Hook and Yarn

By Mac Pomeroy

I look down toward the hook and yarn in my hands. Currently, it is nothing impressive, nothing more than materials. I made the first knot and slipped it on the hook, and began to make a chain.

I have had many hobbies in my life, such as violin, art and video games. I admit I am someone who struggles to commit to an activity. Truthfully, I really dislike being bad at something, and while I always try with everything I do, rarely do I feel like I actually improve. I can be a bit stuck in my ways.

The yarn chain has reached an appropriate length; I curl the hook and begin on my first row. Crochet wasn’t exactly an activity I ever pictured myself trying. I mean, I always thought it looked cool, but it was not on my radar. I didn’t see myself as having the patience required to learn the skill.

Then, an opportunity arose. I joined a friend group where many other people crochet. All the time online was making my vision worse, so I needed to do something that wasn’t online. Plus, I wanted to make a gift for my friend. So, I decided to make a scarf.

I was a bit cocky at first. I thought once I bought the yarn and the hooks, I would be good to go. It was around the end of November, surely I could make a scarf within a month as a Christmas gift. Right around then, my family had a run in with COVID-19, so I was going to be home for two weeks anyway.

It was not so simple. I felt like I was tangling myself in yarn far more than I was actually making any sort of progress. Every attempt just had to be undone; it had too many flaws. I quickly became frustrated after two weeks, and when a family tragedy hit, I found myself stopping. It seemed like another attempted hobby.

Two weeks ago, inspiration suddenly hit and I went and got more yarn. Once I got home, I sat in my chair and repeated the same motions as prior. Chain by chain, row by row, stitch by stitch, I saw the scarf form. I saw the project come to life.

Suddenly it wasn’t the frustrating mess that it was prior, and I was able to just turn on a show and watch time pass. Within three days, I was able to accomplish what I could not in a month. A few days later, I made another scarf for my mom, which took two days. Last night I made yet another; it took one night.

Often I give up on things too quickly, not waiting to see the end results. But seeing the yarn come together, being able to actually hold my progress, made it worth it. This made the patience and the trying and the failure of learning much more worth it.