How to Crochet...

In the last few months things have been going swimmingly in freelance-crochet-world.  Don't get me wrong, there can be weeks where nothing is coming in and the bank account gets emptier and emptier and you start to wonder if everyone can live on cereal for dinner.  Thankfully, at the moment, there are commissions to design and courses to teach.  There's also been a request for a youtube tutorial.

You. Tube. Tutorial...

This FILLED me with dread.  I'll merrily take pics of bits of me and share them in insta-world.  I'm happy to pop the odd head shot in the blogsphere.  But an actual video?  Gaaaaaah.  And I don't think I'm the only one that feels like this.  Most of us makers are happy sharing our creations, but never our faces.

But do you know what?  I did it.  Only one, but still, that's one more than I've ever done before. And yes, it was excruciatingly awkward.  At first.  But I found a few things that started to make it easier, and thought I'd share them with you.  (Clearly, after a 6 minute video, I am no expert, these are things that made me feel more comfortable - they are not necessarily tips to make a good video!)

1. Practise - plan what you're going to share/teach/say.  This may sound obvious, but knowing exactly what it is you want to share will make it more concise and less babbling.

2. Pretend you're talking to a friend - I put a pic of my sister up by the camera, and mental as it sounds, it really helped me to stay calm and feel less formal.

3. Do what you're good at - I'm way more practiced at teaching crochet than presenting videos, and I found that once I'd done the tutorial part, I was WAY more in my comfort zone, and much happier about doing the intro part.

That's it for now, I was still drenched in fear sweat by the end, and I will have to remember to breath and swallow when I do it again.  But I actually WANT to do it again, it felt good being able to share a skill with everyone.

So, here it is: Steel&Stitch Basic Crochet.  There's still stacks and stacks to learn, but hopefully this will get you going, and if you have any tips, please feel free to share them with me too!

xxx