Lessons from Crochet: Looping Chaos into Order

There is something intrinsically satisfying about crocheting your way through an entire ball of yarn. I feel like when I have a ball of yarn, it is this delicate object that, if not carefully handled, can be completely ruined. It wants to unravel, make a mess, tangle itself and me, tie itself in knots, and make itself unusable. The ball of yarn teaches about care, nurturing, and dealing with valuable objects at their worst.

Crocheting through a ball of yarn represents many things. For one, the chaotic nature of the yarn is fully tamed. It can now be tossed around, worn, washed, and it will not come undone. Every centimeter of yarn is folded and looped through itself and the chaos is perfectly organized.

Another thing is that in the very nature of crochet, the continual looping of thread moves at a consistent rate. The finished piece is a manifestation of time. In other words, if time was measured in coins and you gave me a couple of quarters, a little crochet square would be dispensed. If every stitch takes two seconds, I can look at my work and physically see the time that passed; my thoughts and feelings during that time have traveled from my mind, through my chest and down into my fingers, weaving themselves into the piece forever.

I crochet for the process. The finished piece is not the objective of the process, but an expression.

When you attain a handmade piece from Show Don't Tell, I hope you can look at every stitch closely and admire all that it says.

Each stitch presents a story.

Show, don't tell.

- Z Neutral