My Journey to crocheting

I ran past this ad for the competition on instagram at three am in the morning when for some reason I could not sleep, this is quite unusual for me. I read it and comprehended what it was about and a surge of energy passed through me. When I’m doing my craft, I truly love it and to have this opportunity to write about it and tell others i’m grateful for. Therefore, here is my story.

My name is Nicole, I had an extremely troubling childhood. In fact I’m that kid you talk about when you say some kids grow up too fast. I’m quiet and responsible. I read a lot, I think a lot, I prefer older people to younger people and most people would say I have an old soul. When it comes to life I've always floated in the air like a leaf traveling across the world. At times there is extreme turbulence and I'm shaken to my core. Others the air is still and peaceful. During both times I always recognized that I'm still a leaf and as a leaf I'm a part of the world. You can see already that I was not a normal child in the least. Therefore, to add crocheting to my list of accomplishments starting at twelve years old is normal to me.

It started with sight. I saw my aunt doing what to me was this incredibly cool thing. She was making stuff, anything she wanted with her hands and yarn. For some reason I thought it was so cool that my quiet, meek, self asked her for a lesson. To you asking someone for something may not seem much, it may come easy to you. This was not in the least easy for me, however I wanted to learn so much I forced myself to ask. Our first and last lesson was on how to crochet a granny square. I paid attention with such intensity that for weeks after, I was crocheting granny squares. My grandparents whom I have to thank for cultivating this interest, bought me looms. Now looms are these little pieces of plastic tools that have pegs along the top to wrap yarn around. You can make really basic things with looms: blanket, scarves, and hand mittens. I made each of my little siblings a blanket with these looms from the ages 12-14 years old.

Next came touch. Crocheting has a lot to do with touch. More than you probably think. I know because in order to stay functional crocheting at such a young age, I multitasked. I would spend hours and hours a day with these looms and what I would do is watch tv and have my hand feel around the loom. Therefore every few seconds I could glance down to make sure what I was doing was correct, but then glance up to watch tv and further entice my mind. Thinking back on it right now honestly is so riveting because I can still feel the hook in my hand and feel the pegs to wrap the yarn around them. Then I graduated on to using just hooks. With hooks it was a whole new ball game. I basically could make anything I wanted from my imagination. To me this was astonishing because I can not draw, yet I can make an actually 3D object with just my hands.

Next came emotions. Everything I’ve ever made I gave away. For free. Now if I wanted too, I’m established enough in my craft to sell my work. I tell myself I don’t have time. In truth this is partly a lie. I like making people happy with my gifts because they are truly personal creations. I pick out the colors, the design, and how I want my work to be perceived. I could sit here all day and tell you all the things that I have made. I made my aunt a Hello Kitty purse, I made my grandmother a queen size blanket ( this feat took me three years to complete), I made my grandpa a monkey in a suit, my mother a top…..I could go on and on. I’ve made countless creations and the smile it gives them that I spent time and thought on them is what makes me crochet. It's a mutualistic relationship. I have finally crochet something for myself, it was a cover for my journal which I absolutely love how it turned out. I remember the day I completed it I texted my friend and was like, “ I did it! I finally made something for myself!”

The truth of my submission. The piece of work that I have submitted is a peacock. I decided to submit this creation because making it was such love and joy. The tail is my favorite part, but also was the most time consuming. The centerpiece of the feathers is a multicolor blue which matches the wings. Even though normal peacock wings are not this color, I think it added in my own touch to the peacock. Then the light turquoise blue is more a color you would see, surrounding it. The next color I picked out was a tan, this is because even though the color itself does not pop, it really brings out the other colors. The hunter green around each feather is then what really brings it together to make it look like a peacock’s tail. I also then added a loopy stitch around each feather to really bring it to life and give it a feathery like component. The head attaching to the body was one of the hardest things to do, because of it’s changing size in different areas. In the end I had to put a stitch between the head and the neck to give it a more bird-like motion. The head was originally pointed way too far upward. This is one of the reasons I haven't yet begun to write down my patterns and sell them. I sometimes add in unconventional stitches which given more work in the future could be worked out. However, each of my items are unique in the way I do not crochet them over again.

In conclusion, crocheting has been a huge part of my life and I don’t regret spending all that time learning how to do it in the past. I actually look forward to the future because as I age and continue to crochet each year, I get better. I tell my friends and I like to tell myself that by the time that I'm fifty I'll be a pro at this. To some people that's a far time away, but to me doing little things everyday and allowing them to build up is so much more rewarding in the future. Like me starting to crochet at 12, had I not started then, but now I wouldn't be writing this to you. I would not be submitting this peacock, because I would still be crocheting granny squares. Overall, thank you for this time and opportunity to explain my craft to you! Good day.

Sincerely,

Nicole Deleandro