Blog 1

    Welcome! As implied with the title of my blog, I decided that for my new occupation, I would learn to crochet. This is not a super fun task for me. I had tried crocheting one other time when I was nine years old and it ended with me sitting on the floor and crying. I ultimately gave up at that point.

    I knew I was stuck with it this time, so I chose to take the plunge. I was sick, so I had my husband go to the store and purchase all of my supplies. He bought me a variety pack of crochet hooks as well as a ball of fuzzy pink chenille yarn. As soon as he got home, I got started with my practice.

    The original plan was to start some swatches and go from there. Then, as I opened the ball of yarn, I noticed the packaging had a free pattern for a baby blanket. My brain immediately thought,

    "Hey, you have a baby, and it's about to start getting cooler. What a perfect time to make a baby blanket!"

    The intrusive thoughts won that round. Looks like project number one is a baby blanket. I started, and after many redos, I was finally getting a rhythm.

This time around, I was forced to keep going, despite the difficulty. Eventually, it became relieving. I don't know what changed, but crocheting seems to be becoming second nature. There could be a lot of reasons behind this, though. 

    As far as where this occupation falls on the continuum of self vs society is somewhat tricky to explain. The reason I chose a new occupation was fully societal. I was asked to do so, so I am going to. The reason I chose to crochet is because my grandmother crochets and I think this will help bring us closer together. With that being said, that would mean that the reason I chose crochet as my new occupation was fully due to self. Along with that, when I began, crocheting felt very forced. I felt like it was homework, so it felt fully societal. Then, as time went on, it began to feel like something I was doing fully for myself. I think that this will constantly shift along the continuum, so this is something that will likely not be the same at all times. 

    When it comes to whether the practice I put toward my project is calculative or meditative is harder to answer. When I began the project, it fully started as being calculative as I tried to learn new stitches, learn how to use a crochet hook, and remember how to count again. Then, as I got going, I began to see the bigger picture; a pattern was forming! It was so pretty, too. That's when the practice became meditative. I was actually enjoying what I was doing and finding beauty in each stitch. It was a new way to express myself. I think that as I get more comfortable with the process and as I gain more skill, this process will become more meditative and far less calculative.

    By the end of the first few practice sessions, this is what I had accomplished with the blanket. Now that it has been over a week since starting, the blanket has grown to be almost two feet tall!