How I Became an Online Crochet Teacher for Kids

I have had crochet and crafting in my life for as long as I can remember. I always have at least one project on the go. And for the last 32 years, crochet has been a big part of my life.

One thing you might be wondering about me is my crochet story, and how I became an online crochet teacher for kids more than 2 years ago. To understand the whole journey, we need to go back to when I was 10 years old.

My Crochet Experience

I was a quiet, creative, somewhat quirky kid with a passion for dance. When I wasn’t doing schoolwork or dancing, I was reading or knitting (something I also do now). Everything seemed fine on the outside, but on the inside I was riddled with anxiety. I also thought I needed a new hobby to help me cope with some challenges I was going through at the time.

This is where my mom enters the story. She was (and is) an excellent crocheter. She always had one, or several, crochet projects on the go. She especially loved making blankets. I watched her crochet for hours, and thought to myself, “that looks like fun. Maybe I should learn to crochet”. After school one day, I sat down next to my mom and asked if she’d show me some crochet stitches. She said yes. She taught me the chain stitch first, and my life was completely changed from that day forward.

I became obsessed with all things crochet. I started off with making long chains that would wrap around the whole room. I slowly added in new stitches, practicing in long rows that I would rip out (frog) and try again because the stitches weren’t perfect. I’ve been a big perfectionist for most of my life, and it’s something I still struggle with in my crochet projects to this day.

I slowly progressed onto making real crochet projects. My first ever crochet project was a rather lopsided scarf that I was so proud of, and wore everywhere. It’s why the first pattern I have kids learn to crochet in my course, Crochet Made Easy! is a scarf.

I continued to be a passionate crocheter for the next several years, making things for myself, friends, and family. I crochet almost every day, and it’s something I look forward to.

One of my favourite things to crochet are blankets. In my family we have a “tradition” that my mom and I came up with that whenever a family member or family friend has a new baby, I (or my mom sometimes) crochet a blanket for them. Some of my most favourite blankets are now prized possessions of some of my favourite people.

My Teaching Experience

Growing up, being a teacher was never on the radar for me. I taught a friend to read and others to do crafts, but I never wanted to make it my career. I wanted to be a dancer. Later, in my high school years I discovered archaeology, and then my dream was to be an archaeologist. I decided that I would study Greek and Roman archaeology in university, and I have a bachelor degree on the topic. I have even done 2 archaeological digs!

When I was in my 2nd year of undergraduate studies, I started getting involved with an extracurricular club for my department. Part of it involved going to local schools to teach kids about archaeology. I started volunteering to help teach these sessions, and those experiences set me on a whole new path. I discovered that I loved teaching! Kids responded to me very positively, I had a lot of fun, and kids actually told me they could remember the things I was teaching.

So, I attended teachers college after graduating, and became a certified teacher a year later. I went on to teach in the classroom (grades K-8) for 6 years before moving on to fulfill another dream of mine. I went to work in one of Canada’s national museums. I taught some workshops, and helped museum staff connect with local educators.

Then, enter COVID. Unfortunately when the world shut down, so did my work at the museum. I had to find a new life path, as the museum didn’t open again for several months. One day I saw a video on YouTube about teaching ESL online. I decided to look into it, and 3 weeks later I had my TESOL certification and a new job teaching conversational English to adults. I did this for 3 years before returning to what I believe is my true calling.

Bringing Crochet and Teaching Together

In 2023 I was introduced to the world of teaching kids online through social media. I had come to really miss teaching kids, and was getting so tired and burned out of working with adults. I quickly joined an online teaching platform for kids ages 3-18. I started off teaching English, and transitioned to try teaching friendship bracelets. That didn’t go well, to say the least.

In my personal life I had just closed my small crochet business. It was no longer fun for me, and I couldn’t crochet projects just for myself. I came up with the idea of posting just one crochet class to my teaching platform, and almost immediately got students. I love sharing my crochet passion and helping kids gayouin confidence in their crochet skills. It’s been over 2 years and 250 students, and I love every day I get to help my students.

It took a long road to get here, and I’m so grateful for every student that takes classes and courses with me. Now, I teach kids to crochet off-platform, and creating and teaching online crochet courses is so meaningful and rewarding for me. I truly believe that kids can become skilled, passionate, and confident crocheters. They just need structure. Bite size lessons that build on each other, practice with kid-friendly crochet projects, and the ongoing support of an experienced educator and crocheter.

Please let me know if you have any questions about my journey as an online crochet teacher for kids 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.