When I was in first grade, my family and I lived by a quiet little lake in Michigan. My mother, who at the time was attempting to get my brother and I away from the TV, had declared ‘No Electric Day’ once a week.

No electric day was exactly what it sounded like! Once a week my entire family had to go without electricity for the entire day.
🚫 No T.V.
🚫 No turning on lights.
🚫 No warming things up in the microwave (the oven was alright though).
🚫 No battery-operated or electric powered games.
🕯 We went to the dark ages, and we loved it! 🕯

No electric days were spent enjoying the day outside and finding something constructive to do. For my brother, this was easy! My brother spent his days reading, camping, swimming in the lake with his friends, building something out of constructs/logos, going for walks in the community, and so on… For me at the time, it was a little harder to find something to do.

Back then I didn’t like to read, I wasn’t creative or constructive like my brother, and I didn’t like going to the lake by myself (even though it was literally in my backyard). I often found myself very bored on ‘no electric days’ and I often tried to tag along with my brother… Regardless of my room full of toys, and the fact that I lived on a lake, and the countless things I could have done around the house, I hated no electric day (shocking right?!).

One day, however, I walked into our living room to find my mother sitting down in a chair crocheting and I was mesmerized! Watching her crochet was almost hypnotic, and after a while, I asked her what on earth she was doing. I honestly can’t remember if my mother had asked me if I wanted to learn, or if I had asked her, but somehow, I got into crocheting!

My crocheting started with just simple chains, which I turned into scarves for my dolls. Scarves for my dolls slowly turned into hats for my dolls, and then shawls for my dolls, and then towels and blankets for my dolls..

Crocheting had gone from something fun to do on my no electric days, to something I did almost every day! My dolls had had so many scarves and hats, that they looked like they were ready to move to Alaska! Crocheting wasn’t just something to do, but it was also a way for me to bond with my mother and to learn a skill that not many people knew how to do.

No electric days had went from a boring day I couldn’t wait to be over, to me dramatically dressing up like the girls from Little House in the Prairie, and sitting in a rocking chair as I listened to the record player and crocheted winter stuff for my dolls.

To say that I was a dramatic and imaginative little kid would have been an understatement.. When I had learned how to crochet, I immediately transported myself back in time and pretended I lived like Laura Ingalls in Little House and the Prairie. I dressed like it, I acted like it, and I spent a lot of time learning what people would now call ‘old skills’ (sewing, cooking, making bread, etc.).

It’s funny to think that my crocheting obsession started because my mother wanted to get my brother and I away from our electronics, and now, I crochet in front of the TV all day long.. 😅 Ironic isn’t it?

As with anyone who starts out with something new, my crocheting started off as small, simple, and terrible looking stuff for my dolls. And to think that I grew up, got better at it, and I am now attempting to make a living off my crocheting feels unreal.

Look how far I’ve came!

Crocheting has now become my obsession! It became something I could do with my hands when I was anxious. It was a calming way for me to express my creativity. And I am constantly pushing myself to see what I can create with a simple ball of yarn. ❤

So yeah, that’s the story about how I got into crocheting by turning off the TV (and the lights, and the computer, and the microwave, and the- you get the point).. I love that I learned how to do something like this at such a young age because I can truly say that my gifts have developed over the years.

What is something that you learned at a young age that you’re thankful for and use all the time? Comment Your Story Below!

As always, smile, have an amazing day, and remember that the best time to learn something is today, you’ll thank yourself tomorrow. 😉