Part 2 of my crafting journey, moving to Germany.
You can read the 1st part here.
In 2002 my life turns in such a way, that I moved to Germany, the city Kaiserslautern, which is located in the southwest of the country in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
It was a dramatic change, everything was different, the space (from a big city to a small), the people, the culture, the language. I knew German, but not in a perfect way, and one thing you thought that you know words, other is that you need to speak with natives every day.
So, it was some adjusting period but it was interesting to work and study in a new environment.
And with a new place also opened a new opportunity, that I didn’t have before, the ability to travel. Thanks to Deutsche Bahn (German railway system) I visited many cities. It was so great to discover new places and interesting things to do.
For a couple of years, I was busy with work and travel, so it wasn’t much time to do a craft. Plus my “main” craft before moving was sewing, and I moved only with 2 bags of essentials, without my sewing machine or any other supplies and tools with me. To start all over again was kinda pricey and I felt better to spend it on travel expenses than craft.
In 2004 I got married and moved to Dortmund, the city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
I become a housewife and got plenty of time for myself. I started discovering different online communities, at first to meet new people in the new city. Then cooking forums, it was fun to spend some time in the kitchen and try new recipes, cook and bake.
And then I discovered forums for crafters, especially for knitters and crocheters. Somehow I was leaning more toward yarncraft at that time. So the more time I spend watching what other people have done, their projects, what kind of techniques they used, the more I wanted to do it too.
Oh, the power of the internet and community!
Of course, I was working on my knitting projects during that time, that is what I knew very well already. And I find out that you can create many interesting things with crochet too, and not only old fashion doilies or table cloths, that I have in my mind as crochet projects.
So it was time for me to learn how to crochet. Back there, it wasn’t many YouTube videos. I used some photo tutorials and books, and magazines. My first big project was a poncho made out of motives. I still have the poncho in my closet, not wearing much, but I do have it.
Old picture: me proudly wearing just finished crochet poncho in 2006.