I must have been only six when one of my grandmothers taught me how to crochet. I say one of them, because I don’t remember who was first and I know that both of them were involved in teaching me and then reminding me of how to crochet and knit, before I started knitting more regularly at seventeen. Anna-Liisa, during the long summer holidays I spent in the tiny village on the southern Finnish countryside, and Lilian during the rest of the year during school holidays that I spent in their house in Vårberg in Stockholm, while my parents were working and I still was too young to be on my own at home.
And of the handicrafts, crochet was first. It is so much easier to get started with, as it only requires one needle (instead of the two or more required for knitting). But once you get the hang of the two techniques, crochet isn’t as easy to do while watching TV. It requires more constant attention, which is why I don’t do it as much. But sometimes I do. For special things. Because it can turn out some really pretty pieces.
Katja Malmborg 