Who Taught You To Crochet?

By Rachel Choi – 72 Comments

I run into many people that are self taught crocheters and some that are taught by family or friends. I’ve always wondered if one way was better than the other, but I guess it all depends on the person since we all have different learning styles.

As for me, I was taught by my mom! When I was younger I asked my mom to teach me to crochet after I saw one of my friends doing it. She taught me the basics, like the foundation chain, single crochet and double crochet (thanks mom!). According to her, I was really bad at making my chains. But now that I know the basics, I learn more from the internet and books. I like being able to learn from all sorts of places and people. So I guess you can say that I’m 50/50, half taught by family and half taught by books and the internet.

What about you? Who taught you to crochet?

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72 Comments

  1. Jenny says:

    My mother tried to teach me to crochet, but she was right handed and I am left handed. It didn’t work out so well. Then, I bought a instructional book for lefties and I was hooked (sorry about the pun!) I still refer to the book because it shows me how to do the different stitches as I forget how to do them. Even though my Mom wasn’t able to teaach me, she was my inspiration for learning. She crocheted the neatest things!

  2. Marcia Kirby says:

    I learned in the early 70’s. I was working on a mental health unit in the local hospital. We were doing arts and crafts with the psychiatric patients. One of the Nurses Aides taught me and some of the patients began chrocheting too! We were into Granny Squares back then and made scarfs, afghans, vests, and shawls. I have been chrochting ever since. I am not very good with patterns, but I try! My favorite piece was a large bag that my daughter has now that was crocheted out of cotton cord. It was hard to crochet but worth it. It was squares pieced together with a separate handle.

  3. Molly Mcmurray says:

    My senior year in school, the Office Education teacher (who was always making ponchos) offered to teach crocheting after school to any of use who could stay an hour & get a ride home. We worked on scarves and learned the basics then I bought instruction books for the harder stuff later. Thanks, Mrs. Hines!

  4. Jessica-Jean says:

    I never actually *saw* my grandmother knit, but she had a knitting bag (with a partially done sweater and three pairs of needles) permanently hanging on the back of the bedroom door. I think she did her fill of knitting when my mother and the twins were little – during the Great Depression. My mother was always crocheting (a thread bedspread!) when I was young. I wasn’t interested in either craft until I saw someone on the school bus knitting. After much pestering, my grandmother relented and showed me the basics of knitting. Then my mother (not to be outdone by *her* mother!), taught me the basics of crochet. She also handed me a ‘How-To’ book and got me to try to read patterns, too. That was really the best part, because I continued to learn from books and other sources and – over time – went on to surpass them both in expertise, though I haven’t made a thread bedspread … yet. Since then – 1954 – I’ve always had at least one knit and one crochet project in progress. Now, at age 64, I have turned to charity work; no one in the family wants anymore knitted or crocheted items!

  5. Carrie-anne says:

    I am entirely internet taught. My mum tried to teach me when I was younger hoping that I would be like her mother but I just couldn’t get the hang of it, then a few years ago I saw some yarn that went perfectly with my new bag and had to have a matching scarf made from it so I bought it then went home and searched through hundred of beginners tutorials until I found some that worked for me. Now my mum has her wish and, just like my gran used to, I knit everything, and my last project called for a crocheted edge so I got out my gran’s crochet hook picked up my laptop and started searching, now I’m crocheting a blanket for my friends new baby, it’s easier to carry crochet projects around when you’re travelling a lot too (my knitting needles always seemed to end up poking holes through the tip guards and my bags!)

  6. Mary Kazmer says:

    I taught myself many years ago using a book called “The Learn How Book”, which contains excellent detailed instructions and photos on crochet, knitting, tatting, end embroidery. I don’t know whether it is still in print.

  7. Ana Tutko says:

    My mother. She was very big on “leisure arts” originaly from Spain she was raced knowing ho to do everything a lady should know how to do.She knew how to do everything by hand, she hand made clothes, bed sheets, underwear, painted china, and of course she knitted and crochetted all sorts of things from clothing articles to bed spreads and rugs. Needless to say, me and my sisters at the tender age of 4, started to learn all of those things, and of course, we hated it! we sat there every afternoon, paint brush, crochet hook, knitting needles, needle and thread on hand, wishing we were out there running and climbing those trees instead of sitting pretty and lady like, sigh!
    It wasn’t untill about ten years a go that I stumble by accident, back in to knitting and crochetting once again and discovered that I absolutely love it! I will never be as good as my mother was, she use to create from memory the most beautiful lace you have ever seen!
    So now, 35 years latter, oh! how I wish I was there, sitting every afternoon with my mother and sisters, sipping tea or hot chocolate learning how to make life more beautiful…..Sigh!

