How did you get started?

Hello, everyone!
I’m really curious: How did you get started? How did you discover crafting, and how old were you at the time?
Do you perhaps remember what your very first creation was? Was it hard or easy for you to find your way in the world of crafting? What was your first sense of accomplishment?

Warm regards to all crafting enthusiasts!

Hi, as a little kid I always watched my grandma and great-grandma, and then I learned. Around age 5 or 6, I finally made something that actually looked decent :)

First it was pot holders and doilies, then socks and hand puppets. Then, as a teenager, I hardly did anything at all—or only rarely—and when I did, it was mostly baskets.

Then, around age 20, I got totally hooked again :)

Then there was a phase in 2007/2008 when I didn’t do anything at all because I was so swamped at work and putting in so much overtime that I’d just fall into bed exhausted.

But since 2011, I’ve been doing it regularly again, and since 2012, I’ve been doing it professionally.

That was the best professional decision of my life so far.

Now I crochet all kinds of things.

Hi everyone,
it was pretty much the same for me. I used to watch my grandma all the time, and by the time I was 12, I could knit and crochet well enough to make something presentable. If I remember correctly, my first projects were a scarf and a (small) triangular shawl.
Then I knitted almost exclusively and didn’t crochet at all until that changed about 1 1/2 to 2 years ago. Right now, I much, much prefer crocheting to knitting. 

I learned to crochet and knit from my mother when I was in elementary school. My grandma also knitted and crocheted; there was always at least one of us with some needlework in hand.
Somehow, crochet established itself as my favorite.
I never took breaks; I was always making something. When I had my children, the range of things I made expanded a lot to include baby clothes, doll clothes, booties, etc.
I also taught myself knooking and Tunisian crochet, by the way.
Best regards,
Karin

I also started when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I picked up crocheting and knitting by watching my mom, using a knitting dolly, and always experimenting a little.
My first projects were crocheted doilies, scarves, and teddy bears…
Then I took a few years off from crafts before I started knitting again. Since then, I’ve basically been doing some kind of craft or another all the time.
Right now, I love crocheting, knitting, and sewing the most...

I usually feel a sense of accomplishment when I manage to make something I set out to do or when I learn a new technique. When I knitted my first sock, I felt like a hero (with 5 needles and an online pattern in hand :D :D )

 

When I was about 4 or 5 years old, my mom used to crochet clothes for my doll. I started doing it around the same age. My first project was a little bag—I was the same age then. It was totally lopsided and crooked, but I was very proud of it because I’d just crocheted away freely. Later, I tried more and more things. When I was about 9, I bought fabric with my allowance and sewed dresses. I took a break during my teenage years.
  I picked it up again around age 20, making lots of socks with every pattern imaginable. When my children were born in 2011 and 2012, I designed lots of children’s items. In the fall of 2012, I started doing it commercially. Since people kept asking me for patterns, I began writing everything down in May 2013.
  Now I have so many ideas that I’m running out of time. I always have my needles with me, and my kids love getting something new. Alina is now 4 years old. She already picked out a crochet hook from my collection the other day.
I’ll probably teach my kids soon, just like my mom taught me. :-)

I didn’t start crocheting and knitting until a little later, thanks to a friend who’s been crocheting passionately for several years.
She took me along to one of her meetups—where they get together once a week to work on projects—and I was hooked right away!
My first sense of accomplishment also came from making socks. For my first baby. I put so much effort into them! And now they’re tucked between the pages of a photo album, reminding me of that time :)

 

I also started by crocheting pot holders. Then I spent many years knitting cardigans. After injuring my left thumb, that was the end of knitting for me. Then I didn’t do any kind of crafting for more than 10 years. When I was in the hospital three months ago, a nurse showed me amigurumi, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I started with simple Easter eggs, then moved on to bunnies, teddy bears, unicorns, angels, and bridal couples. Right now, I’m crocheting an entrelac bedspread, and I have a pattern for a dragon lying around.

It was similar for me, like for many of you. I was often at my grandma’s and watched her, fascinated, when she knitted. Mostly socks or baby booties. I can’t remember whether she ever made anything using a pattern. Even before I started school, I could
knit the baby booties. I still knit them the same way today, almost 40 years later. When I was about 10, I sewed doll clothes by hand. Because I always enjoyed it so much, I turned my hobby into my profession. I became a handicrafts teacher, and after 20 years I still enjoy teaching just as much as I did at the beginning. I’m especially happy that my 11-year-old daughter is also showing interest and is doing quite well. She likes knitting and loves crocheting even more. Right now she’s making bracelets and little guardian angels.

For me, it wasn’t that long ago. I’d always see such beautiful crocheted items in magazines, and at some point I finally worked up the courage to just give it a try. And it was great, because now I’m totally hooked :) I was so proud when I made my first pot holders! They even looked pretty good :D