Welcome to Loop Theory! Here, I will be sharing tips, tricks, pattern reviews, my own patterns, and generally my thoughts on what’s going on in the creative world. While I’m an engineer by day, I’ve had such a strong upbringing in art and music that I still go out of my way to learn and be a little better every day. It keeps me grounded and the skills translate really well to any field.
That being said, I mostly painted and did pencil drawings until I started being on the road a lot more a few years ago. It can be difficult to draw or even write when a vehicle is not quite steady, and the chances of smudging makes me so nervous! I prefer to draw or paint when my environment is still, so I picked up crochet as a way for me to easily bring a project around with me, keep it contained and organized, and have something tangible that I can use, wear, or gift!
I started crocheting around November 2024. I used to knit, but I didn’t get much further than blankets and scarves. I was so surprised at how quickly I could pick up the terminology, stitches, and the flow of how a project starts and finishes. With all of the free resources available online, it was super easy for me to skill up and challenge myself to make different things. I’m really thankful for all of these talented artists for sharing their tutorials!
Challenges I faced
All artists have phases where we try to execute something perfectly and may feel the need to scrap an entire project or redo a huge area due to one mistake made early on. I felt this for sure. I have started projects completely over even if I’m over halfway through because I messed up in the beginning and feel like I needed to make it perfect. Personally, I feel like many people have become so used to seeing perfection “thanks” to AI image generation. Now, in both fashion and makeup, artists are intentionally and subtly creating less polished, less “perfect” looks as a sign of human effort and creativity. It is a sign of a handmade product and a badge of honor in this day and age. One of the best things I’ve heard to get me off of this obsession with perfection was something along the lines of “If you can’t see it while passing by on a bike, it’s not there” and I loved it! It changed what I thought about approaching my projects forever. Here’s what I tell myself based on what mistakes I made, not fully inclusive:
🐑 Did I just add an extra stitch? Well, I’ll just join two stitches together in the next row if I can.
🧶 Did I just accidentally drop a stitch in the middle of a complex pattern? I’ll just add an extra stitch somewhere that makes sense so my count still works out.
🤔 Oops, a pattern doesn’t really make sense here with stitch spacing (i.e. right now I’m working on a pattern where I’m told to skip two and continue in the next stitch, and I know it should end at the apex of the row, but it’s off by one) so I will just slyly make this make sense by putting the stitch where it looks right.
✂️ Omg, I just cut off the yarn prematurely! I’ll really carefully reattach it and make sure the knot is in an area that no one would see.
Mistakes happen! Enjoy the creation process, and never overload yourself with work. Let this be a therapeutic and fun hobby, not a source of stress.
Other cool things!
Knit can be replicated by a machine, but not crochet! Next time you’re at a store, take a closer look at clothing items that claim to be crochet. From what I’ve seen at big stores like Target or Walmart, it’s marketed as crochet but is actually knit stitches arranged as crochet. Sneaky! When you get more and more accustomed to recognizing crochet stitches, it’s easy to see when something is genuinely handmade versus a marketing tactic.
“Crochet” comes from the French word “croche”, which means hook. Having studied French for numerous years, it does make me laugh when I tell people “I love crochet” and it translates to “I love hook!”
Crochet (and knitting) is a cross-body activity which engages both hemispheres which helps a lot with improving neural pathways and stress and anxiety reduction.
Closing thoughts
Creating is a wonderful thing and is something I would encourage everyone to try. With the way our world is now, it’s so important to find a little time to do something for ourselves and do something to keep us sane. If you’re interested in more, please come back periodically for new posts! I have a free pattern for a bucket hat coming up soon!
Loop Theory Creations 