Zen Knitting

Hello everyone,

The other day surfing through the Internet I came across an interesting piece of information – about 8-15% of the population is left-handed. This means, out of every 100 individuals 8-15 are left-handers! Read more about left-handedness at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-handed.

Exciting statistics about left-handedness are given at http://www.left-at-the-start.com/statistics.html.

Come to think of it, most equipment and systems are made for right-handed people. It surely is not an easy world for left-handers. This made me empathize with left-handed crocheters. Most patterns, stitches and crocheting techniques are for the more common right-handed people. But what about left-handed crocheters? So I dedicate this issue to helping you find crochet resources for left-handers.

Crochet Guild of America (CGOA) has a series of useful lessons for left-handed crocheters. The lessons come with supporting pictures and symbols for different stitches too. These are available at http://www.crochet.org/lessons/lessonl/lessonl.html.

More steps and instructions are given at http://www.wikihow.com/Crochet-or-Knit-Left-Handed.

Learning to crochet with left hand is same as learning a new thing. I am sure the above links will be helpful if you seriously want to take up crochet. Here are some guidelines that will help you master the craft in a few days:

•    Use a thicker yarn to learn the craft. Start using specialty yarn later on.

•    Initially, concentrate on getting comfortable holding and working the crochet hook in your left hand and the yarn in right.

•    Learn simple stitches in the beginning. There is plenty of time to learn the complicated stitches and techniques. Anyway, stitches for advanced crocheters also use the same basic stitches. Also, many crocheted articles can be made with the basic stitches. Some people spend their lives working simple stitches!

•    In the beginning, work on small projects such as dishcloths and granny squares. You can use them as samplers to learn different stitches. Because, these articles can be crocheted quickly, there is also that sense of instant gratification, so crucial when doing something new.

•    Avoid sitting next to the mentor, especially if he/she is right-handed. Sitting in front of the right-handed instructor will give a much better understanding of the technique.

•    Pay attention to your posture and take good care of your hands. You don’t want to go through the pain repetitive stress injuries (RSI) bring with them.

•    Be patient and you’ll be crocheting in no time.

Good luck learning to use the hook!