Starting a Crocheting/Knitting Club

It is a fact that I have devoted much of my life and time to crocheting and attempting to inspire others in this art form whenever possible. I cannot not imagine why it took me as long, and so late a season of my life to consider having a crochet club. I am even further embarrassed to admit, but it was not even mine idea but my hubby’s. This just goes to prove what I always tell people – that I married a very intelligent man.

When I was learning to crochet I was totally on my own. Not knowing any other crocheter’s and living in the pre- internet era at the time – anything I learned had to be by trial and error. (And later relearned because I taught myself incorrectly) I was limited to library books and crochet magazines to find the information I sought. A group of women meeting to crochet in a relaxing atmosphere, who would be able to help me over my learning pains would have been such a blessing.

So as the decision was made to make the idea a reality we begin to move forward with organizing a Crocheting/Knitting club there were two things that had to be decided;
First, the location and the name. I had always seen such clubs in libraries of neighboring towns and so I approached our local library. Within three weeks it was voted on and approved.

The next step was to decide on a name – Fellow-Stitchers – and then to get the word out. So a flyer was designed to post around town and posted on social media repeatedly.

My goals for the club at the present is just meeting and working on our personal current projects, remember, Christmas is just around the corner. For now, I am planning on spending the first ten or fifteen minutes of our meeting in sharing resources and my experience  –  just a topic that I think might be beneficial to people who like to work with yarn.

For example:
Crochet stitch dictionaries
Patterns
Go over how to read a yarn label
How to mark rows
Change colors
Caring for your hooks
Mapping your patterns for easier use
How to figure out how much yarn you need for a pattern
Making pom poms
What to do with scrap yarn
Weaving in ends
Different ways to crochet a foundation chain
How to store yarn
How to pick out patterns on your crochet level
Go over hand and wrist excercises
Go over some crochet tools

If you can add to my list please feel free to do so.

I am also hoping that maybe some other members might like to share their wisdom or any special interest to help inspire some of the members who are newer to crocheting.

For the first few months we are all just going to work on our own projects, as I mentioned that Christmas is just around the corner. I am sure we all have projects we want to finish. But after January, once in a while I thought it might be fun to learn a new project together or maybe crochet something for charity.

When I was learning to crochet I was totally on my own. Not knowing any other crocheter’s and living in the pre- internet era at the time – anything I learned had to be by trial and error. (And later relearned because I taught myself incorrectly) I was limited to library books and crochet magazines to find the information I sought. A group of women meeting to crochet in a relaxing atmosphere, who would be able to help me over my learning pains would have been such a blessing.

As of now, I just would like to meet some other women in my area that love crocheting as much as I do. Those who know how much work is involved and appreciate the effort and love that goes into our work. Maybe to just help encourage each other or help us get past some harder spots in our projects or just help in deciphering a pattern. And always have a spot light time to share what we are working on and have completed.

Our first meeting was this week and I must say it was a really nice group of women. The two hours flew by as we were busy crocheting, getting to know each other and just visiting. I was surprised at all the connections we all had with each other already. One of the ladies was even encouraged to get out a project that has sat on the side after a brief spell away from crocheting.

I am one of those people who learn as go. So I am expecting to make a few mistakes along the way. But I am thinking this will not only be a blessing to me, but also, for those in my community who attend. This will be a new adventure for my crochet journey so any advice from people who have been there would be welcome. Or if you are like me and are interested in organizing a crochet club in your town then maybe we can learn together.

When I was learning to crochet I was totally on my own. Not knowing any other crocheter’s and living in the pre- internet era at the time – anything I learned had to be by trial and error. (And later relearned because I taught myself incorrectly) I was limited to library books and crochet magazines to find the information I sought. A group of women meeting to crochet in a relaxing atmosphere, who would be able to help me over my learning pains would have been such a blessing.

If you are trying to start a Crocheting/Knit club remember the first thing you will need is a location with available tables and chairs. A name, and a way to get the word out. Finally a willingness to help and encourage other crocheters or knitters along their journey and inspire them to new levels.
Let us know your feelings about it.

Until next week keep those hooks flying.