What Trying New Things Has Taught Me this Year

For this week’s post I thought I’d do something a little bit different. So far you know me as an online crochet teacher for kids, and a crocheter of more than 32 years. Although I love my job very much, it is just one part of my identity. The past few months I have been on a personal journey, that has taught me so many lessons about myself, where I want to live, what I want for my life while building this business, and how I can use these lessons I’m learning to help others.

One of my main goals for this year was to try new things, learn new skills, and be a “beginner” again. I have done that in many aspects of my life, and thought I’d share a bit about these experiences and how they have impacted me and my teaching philosophy.

Andiamo!

Long term travel and living in a foreign country.

One of the biggest pleasures I get to enjoy in my life is travel. Although I don’t get to travel often, I love exploring new places and experiencing new cultures. I have visited several countries in the past, in North America, the Caribbean, and I particularly like visiting Europe. I have spent time in 6 different countries in Europe over my previous 3 visits before this year. Those trips have varied between 2-6 weeks, but none of those visits felt long enough.

Late last year I started getting the “travel itch” again, and felt the need to return to Europe, this time for longer. So I started deciding where to visit this time, and booked my plane tickets. I got so excited, but never could have anticipated the impact this trip would have on me.

I am back in Canada now, after spending two amazing months in Europe. I left Canada at the end of March and flew to Portugal. The country had been on my travel bucket list for the last six years, after seeing Phil Rosenthal visit Lisbon in an episode of Somebody Feed Phil, my favourite tv show. I speak zero Portuguese, but quickly learned the must-know phrases that I needed to get by (bom dia, por favor, obrigada). I learned how to navigate around in a new place, and communicate in a language I’m not familiar with. I visited Porto first, and really enjoyed my time there. The people were so friendly, the weather was fantastic, there was so much to see in the city. I particularly liked the chill and relaxed atmosphere in the city. I felt a physical weight leave my body, and I felt calm for the first time in years. I also spent a week in Lisbon, which was the opposite of Porto. Very busy, touristy, but also beautiful. The hills nearly killed me though. I also discovered a love for Portuguese food, particularly pastel de nata. I’m plant based, and was very happy to find so much delicious food in the country.

I then flew to Italy, and spent the next month in Firenze (Florence). I immediately fell head over heels in love with the city. It is the birthplace of the Renaissance, and there is so much to see everywhere. It has the vibes of a larger city, but still has the quiet places to enjoy some peace. The people are amazing too. Energetic, passionate, friendly. I particularly enjoyed getting to see the Duomo almost every day, walking along the Arno River, and just wandering around the streets and seeing new things. I got lost almost every single day, but didn’t care as it was a new adventure. I particularly loved the food, especially the pizza bianca and gelato. I ate a LOT of both. I ended my time in Italy with a few days in Rome. I had already lived there for a month in 2023, so I just saw the highlights and tried not to sweat to death. Pro tip: Don’t go to Rome in late May/the summer. It’s so hot and full of tourists.

I capped off the trip with a week of visiting my friends in a small town in Ireland called Greystones. I went swimming in the Irish Sea at 6 am, went for some amazing hikes, and enjoyed catching up with some old friends and meeting new ones. It was a wonderful transition between the chaos and busyness of Italy and returning to my regular life in Canada.

Learning to knit my own clothes and making new friends abroad.

Fun fact about me is that I’ve been a knitter longer than I’ve been a crocheter. My nana taught me the knit and purl stitches when I was 8 years old when I was looking for a new hobby. I spent two years avidly knitting different projects, before crochet entered my life. Over the past thirty years I have gone back and forth between knitting and crocheting, but crocheting has always had the spotlight in my life.

Earlier this year I started watching more knitting content on YouTube, which got me very interested in learning to knit my own clothes. I want to make many pieces, but have never attempted it before because I am not a super experienced knitter, and it is important that the clothes you make actually fit you. After debating on a pattern for a couple weeks, I made the decision that when I went on my trip I would check out yarn stores in the cities I visit and knit my first tank top!

After exploring 3 yarn shops in Porto, Portugal, I chose my yarn at Ovelha Negra as my souvenir from that city. Then I bought my first set of interchangeable knitting needles at Rosa Pomar in Lisbon, Portugal. I was so excited and a bit nervous to get started on the project once I moved on to my next destination. I had little idea what I was doing.

The day I arrived in Florence, Italy, I ended up randomly meeting a wonderful woman on the bus to my Airbnb. She told me she’s part of a knitting club of Canadian and Americans living in the city and invited me to join while I was visiting. I was nervous about it before the first meeting, but it ended up being one of the best things I did on my trip.

I was immediately welcomed into the group, and felt comfortable almost right away. We met up on Saturday afternoons at a local cafe. The main goal of the group is social, chatting about all kinds of topics while working on our knitting or crochet projects. I started working on my knitted tank top during that first meeting, and was able to learn some tips for knitting clothing from my new friends. They were so supportive of me learning Italian and learning to knit my own clothes. They wanted updates on how my shirt was coming along, gave me advice on things to see and do in Firenze, and became one of the best parts of the trip. I looked forward to Saturday meetups, chatting away, and learning more about what life is like for people who actually live in the city. They are encouraging me to spend even longer in Firenze on my next visit, which will hopefully be next year.

