My personal journey of finding my place within the crafting community.

Sometimes it can be nice to curl up at home with a crochet hook and a ball of yarn, or a hot glue gun and some cardboard, or a stack of images and a pair of scissors. But while arts and crafts are in essence an individual act — I mean, only one person can wield a crochet hook at a time — the community that’s created when crafters come together can be something special. 

In the last few years there’s been a resurgence of the fibre arts popping up online. In today’s world, crocheting and knitting are no longer an old woman’s game. More and more millennials and gen z-er’s are picking up the hobby as a way to wind down, express themselves, and to connect with the people around them. I am one of them. 

I couldn’t tell you the exact moment I decided to pick up a crochet hook for the first time. I grew up around crafting; my mom crocheted and my grandma sewed, so I guess it was inevitable that I myself would one day become a crafter. It’s like it was stitched into my very DNA. 

From a young age, I taught myself how to crochet, and then how to knit, and then how to sew. I would draw and paint and make collages. If it involved making something, I figured out how to make it, and there was something so satisfying about knowing that I could make anything I set my mind to. 

“At that moment I realized that crafting was so much more than just a way to relax. It was a way to connect.”

In the beginning, I crafted for myself. I would sit alone in my room with a ball of yarn and a crochet hook and magazine full of patterns and I would work by myself to complete each project. Just the process of crafting did wonders for me. It stimulated my brain as I worked to figure out the how, and when I did, the process became almost meditative, as the stitches became repetitive and more muscle memory than active thought. 

When I was 13 years old, my grandmother bought me my very first sewing machine. She sat beside me while she taught me how to thread it, walked me through the different stitch settings, and helped me sew my very first project. 

At that moment I realized that crafting was so much more than just a way to relax. It was a way to connect. 

While I relished those moments where I would get to turn off my brain from the world and solely focus on crafting alone in my room, there was something so special about being able to share my love for crafting with my family.

Whenever I got stuck, or there was something that I couldn’t figure out, I knew I could ask either my mom or my grandma. They would take the time to walk me through certain stitches, or help me discern where I went wrong in a pattern if something wasn’t adding up. 

As I grew up, I began to cherish the moments I would get to connect with others over a shared love of crafting. I started doing craft nights with friends, joined online communities, and even started going on out-of-town crafting retreats with my mom and grandma, because there is nothing quite like being an active member in the crafting community. 

I mean, a group full of people who want nothing but to support and help each other over a shared love? Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? 

Now in my old age of 31, I still craft to relax. My apartment is filled with supplies, finished projects, active projects, and projects that I’m sure I will be working on for the rest of my days. I know I don’t need to finish something in order to be satisfied with my crafts, because for me crafting has always been about the journey, the process, and the connection. 

Although, there is something pretty cool about being able to look at something that I made with my own hands and the help of the people I love, and say, “I made that.”