  8. Michelle says:

    I’m like you, my mother taught me the basics and as I got older I learned from online and books. I love crocheting for my family because it’s like I can finally return the favor for all of the crocheted items I’ve received from my mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

  9. Sharon says:

    I’m self taught.As a young girl an elderly aunt visited and passed away while visiting leaving a trunkful of treasures,dress-up clothes and such.In the bottom of the trunk was a Clark”How to Book” a size #12 steel needle and a ball of red #10 crochet thread.I spent most of my time making chains and taking them apart.I practiced the other stitches but wasn’t sure if they were right but keep on.Later granny squares and practice peices and looked closely at any articles I came across.I do ok but continue to take out stitches and redo.I try new stitches and have lots of patterns and many” how to books”and multiple unfinished projects,and no one to pass the skill on to or all the supplies.Thank you for letting me tell my story.An imperfect profectionist,Sharon McD. ps:my greatgrandmother taught me a stitch she called split-rail fence.She was in her 90’s and right before she died.

  10. Susan says:

    My mom’s mom taught me the basics when I was in my early 20’s. I wasn’t ‘hooked’ on the craft. Four years ago my dad’s mom ( the real crochet’er of the family) was in a local rest home. I used to go sit with her for 2 hours every evening and then for hours on weekends. A nurse there was pregnant and my grandma wanted to make her a blanket but a stroke and arthritis took her ability to hold and feel the hook and yarn. So we made it ‘together’. She taught and I crocheted. Grandma has been gone two years now. I have made hundreds of blankets, most of them sitting in the rest home with her. They have all been given away to either residents or staff there or to Project Linus

  11. Denise says:

    What a beautiful story Susan – put a lump in my throat! Your grandmother must have been so proud that she passed on a hobbie that she loved so much.

  12. Debbie D. says:

    I’m self-taught! About 25 years ago, I picked up a Woman’s Day magazine and there were instructions in it about how to teach yourself to crochet. I started with the basics and actually start making the afghan they featured using single crochet and triple crochet stitches. The afghan had a shell stitch border. I was hooked (no pun intended) from that point!!!

  13. Allyson says:

    I learned to do a chain by my mom and I taught myself everything else

  14. Nette says:

    I have a cousin who taught an arts and crafts course in Humble, TX that came to Louisiana to visit and she had several items that she had made on her trip. I was very interested in learning but she was busy attempting to teach another cousin who just couldn’t catch on. After her visit, my mom bought me a hook, a “ball” of yarn, and a crochet magazine and told me that if I was really interested in learning, I was smart enough to figure it out. I was twelve at the time and have been crocheting for thirty-one years and love every minute of it. I’m constantly searching for new challenges and Crochet Spot has features a few stitches that I had not run across.

  15. ruby says:

    my grandma taught me to crochet when I was about 5-6 years old… she was so very good to all of grands… ruby

  16. mmcrochet says:

    My mom taught me knitting, needlepoint, embrodery, cross stitich, started sampler – never finished. My paternal grandmother taught me crochet and tatting. I was very young when I learned these and didn’t keep it up.

    As a young teenage bride, we lived with his grandmother who re-taught me to crochet.-this time it “took”. This woman gave me a gift that has enriched my life. Divorced many years ago with no children to teach, I recently reconnected with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. I am hoping to pass this along to one of them as a way to honor her. I cannot think of a better way to show how much I loved her.

  17. Gin says:

    My great-grandmother and namesake taught me to crochet! I carry on the tradition in our family now, making sure every new baby has its fair share of crocheted blankies and clothes. 🙂

  18. Sunshine says:

    I mostly taught myself. I had a friend who crocheted ao I got her to teach me the basics. That summer I had my dad get me a set of hooks and a how-to book and I practiced in my free-time

  19. Gene says:

    I taught myself using youtube and a crochet book from Wal-mart.

  20. Kristina says:

    Who taught me? Well, YOU, Rachel! 🙂
    The first time I had a real ball of yarn, I was at the bookstore coffeeshop. I hadn’t even taken my coat off and a lady approached me, asking if I knit. I bashfully said I am just learning the art of crochet, mentioned your site, and then we talked for hours! She helped me get the proper feel of tension, something I just could not get, and helped me coordinate the hands in a much more comfortable manner (much like you teach, but my brain didn’t read/comprehend that right away!).

  21. Delecia says:

    My grandmother not only taught me, but gave me a passion for crocheting and other hand crafts. I’m left handed so she always put me facing her so it would be reversed as she taught me. I taught my boys, when they were little, to make things for their G.I. Joes but they quit as they grew older. Now I’m excited to teach my grand daughters who love to learn. I still have some of the granny square things grandma made for me in the 70’s. For some people, crocheting is just fun. For me, it’s great memories.

  22. Anna says:

    When I was 10 my grandmother took my 9 year old cousin to see my aunt and uncle 300 miles away. My cousin liked to play with their toddler and I used to like watching my Italian aunt crochet lace with cotton. I didn’t realise my Mum could crochet a bit although she wasn’t very inventive. I haven’t stopped since then and am still crocheting 37 years later. tinw

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