Crochet is very kind

My first ever amigurumi. Not bad for a beginner, i can tell my stiches are not that even lol

I've been meaning to write about this topic for some time. Since I started crocheting, I've been sharing with everyone how KIND of a hobby it is. I know it may sounds kind of strange to use this adjective to describe a hobby, allow me to explain:

As someone who dabbled in MANY hobbies since i was a kid, it was rare for me to find one that I stick with for more than three months. This year marks my second year officially being with crochet. First of all, crochet is very forgiving. Make a mistake? Just unravel it. Even if the yarn is already cut, (in some cases) you can still connect it back and crochet on. Imagine if that was the same with baking.

-"Oops, I accidently mix too much sugar with flour?"

-"Oh well, I can just separate it out and undo"

Buzzer sound IMPOSSIBLE.

This is why I love crochet so much, it is very forgiving in terms of mistakes; it quickly allows you to backtrack without being too costly. Some hobby can be very expensive to redo and undo. Not crochet, it is the ONLY one I found so far that allows me to easily reverse without much dire consequences. This factor alone is why I love crochet tremendously. Not many things in life are that forgiving, so I'm grateful something like that does exist.

As gentle as crochet is, it is also very firm in terms of it does not forget. When you frog (undo) a project, the yarn does not stay in the same shape it originally was, it will take up the shape of whatever stitch it was originally "crochetted" in. It may not affect much whenever you re-work however too much redo will effect how the yarn function. A major lesson from crochet here is:

Forgive but not forget.

I know it sounds cheesy but I've been incorporating that philosophy in my life ever since. Forgiving does not mean you forget, it just allows you a peace of mind since the past can't really be change and/or you can't expect people to change. We can only work towards a different future of which we can control. Hopefully, we won't forget the lessons that were taught and make better decisions in the future whether that be for ourselves or towards other individuals.

A gentle hobby

Second reason why I love crochet: it's a very gentle hobby. Crochet doesn't confine you in terms of physical prowess, finance, time nor space. You don't have to have certain physique or strength to pick up crochet. I remembered distinctively people use to tell me "Isn't that old people's hobby?" when i tell people I crochet. Yes and no, it just happens to be traditionally associated with our grandmas (nothing wrong with that) but anyone pass the fine motor control stage can pick up this hobby.

Affordable and easy to start

Next, crochet is cheap to start. A some what decent hook will cost you about $3-4, and value yarn (I'm talking about the red heart super saver) goes for about $3-4 (or cheaper with coupon). In total it cost about less than $10 to pick up crochet. I don't know any hobby cheaper than that besides meditation. Granted better hook and better feel yarn will give you a better crochet experience, nevertheless, that doesn't discount the fact how little it takes to start this craft.

Plus, whenever you have to redo, you can just frog the project or however far you want without costing too much. I once spent around $30 buying ingredients and tools in an attempt to make a chiffon cake. Long story short, I'm now with crochet and I have resigned from baking.

Don't get me wrong, I love baking but baking doesn't love me. Baking is a science, can be difficult in techniques and not as forgiving with mistakes. Bakers are wizards to me, you guys probably spent years and lots of money to be the expert that you are today. I'm not a master crocheter by any means but I'm confident to say I can churn out decent projects after just 3 months of crocheting. Someone on reddit once describe the path to learning crochet as "It's challenging to go from 0-1, however, it's easy to go from 1-10 afterwards" and I couldn't agree more.

Take your time

Additionally, crochet allows you as much time as you need to finish a project. This is a pros and cons at the same time now that I think about it. Imagine you're in the middle of baking a cake and you decided, "You know what, I'm tired today, I'm going to stop and pick up next time I feel like it". Uhhhh, food does get spoiled, I have work-in-progress (WIP) crochet projects I haven't touch in months. I don't know if there's any super ingredients existed that can last as long in the fridge after opening without being spoiled. See how convenience crochet is?

The only cons to that would be it's a kryptonite for ADHD-ers like me. I would be working mid-way through a project and find something else just as cool showed up and immediately segway. No judgement here, I'll pick up my WIP I promise! I know that crochet will allows me as much time as I need to continue where I last left of.

Space saver

Lastly, crochet doesn't take much room or require a special space to be able to work on the hobby; AND it's travel friendly. How many times have you seen people do video such as: "Let's crochet with me while traveling to France," or "How many items I can crochet in this 21 hours flight?" Crochet it's light, travel friendly, you can crochet here, crochet there, crochet everywhere and anywhere you'd like. Plus, it doesn't take much room to store yarn and hooks. I know some of you might beg to differ here but as long as you don't have too much yarn this shouldn't be a problem right? Riiiggghhhtttt?

I dabbled in pottery once and let me tell you boy, do you need a dedicated room for it. Did i mentioned how clean of a hobby crochet is? There's no clean up or set up requires with crochet. It is such a low maintenance hobby I tell ya.

Community is the sweetest

One last special reason before I finish my ode to this craft is the community. I have never seen such a special and kind community when it comes to crochet. People are so willing to help no matter what. I've seen tips, tricks, and resources being shared for free. Community watch out for each other. Community defended the newbies from mean comments that make fun of their work. I just love this community so much and I definitely want to become a part of this group. Afterall, I started this hobby because my good friend re-introduced it to me and gave me the confident to start crocheting again. Thank you everyone for bringing joy back in my life.

Boy do I rambled on a lot today. I woke up in the middle of the night from intense chronic pain. It was a 10/10 pain to say the least. I did cry but this is the card I was dealt with so I'm learning to cope with it. Writing about something I love does help a ton though. If you're still here with me, thanks for reading thus far.

As always love you, stay safe, and crochet on.

Did I mention how much I love crochet? lol.

~Your Fellow Loopies

My other few first amigurumis. They're so cute! <3