Introduction To Crafting As A Blind Person

I’m pretty active on a list for blind crafters called Krafters Korner. It is a division of the National Federation of the Blind. In fact, as of July 2013, I was voted onto the Board of Directors for the division.

I absolutely adore this division full of wonderfully brilliant and intriguing crafters—from loom knitting to needle knitting, from crochet to sewing, from beading to origami, this list covers it all.

At first, several years ago, I was truly skeptical that anyone could learn to do a craft over a list. I soon found out that the division had awesome teachers that dedicated their time to teaching crafts over the phone. I still wasn’t very impressed.

About a year after my son was born, I learned how to crochet from a friend and loom knit from my sister. I was hooked! I just couldn’t stop. In my quest to learn more, I decided to join Krafters Korner and give this whole crafting over the phone thing a try.

It is absolutely doable folks. You can learn how to do crafts you didn’t know you could do and you can learn how to do them over the phone. I’ve learned how to do safety pin beading. I’ve beaded pumpkins and Christmas trees. I’ve learned how to do a multitude of stitches on the loom and I’ve learned way more than my sister knows how to do. In fact, she sends me photos and tells me she wants me to make her this or that. (That’s how I learned to make a hooded cowl.) I’ve learned how to crochet beyond a single crochet stitch. And now, I’ve been convinced to teach classes.

Since I live in California and I work a full day, I often find myself sad to miss this new class or that new class being taught. So, I’ve helped increase the email classes taught. We’ve had origami classes taught via email from a lovely woman in South Africa. She really inspired me to think how I can teach crocheting, and later down the road, loom knitting, via email. So, this post is an introduction to my crochet lessons. I’ve had three lessons so far, and a few more to go.

I hope you can learn how to craft as a blind person. I hope you use Krafters Korner as a resource for learning; and, I hope you decide to join the division and learn how to create awesome crafts. And if you are not blind, that’s okay too. Read my text-based lessons and see if you can learn too. You can also join Krafters Korner because Krafters Korner is for everyone and everyone makes Krafters Korner what it is.

See you on the list.

Signing off for now,

Bay Area Blind Mom