Crochety Old Lady

Yarn over, pull through.
Yarn over, pull through.

The index finger of my left hand is throbbing and with each search for a spine, I can hear the wool moaning as I push the needle through.

I can hear them talking about me in the other room, but their words mean nothing. I just need to finish this last row and then I will stop. Okay, just one more.

I have become an old lady. I catch sight of myself in the mirror, glasses falling slightly down my nose, my hair in an untidy bun that I would not be caught dead in outside of the house and the crocheting needle in my hand. To be fair, it's not like I am crocheting a scarf (though I probably will at some point). To be even more fair, this is not a project of my choosing. The penguin that I made earlier was. This one Grant asked me to make. He caught sight of the pattern while I was browsing and decided that it was a must-have. He even took me to Birch's this morning just so that we could get the wool that I would need to make it. It's a Mario One-Up Mushroom, which brings out the geek in him and lets me indulge in my new hobby without feeling too ancient.

I started learning to crochet at the end of January. It was a tactic to prevent boredom in an office where browsing has been forbidden and no tickets were coming in to be answered. The office was dead quiet. With no emails to reply to, no phonecalls to answer and no browsing allowed, we resorted to other activities that hadn't been banned. While some read and some scrolled through the applications on their cellphones, I crocheted. It would be crochet a row, refresh the screen to see if there are any new emails. Crochet another row, refresh again. It was great practice, getting me faster and faster and crocheting. It also meant that the F5 button on my work computer may be dying some time soon.

Within a week, I was ready to try my first project. I finished it in a day. A little wonky, not quite perfect, but still a penguin that I could be proud of and one that my goddaughter adored. I finished the penguin around 4pm and immediately started on the next project, which I finished the next morning. I could hardly wait to start on the next one!

The only problem with crocheting in Grahamstown though is the lack of supplies. Sure, there are places to get wool, to get hooks and even to get stuffing. But things like felt and safety eyes are mysteries to the Grahamstown haunts and practically impossible to get unless you want to order them online (which I do not). Instead, I resort to sewing eyes and buying beads to make the best of what I have available. Not quite the same, but they will do.

So, if you are bored and looking for something to do, considering crocheting. It is not just for old people and is actually highly addictive once you get into the hang of it, especially when you discover sites like Ravelry and all the cool things that you can make with the patterns that you find there.

What strange hobbies do you have?