The other day I was talking to a lady, which put me back on a soap box. She told me that she crocheted “wrong”. When I asked her what she meant by “wrong” she told me that she had she doesn’t do it like her friends do, so it was wrong.

Wrong is all relative. It really depends on what you are trying to do. Would you ever tell your child that they painted “wrong”, just because they may not do it like the other kids? The answer is probably not, because your kids are enjoying themselves. The same is true with crochet. Granted if you want to make an exact duplicate of a pattern sample, then you will have to follow the directions put forth by the designer, but I know plenty of people that simply cannot follow patterns, and they crochet beautifully. They get inspiration from the pattern, and look at the schematics, and closely examine the photos to see if they can figure out the stitches, and have fun creating their own version.

Crochet, like other art mediums, is a process, there are standard ways in which you complete a stitch, but if you make a mistake, and continue to make the same mistake, it is called a stitch pattern. As long as you are enjoying what you are doing, you are doing it correctly. I think that even if you can execute every stitch with exact precision, no errors and perfect tension, if you hate doing it, you are doing it “wrong”, and need to being that which brings you joy.

You can always improve your skill and technique with practice, talking to others, taking classes, or finding a good book or video, but if it doesn’t bring you joy, why bother. Remember what was “wrong” yesterday, is fashionable today.