Meet Wanda
Welcome to A Pattern To Follow!
Oh how I love to crochet!! It has become a passion for me over the last 5 years!
I learned to crochet as a kid in Primary, a class for children with my local church. They thought it was important to teach the girls some domestic skills.
I didn’t do much with my crocheting back then other than the projects we had to make for class. Maybe a few afghans along the way as I got a little older. I really don’t think I knew any stitches other than Single Crochet and Double Crochet. Then, in 2012, I was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. The chemo ‘cocktail’ they give to treat that made my hair begin to fall out within 2 weeks. As any cancer patient knows…. it’s traumatizing!!!
On a whim…. I decided to pick up the crochet hook after YEARS of doing nothing with crochet and see if I could figure out how to make myself a hat to wear! I don’t think I had ever crocheted in the round before…. at least not to my recollection. Everything I had made up to that point was flat!! And I don’t remember ever being taught how to read a crochet pattern. What I learned was by demonstration of the teacher.
I don’t remember how I ran across the first hat pattern I used. I know I purchased it online and downloaded the PDF. Being a little inexperienced at the importance of gauge and yarn weights at the time….. I picked up a yarn in a color I liked without any idea if it would work or not!!! Well….. as fate would have it…. I used a chunky yarn on a pattern that called for a worsted weight!! As you can imagine, the hat turned out WAY too large for me! But hey….. I had muddled through some pattern instructions!!
Being a little discouraged after that experience, I could have easily chalked it up to having no talent for crocheting and thrown in the towel. Luckily for me…. I was determined to give the pattern another try using the right weight yarn this time.
I happened to be at Hobby Lobby one day when I decided to look for yarn to give the pattern another try and also get some more hooks sizes. While I was down the crochet/knitting supply isle, I ran across an Annie’s Attic crafting book called CHEMO CAPS and WRAPS. I pulled it out and thumbed through it. There were some really cute designs in there! Little did I know how difficult some of those patterns would be….. but right then and there I decided I was going to buy the book, make at least 1 of every hat in it and donate it to my cancer center! I don’t remember there being a ton of cute hats for patients to take from the cancer center, so I thought I’d make a few. What a lofty goal for a then somewhat inexperienced crocheter!!
Then one day I had a brilliant idea! Why not make it a goal to donate 100 hats to Chemo patients during the time I would be receiving treatments? A BIG, but worthy goal! When I realized that it may take me a while to do that, I decided to reach out to my Facebook friends and see if anyone wanted to help me fulfill my goal. Luckily, I had a few takers! Thankfully, I have taken photos of all the hats that myself and friends have donated over the past 5 years. I, personally, have made over 200 hats to donate to date. (See links at the bottom of the page for photos of my hats)
My goal for this blog is to share with you that journey and as many hat patterns as I can along the way. In sharing, I will give my opinions and tips about making the pattern. At least what I can remember!
I’ve since crocheted many other things besides hats, so I’ll share those too! I’m also starting to branch out to start designing my own patterns! I love crafting of all sorts, so there will be a bit of that too, along with just living in this crazy world!
A little about me personally…… I’m a Mother of 3, Grand mother of 2 with one terrific husband who has allowed me to use my creative urges over the years. And, believe me, there have been many!! Just look in my garage at all the boxes of ‘equipment’ from all my hobbies!!
I hope you will enjoy taking this journey with me and can find A Pattern to Follow!
Here are the links to my personal Facebook page with all my different photos albums of hats I personally made in case you’d like to see them now.
100 Caps for Chemo
More Caps for Chemo
Charity Hats — Festival of Trees
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