Erica Bunker | DIY Style! The Art of Cultivating a Stylish Wardrobe: April 2006

Regularly scheduled knitting has been interrupted!

3:32 PM

I have been asked this question so many times lately that I can't even tell you how many. It's so nice to have your work appreciated, to have others visit my site just to see what I've created. I learned to crochet when I was around 9 or 10 years old. It was my great-aunt who taught me. She started me out with crocheting potholders. I played around with it for a few years and my grandmother thought everything I made was a work of art and it was proudly displayed on her refridgerator and kitchen walls for her bragging rights. Then the teen years hit and I found clothes, makeup and boys much more interesting than hooks and yarn. Over the years, I would rediscover an interest when I was expecting. I think all mothers and mothers-to-be that have the ability to knit or crochet feel the need to handmake the entire layette. Then life would happen and I would get wrapped up in other interest once again.

Last summer, I was in Books-a-Million browsing and happened upon the craft section and discovered Candi Jensen's Hooked on Crochet. I was blown away. The thought of crocheting my own clothes had never occurred to me. I bought it and ran straight to the nearest Michael's for yarn. This all happened around the same time that crochet was totally hyped up in the fashion industry and spread about the pages of all the top fashion magazines. I wanted to be down too! My first step was to come home and Google everything Crochet! I found magazines, groups, forums, blogs, yarn, books and patterns. I couldn't believe it, everything I needed to get me on the path of becoming a total craft addict was just a keystroke away! I crocheted like a mad woman for six months straight. I pumped out around 30 plus projects:

Some good, some not so good. Some that are buried deep in the back of my closet, that will never, ever see the light of day and some that I wear proudly with my head held high. I look at it as a learning experience. Learning new stitches, shaping techniques, how to "correctly" read patterns and abbreviations. And most of all, the difference in yarn!

Okay, now back to the original question: "Will I ever crochet again?" Of course I will! Crochet is my first fiber lover. No matter how many lovers you have had, you always remember the first! I guess you can say that at this time, I'm just somewhat burned out. And as you can see, I have discovered knitting (my new lover) -- BIG TIME! I am like a kid with a new toy! All of the months I spent harboring knit envy, salivating over the beautiful, endless variety of patterns, wishing I knew what to do with those two sticks. Now I do and I am having a great time. But to the crocheters, I have not given up on the craft, it's just on hiatus!