This is my first post on My Yarn Tales. A warm fuzzy, fluffy welcome to all! If you’ve read my about page you know that I’m a Full Time Parent (FTP) and Freelance Artist. I love all kinds of art but I’ve spent over 20+ years with crochet. That sounds like a lot of time…I should be a pro, right?…Wrong! The truth is I’m still learning the same as everyone else.

So let’s talk a bit about continuous learning. I spent a lot of time making different variations of the same thing because it was comfortable but I wasn’t progressing in my craft so much as polishing the same stone for years. Don’t get me wrong I was happy with my work, just not satisfied with my growth. I saw so many talented crafters online creating much more complicated pieces and I was making the same few baby blankets over and over. I wanted to expand my horizons.

Discovering Ravelry was a game changer for me. I started trying new patterns like a kid in a candy store. I still LOVE baby blankets but once I made a few scarves, fingerless gloves and hats I was confident enough to attempt the more ambitious endeavor called Amigurumi. FYI…just because the plush is small doesn’t make it easy. I learned that the hard way. The result was super cute but if you’re looking to try Amigurumi for the first time, larger is better.

My first amigurumi was a tiny pony by All About Ami. . Her patterns are so professional and the results look as though you bought the item from a shop. My sister loved hers (white with violet hair) and my oldest son said he needed one in The Flash’s colors (red and yellow) and I was happy oblige. But Raverly isn’t the only place to find inspiration, learning materials, tutorials and free patterns anymore. Pinterest is a great search engine for all of these things! I have so many boards on Pinterest related to crochet and you can check them out via the link on my home page.

There are so many stitches I still have to learn. I will be posting my continued progress weekly. The best way to learn though is through trial and error so creating my own patterns was a must. I began writing my own patterns 6 years ago when I started receiving special requests for items that I couldn’t find patterns for online. Scarves with University colors, kids who want rainbows with clouds or love Thomas the Tank Engine etc… I made most of these as gifts but a few were commissioned. Writing seriously helped me learn more about crochet. Crochet, write, test, and then test some more. It’s a process but it solidifies your knowledge into experience. Now I want to take the next step and start sharing that experience.