I don’t know how many times I have tried and failed to teach myself crochet. The closest I’ve come to grasping it was when my crochet extraordinaire friend Laura (aka @lauralovescrochet) gave me a lesson during a weekend away a couple of years ago. When I was with her I managed to just about get it, but as soon as I was left to my own devices, it just didn’t seem to work, so I gave up again. I’ve tried learning from books and video tutorials over the years but nothing seemed to make it click in my brain.

Last month I randomly decided to give it another go. This time I must’ve found some better videos as I quickly got the hang of some of the basic stitches and it wasn’t long before I felt I was ready to progress onto a pattern.

I’ve been following The Pigeon’s Nest on Instagram since I was introduced to her account via a small creative business community during lockdown. I knew one of her patterns would be the perfect place to start, so opted for her granny square cowl pattern. The clearly written instructions, alongside video tutorials for each stage of the process, were easy to follow and helped me quickly get into the rhythm of the pattern. I found making each square really therapeutic, and I could see progress being made far quicker than with knitting – one of the main reasons I wanted to learn; I think I’m too impatient for knitting.

I had a crafternoon with a friend where we both sat in her living room crocheting while we chatted. On the journey home on the bus I continued to make squares, the portability of the craft immediately appealing to me. Before I knew it, all 18 squares that I needed for the snood were done.

And then it was like I pressed the pause button. They sat in a bag ready to be stitched together for weeks.

But last night I finally sat down to sew them together, and tonight I finished the edging. I have successfully completed my first crochet project!

Of course as we head into spring it’s not necessarily the weather for a cowl, but at least I’m prepared for the next bout of cold weather.

Crochet has proven to be addictive, as has downloading crochet patterns for future projects. I’m not sure what I’ll attempt next, but right now I’m proud of myself for finally cracking this skill that has evaded me for so many years.