#WhyIMake
The other day I got this comment on one of my Instagram posts: “Yes yes, I found your account this morning and I just realised how much I've missed crochet. Learned to knit a few years ago. Almost forgot about the love for crochet. Thank you for waking me up to crochet again”
I think it sums up very well the reason behind #whyImake. I make to inspire and to share my love for crochet!
I’ve always been a searching soul. Trying to find a place for me, a job that makes me happy and a hobby I do not want to give up after a few months. I have had my husband by my side for over 10 years. He figured it out early and his work and hobby are nicely intertwined and you can’t see where one ends and the other begins. The glow in his eyes while writing his code doesn’t stop whether it is for a client or for a hobby project. I wanted that too!
“I had finally found something that makes the hours disappear and keeps me in a state of flow. ”
I went on a quest asking everyone I met what they did as a hobby and as a way to relax. I found many different nice hobbies to try, but none of them never really felt mine to keep doing. My restlessness and wondering mind always went somewhere else and my heart wasn’t really in it. One day one friend told me: “try knitting!”. I laughed a bit and said that I already did and it wasn’t my thing and that I am too impatient to sit down and knit a sweater. I couldn’t be more wrong, it turned out.
The weeks and months passed by and it was in the beginning of January a few years back I decided that: OK, I’ll order some yarn and knitting needles and give it a try. I accidentally ordered crochet hooks as well, thinking they were a tool you need while you knit.
Somehow my package got lost in the mail and when I 3 weeks later opened it there were no knitting needles in it. Left with only crochet hooks and yarn I started to search online what I could do with them. Since I didn’t really know the search terms I ended up going to the library borrowing a book on how to crochet Amigurumis squid. I immediately got started and a few days later my squid was done. I was hooked!
Fast forward a few months and the journey took a turn. I started to crochet my first own sweater design: the Rose Dust Sweater. The release of my first pattern gave the puzzle a clear image and I could see the edges of future pieces.
I had finally found something that makes the hours just disappear and keeps me in a state of flow. For me that happens most often when I write patterns. You see this is not only about the time spent on crocheting. It is the whole process from idea, swatching, crocheting, photographing and writing the pattern that is the fuel behind why I make. Every step of the process has its own highlights and together all pieces come together to give me a craft and a hobby which make my heart skip a beat.
Combining my small crocheting business with full time university studies is sometimes tricky. It is in the late evenings and weekends I get my crocheting, pattern writing and photographing done. For me that is a perfect way to spend an evening or a weekend. Doing the things I love.
Fast forward a bit and I just released the pattern for my 30th own designed garment. It is like a creative burst flowing inside waiting to get out! Every design has its own story. As I mentioned in my post on “How I express myself through my craft”:
“Designing lets me dream, grow and focus. I get to use and capture my experiences from my surroundings, travels, nature and everyday life and combine them into something beautiful.
Sometimes the moment that I capture is when I was looking at my tomato plants at the balcony and saw the richness of life and color.
Or it could be a memory of walking the streets of Helsinki and seeing all of the beautiful architecture, the mix of locals and tourists, the busy parks or the sea.
Perhaps the moment was a memory of an early morning in San Francisco, getting a coffee to go and walking by the sea looking at the fog.”
This blog is a part of the puzzle. I am on a mission to help others find their inner creativity and flow. I hope to inspire other makers and designers to make and to go a step further in their maker journey. My puzzle is not finished yet. I see the edges of the future pieces and I am eager to lay them together with you. That is what this journey is all about: the community it brings and the joy of making.
That is why I make!
This is my contribution to #WhyIMake hosted by Lovecrafts.com.