Finding a new hobby

Ever since I was little I’ve always been a crafty person.

I liked to create things with my two little hands, cutting paper into shapes (though my cutting skills are not so good still), using the glue to put pieces together, decorating with glitter abd other sparkly things. Art classes were my favorite because it was a way for me to have fun between learning and writing essays.
Though in the past several years I hev mostly ocused on drawing, though not religiously so my skills are still sloppy, I tried to get a little crafty sometimes.

Lately I found that drawing is limiting me into doing this one particular thing, and I often feel stuck, having art blocks here and there. Since my foundation isn’t great, and I’m too lazy to start working on it (though I plan on doing so sometime this year), I found I needed something else to do in my free time. My other biggest hobby is watching asian dramas, but that’s more like a chilling hobby, like taking a break from doing stuff physically. I knew I needed to look for some other hobbies to have more options, and I see 2022 as the year for new things.

My idea for this year is to try out new things, broaden my horizon, do stuff I’ve always wanted but never got to it for any reason. I already have a few little things on my mental list, we’ll see how many I’ll get to this year.

So back to crafting, once many moons ago I tried knitting for fun, but I just couldn’t get the hang of it so I gave up pretty fast. I felt it wasn’t meant for me. I was at a store one day and saw this soft yarn. I bought 3 colors for no particular reason, I just thought I could use it for something one day. That was the start.
Lately I’ve been seeing these cute crochet plushies on instagram, so the idea was slowly forming in my head. I started looking into it a little, seeing where I can find needles, what I could make, etc. I found some 3.0 sized needles in a cheap store, so I bought one along with a few colors of yarn. This size of needle isn’t the right one for the ones I bought the first time, so they are still sitting in my drawer, waiting for me to buy a bigger needle.

I started with the first steps, creating a few rows. My first attempt didn’t work out, but I slowly started seeing how it works the second try. A tiny piece of green was my first attempt. I was so happy when I finally made a few nice rows! I got excited, so next time I was out and about I visited a store that sells sewing supplies, yarn and such. I had my tiny green piece with me, so I used that to see what thickness I needed. It also helped not to choose the same green color when grabbing some more, this time better quality yarn. Now that I had more colors I had more options for future little crochet projects.
The first two things I made were cacti. A tiny one as a test in the beginning, and a bigger one with a pot and a flower on top to hold my sewing needles.
The second little thing I made was a frog without reference. It’s not perfect, but it turned out quite fine for a beginner.

Then I started looking for videos. I found one about a mushroom. It looked a little more complex at first, many steps were needed to finish one little shroom, but I went for it, and it is still my favorite. I learned some new steps making this mushroom: how to make the row tighter and how to connect the top and bottom.

As much as I enjoyed (and also struggled) making a 3d shape, I wanted to find something flat to make next. My immediate thought was: doilies! I found a website full of tutorials and videos on how to make doilies and other flat shapes. I chose one that looked the easiest and got to it, following the video. I finished it in two days due to time limitation, but it turned out quite nice.

I tried to make one in white, but I messed up the stitches, the number wasn’t correct so I couldn’t finish the original pattern. I fixed it though and I use it now as a coaster for my water bottle in the office.
I wasn’t going to let go of the white little doily, so I made one correctly. It’s the same pattern as the first bigger one I made, but without the last few rounds. So it’s a smaller flower shape.

Last week I got sick, but on friday I was getting much better. I got much more energy than on the days prior, so I decided to make some more of these little doilies while still resting on the couch or in bed. I made six in total, each in different colors. I’ve gotten a lot faster making these, I pretty much memorized the steps by now.

There’s still a lot to learn and explore in this new hobby, but I’m enjoying it so far.