Hi, it’s Michelle 👋

Can you believe this? After discovering how EASY and effective C2C crochet is, I embarked on the Criss-Cross C2C Blanket with some stash yarn I got on clearance. And, well…

It was a valiant first effort! 🧡

Did you challenge yourself to something new this week?

In this week’s e-mail:

Over 8,000 crocheted and hand-stitched red poppies cascade from St Peter’s Church in Inkberrow, Worcestershire, creating a striking waterfall effect. To commemorate Remembrance Day in the UK over 200 volunteers created the stunning display. (See pictures → YahooNews)

Olympian Tom Daley, a regular in the LOOPED IN News section, is the host of a new competitive knitting British TV Show to be released soon. Hopefully there will be a crochet follow-up! (Read more → RadioTimes)

A rabbit born without ears has been given a crocheted pair to help him blend in with his family. The four-month-old rabbit, named Van Gogh has no trouble hearing but the farmers wanted him to feel what it was like to have ears - just for fun. (Read more → YahooNews)

I’ve done something crazy.
Maybe not crazy for you, but crazy for me!

In the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about courage—the courage to attend new groups, courage to try new stitches, and step outside your comfort zone. It seems some of that has rubbed off on me.

Because I just signed up to become a Certified Crochet Instructor through the Craft Yarn Council.

My whole life, I’ve wanted to be a teacher. Even at work, I’m the one who volunteers to train new people and help them learn.

So when I discovered the Craft Yarn Council’s instructor program while researching for this very newsletter, something clicked. And I signed up.

I thought I’d used up all my courage by starting this newsletter — not gonna lie: putting my words (and my crochet) out into the world has been a little scary!

But it appears I have a some courage left over!

If you’ve never heard of it, the Craft Yarn Council helps bring uniformity to the crochet and knitting industry – creating standard yarn weights, stitch symbols, abbreviations, pattern layout and more. They also spearhead initiatives like I Love Yarn Day and Warm Up America, both of which make our community feel closer.

I registered for the Level 1 Crochet Instructor course, where I’ll be going back to the basics: forming stitches, increases and decreases, pattern stitches, and crocheting in the round. Each homework assignment is a small 5-inch swatch that will be graded by an evaluator, and planning three beginner lessons.

I’m honestly a bit nervous. It hits differently having my work graded by an experienced crocheter instead of forcing it on family who need to be supportive!

And then there's the student teaching piece. I’ll need to complete at least 15 hours before earning my Instructor’s Certificate.

I'll need every ounce of courage to ask at my local yarn shop or library if I can teach there. I should have thought about that part before registering, but oh well. Too late now!

But one thing I’ve learned from running this newsletter and seeking new crochet experiences is you can just do things.

You don’t need permission to start something new.

Don’t overthink it.

Don’t wait until you feel ready.

Just start.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress—and if any of you have completed the Crochet Instructor Program, I’d love to hear your tips! 🧡

A curated selection of useful (mostly) crochet-related articles and tools I’ve come across recently for you to explore. All links have been vetted! 🧡

IN STITCHES

WEAVING IN THE ENDS

Thanks for reading! My hope is that you take away just one fun story or find something new to you. If you didn’t, let me know how to make it worth your while…and if you did → let me know what it was!

See you next week,

—Michelle 🧡

P.S. Sharing is caring. Forward this to a friend to say thanks for the newsletter!