Not as Easy as it Sounds

I'll be the first to admit I'm not exactly the best writer as far as blogs go, but I'd really like to start sharing more personal stories on here as compared to only pictures of Rosemary or reviews and giveaways.

On several different blogs I visit, I've noticed some participate in a writing workshop over at Mama's Losin' It every week. I thought this writing workshop would be a great way to start writing on a variety of different topics I'd otherwise never think to write on.

I'm not going to commit to doing it every week or anything, but I'd love to do it as often as I can. Who knows, maybe I will continue to do it every week?

For directions on the workshop, click here.

Several posts ago I mentioned that I wasn't so crafty. Here's just one example of how true that statement is.

Learning to Crochet

It all started before I even had Rosemary. I was very pregnant and planning for the most important of events, her newborn pictures.

I knew I wanted to have them done, but what did I want her to WEAR?

Did I want to purchase a knit hat for her, or did I think I could do without?

I researched and researched and I had finally found someone on etsy who I really wanted to make a hat for me, er, Rosemary. Then I checked out the price. If I remember correctly, it was around $25.00 or $30.00 plus shipping. That was just too much money for me to spend on a newborn hat when we were already spending so much on other things that were necessary (or so I thought.)

So I sadly clicked the red x on my screen and moved forward with the planning of my new daughter without a hat of her own.

What’s this you say, I could have found one cheaper? Yeah, I know. But it had taken me forever to pick one out, narrow down colors I wanted, find the seller, etc.

You see, I was new to etsy at this time, and I really didn’t want to go through all of that selection process again. Please remember I was also very pregnant, so I was maybe over analyzing things just a tad.

I never bought her a hat, but as luck would have it, my photographer came with several different hats for her to borrow. It worked out perfectly and I couldn’t be happier with how the photos turned out.

Fast forward a few months later to winter.

I sure wished I had one of those beautiful handmade hats for Rosemary to wear in the freezing Michigan weather. I of course was still too stingy to buy one, when I had the brilliant idea that I could MAKE her one myself!

Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner? This sounded easy. I'd just make all the beautiful things I wanted for Rosemary!

I believe it was either late February or early March at this time. I decide to start researching learning how to crochet. I ask my talented friend Heidi how she learned to crochet, and what I’d need to start out. She gave me some helpful hints and tips on what she had learned so far and pointed me in the direction of You Tube for directions.

I was pumped!

I could do this!

I headed out to Joann Fabrics with a short list of some supplies, and $25.00 later, I returned home with everything I’d need to learn how to crochet.

From what I'd read and heard, this sounded easy!

I purchased enough yarn to do several different hats, in several different colors and even bought a few different crochet hooks as I was sure I’d need more than one size for all the crocheting I’d be doing in the months to come.

I brought my goodies home and I stashed them in a safe place so Lucy, my dog, wouldn’t eat the yarn while I was waiting for my opportunity to sit and really go at this learning to crochet thing.

My supplies sat and sat, and about two or three weeks later I finally had a perfect opportunity to sit down and really focus. As a side note, I have really bad ADD (self diagnosed) so I needed at least a solid hour or two by myself to focus if I was really going to learn this skill.

My husband had gone out of town for the week and Rosemary had finally gone to sleep for the night so I at last had my chance.

I got all of my supplies out, loaded up the you tube videos I’d need and was ready to begin my love affair of crocheting!

So I started to watch a video. And then another video. And another.

What the heck were they talking about? I could feel the frustration building and I hadn’t even started yet!

So I took a few breaths and I decided I just needed to jump right in. I opened up my yarn and got a matching size hook out and prepared my string just as the video had instructed. I pressed play again.

Wait, what was that? I stopped the video, started it over, and replayed the first minute again. And again.

I cannot tell you how many times I had to replay the beginning of this video just to get the first knot on my hook so I could even begin learning crochet. It was awful!

Finally I got the stupid first knot on. Yes, it was stupid at this point. I should have just stopped right there.

But I didn’t.

Now on to the real challenging part, crocheting. I must have watched the rest of that evil old ladies video a million times, and I just. Couldn’t. Get it.

I’d get maybe two loops done and the freaking thing would come all the way undone! I was extremely frustrated to say the least.

After about an hour or so of this torture, I finally gave up. I was almost in tears, I was tired, I was hot, I was bothered!

I had no time, patience, nor skill to be attempting to learn crochet myself.

I threw all my supplies back in the bag and stuffed it in a corner where it sat for the next two months only to be moved one day by my husband to the basement, never to be seen or heard from again.

Yeah, I am SO not crafty.

I did however learn some valuable lessons.

One, next time I think I’m just going to make something to save money, I’m just going to buy it. I’m pretty sure my husband will even support me on this one as it was a total waste of money (and this wasn’t the first time I’d decided to do something like this).

Two, I give a huge round of applause to the people who actually are crafty and can create beautiful things like crocheted hats and blankets with their own two hands.

And three, teaching myself to do something, NOT as easy as it sounds.