My Crochet Journey: How I Came Back to Crochet

My crochet journey began in college. I learned to crochet from the most amazing roommate. I started with a simple washcloth and then attempted blankets over and over, never finishing them. Years later, while pregnant with my third child, I picked up knitting and actually completed a blanket for her, my very first finished project! After that, life took over. Between having my third baby exactly a year after my second, my husband losing his job, buying a house, and welcoming another little one, crochet and knitting quietly went on the back burner.

Fast forward a few years, and my oldest, Addison, wanted to learn how to crochet. In the midst of teaching her, I was drawn back into the creative process. But if I’m being honest, it wasn’t just about teaching her. I desperately needed something for myself. A reason to get out of my own head. A way to keep my hands busy so I wouldn’t sink deeper into depression. Crochet gave me an outlet at exactly the time I needed it most.

My first knitted project: an unfinished knit doll in progress.

I actually went back to knitting first because it’s easier on my hands. I started making a doll for my youngest (which I still haven’t finished cough). Knitting a plushie was a brand-new process for me, and I undid and redid the legs and torso so many times. Finding the right colors for the doll opened up the world of online yarn shopping. I should have known then that I was doomed and soon surrounded by mountains of skeins.

Even though I really wanted to crochet, I knew my hands weren’t ready for that kind of commitment. Then one day, I stumbled across a circular knitting machine and was instantly intrigued. I binge-watched YouTube tutorials and couldn’t wait to try it myself. Once it arrived, I started hand-cranking hats, scarves, and fingerless gloves. Then I discovered you could automate the thing and suddenly I was making so many hats. We live in South Florida, so what was I even thinking? It doesn’t get cold enough for all those beanies.

My first set of fingerless gloves

knit beanie with skein of yarn next to it

a beautiful head wrap

Circular Knitting Machine

Wanting to create more than just wearables, I started experimenting with what else the machine could do. That’s when I found out you could make plushies. So, I attempted a duck for Lydia. I worked so hard on it, but it turned out to be the goofiest thing I’ve ever seen. From the front he was kind of cute, but from the side… yikes. That poor duck needed help. We all got a good laugh out of it, and honestly, that little disaster is what finally nudged me back toward crocheting amigurumi and picking up my hook again, aches and pains in my wrists and all.

The infamous duck!

And while I was making that silly duck and rediscovering crochet, I realized something important: this was more than just a craft. It calmed me. It kept my mind focused when I needed the noise to quiet down. It gave me peace in the middle of one of the most stressful times of my life.

Between the half-finished doll and the goofy duck, I found a little calm and a lot of joy in the mess. Half-finished projects, scattered yarn… somehow, it felt like exactly where I needed to be.

✨ Coming soon: In the next part, I’ll share how crochet became more than a hobby. It turned into a lifeline during some of the hardest years of my life.