Crochet and the hostel

As I said in the beginning, this blog will mainly be about my crafting and hostel life.
And the other day I realized that my crochet business probably would have never happened if it wasn't for the hostel.

I did learn the basics of crochet and knitting in primary school. I must have been eight or so. I remember crocheting a little purse just with chain stitch and single crochet. That was all I knew until a couple of months ago.

My grandmother and my mother are both geniuses when it comes to these kinds of crafts, but I wasn't too interested in any of it, maybe because I thought it was just something for old people (boy was I wrong). They would spend whole afternoons bend over magazines discussing knitting and sawing patterns while I preferred to watch TV.

So in June 2012 I got a Kindle as a birthday present, since living in a hostel meant that my bunk bed looked like a library.
My holy new device needed a cover. Something that would protect it, when it would travel with me everywhere. But I didn't want to spend £15 or so on the covers that were available at the time. That is a crazy amount of money for me. And I thought, that I would probably be able to make one myself. And so I did. I bought really cheap yarn and a hook and went to work. Remember, up until then I only knew chain and single stitch. It wasn't pretty and I am sure crochet experts would have frowned upon my work, but it served its purpose.

And I think it was around the same time, maybe a few months later that I was really broke and my purse broke and I didn't have the money to buy a new one. So for a while I only had a canvas bag that I had gotten for free somehow. But in my canvas bag I would always carry a ball for yarn and a hook. I don't know how long it took me but in the end I had crocheted pretty solid purse. It wasn't perfect, I had used different types of yarn and I think different hooks as well but boy was I proud to be able to produce something like that. It even went to Leeds Festival with me.

I wasn't happy with the colors 'though, so I started another one. And from there it went crazy. A hostel friend asked me, if I could make a purse for her. So I did. And the sign-in-book at reception needed a new cover, so I crocheted one. And then the same friend who asked me for a bag showed me a youtube tutorial about crochet and from there it got even crazier. I think the first thing I learned was a simple flower. And with that I learned a double crochet. Soon I discovered "bobwilson123" who is a crochet goddess and thanks to her I soon crocheted my first beanie (bobwilson123 youtube crochet channel). And that's when things got out of control. Hostel people kept asking me to crochet things for them all the time, to the point where I couldn't crochet fast enough and I had to ask people to at least pay for the yarn. And at some point I simply started charging for my time, too and they didn't even mind.

I still don't even make minimum wage, but I am happy about the fact that people actually love my stuff and ask me, if I could crochet this or that for them. I also don't feel like I am a pro yet, there is still so much to learn. With every new stitch, pattern or video I come across a whole new dimension opens up. I AM ADDICTED and I am not ashamed of it. At least I can make a little money out of my addiction...