I miss them dearly now that I’m back in Canada. It’s nice to know I have friends on the other side of the world with like-minded interests to me. I’m still in the WhatsApp text group and love reading the conversations on there, even when I’m not able to be there in person. If they are reading this, thank you for everything!

Learning a new language

One of my great passions in my life has been learning languages. I started learning French when I was 3 years old, and learned it all through elementary and high school and a bit in university. When I was a classroom teacher, I was a French teacher for kids in grades 1-8. I had the pleasure of having a great French teacher when I was in high school who taught me the importance of languages in a fun way, and I wanted to be the same for my students.

Before I visited Italy in 2023 I started learning Italian on Duolingo for almost a year. No surprise to me, I wasn’t even remotely prepared at all to survive and actually communicate with the locals in Rome. It was very discouraging for me. As I wanted to keep learning Italian when I got back to Canada, I switched to the Babbel app and did lessons sporadically for the next two years.

When I decided it was time for me to return to Italy, I knew I needed some help from real Italian language teachers to help me progress much faster than I could on my own. So I did some research, found Scuola Leonardo da Vinci in Firenze, and enrolled myself in intensive classes for three weeks. I didn’t anticipate the impact those weeks would have on me.

I arrived to the school early on day 1 and got my level and classroom assignment. Not surprisingly for me I was put in Elementare 2 (A1). I was put in a class with 5 other students from around the world and was introduced to my teacher for week 1, Marco. The first day was rough, and a bit discouraging, if I’m being honest. The class was 100% in Italian, which I had anticipated but still wasn’t fully prepared for. I understand WAY more Italian than I can speak. I could follow along with everything Marco and my classmates said, but sometimes I got very frustrated because I couldn’t express myself in the way I wanted to.

Once I got through that first day, things started to change for me. I was less afraid of making mistakes, and I just threw myself head first into my studies. We were beginners, so mistakes are inevitable and part of learning. I knew I was in a safe space to learn and practice, and when I did make mistakes or have questions, my teachers would gently correct me without shame or judgement. In my 3 weeks of classes I progressed from A1 to A2, which was a goal of mine.

Those classes were very intense, and left me pretty tired for the rest of the day, and incapable of working on writing these posts, as I was mentally processing the info I had learned that day. I did notice a change though. I went from being barely able to talk with anyone in Italian, to having full conversations in Italian with locals after the first week. Not fluently by any means, but I could communicate enough to express my ideas and opinions with others. I spoke 80% in Italian every day outside of class time. There were still things I couldn’t say, but I made it work.

I will be continuing my Italian language studies online while I’m here in Canada, and plan on returning to in person lessons in Firenze as soon as I can. If you want to really learn a language in an accelerated way, take intensive language classes. It’s one of the best things I ever did for myself, and would recommend it to everyone.

How do these experiences relate to crochet?

It may at first seem like these experiences don’t relate to my philosophy as an online crochet teacher for kids. Actually, there are 2 ways I have grown as a crochet teacher over the last two months.

1. Remembering what it’s like to be a beginner.

I’ve been crocheting for over 32 years at this point. I have vague memories of my early days as a crocheter, but really just the highlight reel (both highs and lows). I remember that I used to practice stitches in long rows, frog them because they weren’t perfect, then start all over again. I had forgotten what it feels like to be taking those first steps towards learning a new skill. Learning to knit my own tank top (that actually fits me) and finally taking learning Italian seriously helped me realize and remember the feelings my students get when they are learning new crochet skills.

1. Learning that skills and confidence come with time and lots of practice.

Friends, learning a new language in the country it is spoken will humble you faster than most things I’ve experienced in my life to this point. I didn’t put any expectations on myself when I started my classes, other than putting everything else aside (including building this business) and dedicating myself fully towards learning Italian. As I mentioned earlier, day 1 of my classes was rough. I described it to a friend afterwards as feeling like I was thrown in the deep end and being hit by a “language bus” at the same time. After that day things started to improve. I found myself progressing in small ways every day. I went from being only able to talk about the present to having 3 tenses under my belt and learning about reflexive pronouns. I’m still a beginner, but I’ve come a long way.

On my last trip to Italy I could barely say anything to anyone in Italian, beyond ciao, per favore, prego, and grazie. Before I left Italy this time I was having full conversations with locals. Asking questions, sharing my opinions, and ordering gelato and caffe. I feel confident that my skills will only improve from here.

Your child can do the same with crochet. If they devote the time and energy into practicing their skills, their confidence will grow exponentially. It can be truly life changing for them.

I hope you enjoyed reading a little bit about my trip and my lessons on being a beginner again. It was a truly transformative experience for me, and it was so motivating for me as I work towards the next steps in my life and in this business. Thanks so much for reading.

Please let me know if you have any questions about what I covered in this post in the comments down below. If your child would like to learn to crochet with me, click here to get your copy of my FREE Crochet Starter Guide.