knitting the trinity stitch. This happened many years ago and I wish I had not been so shy then... nowadays I would have said 'thank you' !
Amazing!!! Love the pencil case and how Jen picked up crochet
Thanks @pumpkinsandcats... @jen0revision is keen on making things generally, but currently school exams take most of her time...
Not for long though! Few more months and free time galore!
The pencil case is a great idea for a child's first project!
I think it is @kimmac. It's a practical little case that you can keep all sorts of things... and @mrscwin reminded me of some of the possibilities.
Oh wow! So cool!! 😁
Hope that she is able to pick it up again after she finishes school! I didn't take up knitting until about 9 years ago, after having watched my Mom do it all my life. A group of us decided to learn it one year and have done it ever since. I am sure she will give it more focus once she has the time.
Great use of her first project!
Thanks @jamethiel... I agree about picking it up at a later date.... never too late to do so and there's always something new to learn !
It is a very nice pen case.
You will be able to use it in an exciting mood.
Thank you @sumi.... yes, we like the colour of the self-striping yarn...
Lovely story and great ideas and step-by-step pictures. It's very rewarding to pass things on, so pleased your daughter was drawn to this. It will be a life-long skill she can come back to and develop. I like the pencil case idea, I'm always looking for small (durable) bags to keep things in, especially for travelling, it's another good way of learning and testing new techniques and ideas. Many thanks 😊
You're very welcome @shanibeer... I try to make items that have a use and often keep (or hoard ?) samples until I find a use for them, but little bags with zippers are always handy.
That is a cool pencil case that your daughter started during “study break”. Excellent job in sharing your love of crocheting with her!
Thanks @mrscwin... and thanks to you for inspiration as well :)
That's a lovely post; how sweet to share this interest with your daughter. :) My eldest daughter took up knitting after I took it up, and it is very cosy sitting together knitting away. Her patience is rather short lived though, so the moment usually passes quite fast for us. Perhaps we should try crocheting too! If you post a blog on "how-to-crochet" I'll be eagerly watching. :)
Thank you for your encouraging words @lil-mich... I think little bursts of interest are enough sometimes with so many competing activities and things to try...
The children at Escuela Caracol (where I used to teach) make their own knitted pencil cases as a handworks project in first or second grade too. It's such a great and useful thing for a child to have, and I think it really gives them a sense of accomplishment to know that they can make things with their own two hands. Bravo!
You were a teacher for knitting in school? How cool is that!
I was actually a mixed-age kindergarten teacher, but the children in primary school had a handworks class where they learned to knit and carve and craft all sorts of lovely things!
That sounds like a lot of fun!
Thank you @colleenthurber... I agree with you about the sense of accomplishment.
The school link's not working at the moment; I will go back later... but did they call their pencil cases 'estuches' ?
They do!
she did it perfectly! In our youth we do not pay attention to many things, they may seem unnecessary. it is easier to go and buy something in the store. but by becoming older we change our views :)
Thank you @tali72... I think so too... Also, I feel that young people have a hard time these days... too many things they're supposed to be doing and if they miss the right hoop to jump through they have to make a double effort to catch up with their peers.
yes, the pace of life is now very fast