I taught myself to crochet as a way to honour my granny, but I never realised that it would become the number one tool that I use to beat the stresses in life.

I’m sure that some of you have heard the story of why I learned to crochet, so I apologise if you’ve heard it before. I learned to crochet to honour my Grannie. I had thought the craft was dying and part of me didn’t want to see a craft that she loved disappear with her and part of me was curious to see if I really could learn as it always looked so tricky! This nagging thought had been with me for a while when some online crochet classes came across my path so I purchased them. Not long after that some crochet hooks came across my path too, so I decided I should buy them as I couldn’t learn without them. I eventually purchased some yarn from my local store and set myself the task of following the lessons.

I was quite literally hooked! The lessons taught me from the very basics up (much like my own style of teaching), and I was able to grasp the concepts behind all the stitches quickly. I felt like a natural and also felt like my Grannie was somehow with me guiding me in what I was learning and helping me along. I very quickly started on my own projects and ideas just kept flowing through my head. When I couldn’t find a pattern to suit the image in my head, I would make it come to life instead. And from there I started to write my patterns and share them with the world too. But it didn’t stop there.

I was in my 40’s before I learned to crochet and started on this journey. By that time I was settled into a demanding career, with the help of my husband we had raised 3 children to the teenage years and adulthood and we became foster carers and took on two very troubled young boys full-time. We had very little support from the department and I also decided to take on full-time study while still being employed full-time. If I hadn’t taken up crochet I don’t think I could have survived those 5 1/2 years as a foster carer with all the other demands that life was placing on me and that I was placing on myself. Crochet became my every day coping mechanism. It was my one way to find calm each evening. There is something about the rhythm of the hook when you find the right project and the right yarn that just makes everything in your body relax and you feel the stresses melt away. I also discovered that joy was my guiding word in life and that I am at my happiest when I am experiencing joy.

It was working with a life coach that lead me to the epiphany that joy was my guiding word and I had my aha moment with what I needed to do with my crochet. Crochet is my happy place, but I also learned that I find great joy in teaching others. When I am happiest at my day job it is when I am creating new processes and teaching them to others. It seemed to make sense that I merge my love of crochet and my love of creating and teaching to create the Hooked on Crochet Club. I knew that my journey was in helping others improve on their crochet skills so that they too could find the full benefits in the calm and joy that crochet brings – I realised that I needed to help other crocheters find their joy in crochet so that they could feel the calm that I was feeling.

I don’t want others to feel the extreme stresses of life before they find the calm and joy from crochet. I want to encourage them to find it before then. I remember there were nights when I was sitting and physically shaking from the stress of the boys we were caring for and finding solace in my hook. I needed to get into a rhythm with my body so that the calm would take hold. When I would sit, I could shut out the world and my hook would begin out clunky and then it would be working double or triple time as I worked through the thoughts and feelings in my head. Over time my head would clear and my hook would slow down and I would become calm. I don’t know how I would have coped if I didn’t know how to crochet!

We’re no longer foster carers, but crochet remains a huge part of my life. I make a square daily as my morning meditation. I make a square each evening for my temperature blanket as a way to shed the working day and turn my focus to home and family. I crochet every evening as a wind down before bed. My children are all adults now and independent so crochet fills the void of having more spare time now that I don’t have to run them around to their sports in the evenings. And I get so much joy out of seeing others learn and create from the skills and projects that I have given them. Crochet is my happy place and I want it to be that for you too.

And that is why I started the Hooked on Crochet Club.

It is my way to help bring that sense of calm, but also achievement to others. Crochet is a shared joy, but also a private one. It brings people together and gives them a purpose and a sense of belonging. It brings them peace.

If you’ve been considering learning to crochet then I don’t want you holding back! I would love for you to download my free beginners guide so that when the time is right you too will be able to start on your crochet journey.

Seona x