🧶⏳️🤦‍♀️

On the Thursday before Christmas, Younger Son's life partner asked if I can teach her how to crochet.

Can I? I have been waiting only all of my life for someone to ask me that.

But there was something about the way she posed the question that made me ask a question of my own.

"Do you want to learn the basics, or is there a specific project you want to do?"

She and Younger Son exchanged a look. Oh no.

Not only did she have a specific project in mind, she wanted to make it for a Christmas gift. And not just one gift, she wanted to make several.

Okay listen.

Crocheting is not something you learn instantly. You have to practice a lot before you're good at it.

It's like learning how to decorate cakes and thinking you're ready to make your sister's wedding cake next weekend. Oh sure, you can do it, but it ain't gonna be pretty.

To her credit, she had already enlisted Younger Son's help. I had taught him how to crochet years ago, and he still remembered most of what he'd learned. The two of them found some training videos to fill in the gaps. So, she wasn't starting from scratch.

She had also found a 20 minute video showing each step of the project she wanted to make. But both she and YS had trouble following all of it.

The expectation was, I would show them the parts they couldn't pick up from the video, and then it'd be smooth sailing.

Alright. Let's see what happens, shall we?

The project was a cat-themed coaster. Which certainly could take 20 minutes to make.

The first one took 3 hours.

The second one took 2 hours.

She was able to start the third one on her own by the time I left.

I don't know how many she was able to finish in total.

This certainly wasn't the way I would have chosen to introduce someone to the art of yarn craft. There was a lot of pressure and not a lot of time to enjoy the simple accomplishment of learning and achieving. 

I hope this experience doesn't sour her on crocheting completely.

Meanwhile, she has no idea I've spent the last 3 months working on this cat paw afghan for her. I will not finish in time for Christmas. It might be a birthday present instead.