Who taught you to crochet?

I see this question regularly on crochet groups. I once asked this question myself in one of my Yarn Topics. There have been a lot of reactions to that question.

Many ladies and gentlemen have taught themselves with the help of booklets and videos from YouTube, especially if they have learned crochet at a "later" age.

Many ladies have learned to crochet at school or from family members, often from their mother or grandmother. Some have learned to crochet from their father or grandfather, a memory to cherish!

The age at which someone learns to crochet is also very varied. Many have learned crochet before their 12th year. Others started crocheting much later, for example to crochet for the children or grandchildren. But crocheting is also often picked up when someone is rehabilitating from surgery.

Crocheting with Grandma and her neighbour

I learned to crochet from my Grandmother van't Veld and her neighbour Aunt Aartje.

My grandmother was always crocheting or knitting and I found that so interesting that I wanted to learn that too. I must have been about 6 or 7 years old, just a little bit older than on the picture above and I was staying with Grandpa and Grandma during the holidays. Grandma did her best to teach me, the beginning went well too, I quickly mastered to crochet a chain of Chains. After that it didn't work out that well and since we are both rather stubborn, it ended up that I angrily walked away with crochet hook and skein of wool to grandma's neighbour.

Neighbour Aunt Aartje also had her granddaughter visiting at that time. Petra was about the same age as me and together we had crochet lessons from Grandma/Aunt Aartje. In the evening I could show my Grandmother my new stitches and then she could help me further if I got stuck. That's how my first crocheted pieces came about. Grandma had many Durable crochet books and magazines with crochet patterns in them. I believe I crocheted some squares after that, that I made slippers out of!

Crocheting stuffed animals and amigurumi

After I was able to crochet myself, Grandma didn't stop making Amigurumi for me and my brother. At that time, no one had heard of the word Amigurumi and it was still called crocheted or knitted stuffed animals. She also sometimes made a crocheted bag for me.

For example, I have 3 knitted world citizens that Grandma has made for me. Also, my brother and I both have a Granny square blanket made by Grandma, my brother has red as the main colour and I dark brown. Too bad the needlework didn't work out later because of her sore hands and bad eyes.

Crocheting with my mother

My mother can also crochet and knit quite good. She made crochet Barbie dresses for me. I also have a Barbie dress that an old neighbour crocheted for me. My mother did the training to become a dressmaker, she made a lot of our clothes herself and I could crochet a nice sweater for both of us!

Since last year I have also infected her again with the crochet virus. A wreath, a hat, a scarf, a Cosy living blanket and a shawl later, my mother also ventured into a pattern of mine. And how nice her Nutcracker soldier has become!!

She also regularly tests my new patterns!