I taught myself to crochet recently. It was my ‘something new to learn to keep my brain active,’ which social media tells me everyone past their thirties should do, because that is when the rot starts. I had also read in Michelle Obama’s book The Light We Carry that she bought knitting needles at the beginning of the pandemic, and taught herself to knit while she dealt with the anxiety and the uncertainty caused by the pandemic outside her doors. Inspired — and even though it had been a few years since the pandemic — I bought myself a pair of needles to deal with the dread and unease caused by the world, in general, outside my door. And I taught myself to knit, using YouTube videos very helpfully put up there by people teaching beginners how to knit. Then a few months in, I discovered crochet, found it even more interesting to use a single hook instead of the two required for knitting, and ordered myself some crochet needles and yarn on Amazon; and I haven’t looked back since! ...
Seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary