Even though this was my first time teaching, I wasn’t nervous. Most of my students I knew already personally from church. Had a total of 9 girls in my crochet class with more to come next week. Some boys very clearly wanted to join too but they were too worried about getting laughed at by other boys. Which is silly. Why worry about what someone else thinks.
The first thing we did besides cleaning up that yarn vomit, was having a look at all the things we need to crochet. I explained what every piece was for. And of course I also reminded them not to run around with a crochet hook in the hands. That could be dangerous. Especially in a busy school with lots of kids running around.
Then I quickly showed them how to wind yarn, using that lovely yarn vomit I mentioned earlier. Winding can be fun, especially with a group of kids. We sat around it and each girl was told to watch 1 part of the mess. They were in charge of ensuring their part didn’t get tangled. That was actually a lot of fun!
After we cleaned up the yarn monster’s vomit, we started the real lesson. First I taught the girls how to hold the hook and yarn. Sweating girl of course dropped hers constantly cause her hands were wet. Had her go wash them with soap and water. You don’t want sweat anywhere near yarn. The yarn would end up dirty and sticky.
Learning to hold the hook went well. They could do it the right way immediately. Learning to hold the yarn was another thing. For two girls I had to literally move their fingers and the yarn myself to get it right. But with some practice both girls could do it properly soon after.
Another girl her fingers weren’t stiff enough. She was holding the yarn as if it was made of expensive and extremely fragile glass. Almost as if she was scared of hurting or breaking the yarn. Was kind of cute to see though. Told her to take a deep breath and relax. That fixed the problem.
I must say that for girls their age (8-11) and for it being a first time, they learned it quickly.
That was the next step. I used really thick yarn so they could easily see what I was doing. It was necessary for two of the girls who need glasses to see anything.
You would think learning to crochet a chain is easy, but apparently it isn’t for some little people. Four of the girls could make chains pretty much immediately. And very nicely done too. Each chain was the same size as the others. I had them practice over and over till they could do it with their eyes closed.
Three other girls needed some more practice but did really well too. For two girls it didn’t go smoothly. They just could not get it right. So one at a time they held the yarn and hook while I was holding their hands and made the right moves with their hands. That did the trick! They were able to make chains on their own after this.
Their chains weren’t the prettiest but they were chains. They were able to laugh about it. Especially the one with chains so big that I could easily fit my big toe in them. I told her you’re gonna need to fix that a little…..This girl I continued to teach after the lessons was over, while she was waiting for her mother to come pick her up. By the time she went home, her chains were normal sized and quite even.
In the 1.5 hour we spent making chains, most girls managed to get a chain of about 50cm/20inch. But there was this one girl how had made a 3m/3.25yd long chain. She just kept going and going and going.
These girls looked at their chains as if they were made of precious gold! They were that proud of them. Was so sweet to see them like that.
We then made them a bit shorter so they could turn them into bracelets. The girls left the classroom with their bracelets on and showed them to every living creature they came across. That was cute!
In the next lesson they’ll be learning to make the single crochet. Hopefully all goes well.
See you after the next lesson and thank you for reading my crochet lessons diary!
Was born in Belgium but moved to Indonesia as a child. Have been living here ever since. I absolutely LOVE crochet and knitting. I made this blog to help others get to the same level as me. And to make sure people have a place to come to with questions. Even the very beginner questions. Go ahead and ask me!
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