Skip to main content

C is for 'Crochet'

Crochet is a hobby that requires skill and patience. My mom learned how to crochet from the Internet through YouTube videos. She is a member of several crochet groups on Facebook. She also looks at Pinterest for ideas. My mom says one has to go step by step in crochet. The first thing she made was coasters. She made coasters in the shape of owls, leaves etc.  She then graduated to square and round bags. She finally made ponchos and cardigans.

My mom had seen my maternal grandmother doing crochet several years ago in Delhi, but she didn’t learn from my grandma. She learned knitting from my grandma. Some of my mom’s classmates also did crochet several years ago. My mom also had some crochet books, but she feels YouTube helped her more.

She says it can be done while watching TV or being otherwise engaged. It acts as a stressbuster. Crochet helped my mom get through a tough time when her mother passed away. She says one has to count a lot of stitches to get it right. There are several types of crochet thread, one of them being acrylic. Acrylic is easy to wash. One can make dresses, skirts and overcoats with crochet.

Many people turn to crochet as a hobby that gives them peace and also some income. They run their businesses on Facebook pages using Facebook Marketplace or on Etsy. Some of them display their crochet work for sales in stalls in melas. Some residential complexes even run such melas for their residents. Some online sites also enable to you extend your reach.

Attached: Pics of the crochet pieces my mom has made









Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I is for 'Insect Collecting'

Yes! Insect collecting is a hobby. People do collect insects and preserve them in chemical solutions. A former colleague and friend from Hewlett-Packard used to do it. She was even featured in 'The Hindu' for her unusual hobby. She said her parents always told her stories of insects while she grew up, so she did not consider them icky or creepy. Now, I’ve got arachnophobia that’s been passed down from my maternal grandmother, so the thought of collecting any insect gives me the heebie-jeebies. I do like ladybirds and butterflies although I don’t really want to collect them. Here is an article on ‘How to start a proper insect collection’ from the Internet in case you want to explore your options. If you enter ‘insect collecting supplies' on Amazon, it throws up a list of supplies like ‘insect collecting net’ ‘insect display case’ etc. Maybe once we are rid of COVID -19, you can look it up.  Children interested in science can do it as a school project for t
6 comments
Read more

O is for 'Online Learning'

What better time than the lockdown to pursue an online course? I have done three courses on LinkedIn so far during this period, but I would love to do more courses on other platforms as well. LinkedIn enables you to download a certificate and also add it as a skill on your LinkedIn profile, once you complete the course. Now, so many reputed universities and Ivy League colleges are offering free courses online. Have you checked out https://online-learning.harvard.edu/ ? Udemy is offering courses starting from Rs. 420 for Shuttl users. Instapoet Rupi Kaur conducted a live writing workshop online earlier this year. BYJU’s, Unacademy, Vendantu and Coursera are having special offers and limited free access to their learning material. There is no better time than the present to upskill. Learning is a lifelong process. The half-life of an engineering education today is only three years, so it becomes crucial to keep learning after graduation or post-graduation. It is best not to str
4 comments
Read more

H is for 'Horseriding'

  Yes, this( horseriding) is a hobby, too, albeit for the rich and famous.    Tourists visiting hill stations can go horseback riding with guides leading the way. Children can ride small ponies in beaches, as I have done as a child.  The last time I sat on a pony was when I was about ten years old. At least that’s the last time that comes to mind. Here’s a picture of me with a pony in Kashmir. My parents and I were tourists visiting J&K in the 80s. A simple Google search throws up a list of results for horse riding schools in Chennai alone. Talking of horses, the scene from the movie Godfather comes to mind, when a beloved racehorse Khartoum is found dead and its head severed on the bed as a threat from Marlon Brando’s character. A lot of ‘Westerns’ in Hollywood couldn’t have been made without horses. More recently, the film ‘The War Horse’ was made.   In Indian movies, the heroine on horseback or riding a horsedrawn carriage ( like Basanti in ‘Sholay’ )  mak
6 comments
Read more