The last few weeks, I’ve been learning how to crochet. I’ve read a book from the yarn shop and watched many YouTube videos. I’ve been to Michael’s more than once for different sized hooks and different types of yarn. I’ve stayed up late yarning over (now there are two loops on the hook) until my hands start to cramp.
Why am I doing this? Well, two Christmases ago, Santa brought my daughters animal crochet kits (rainbow bees and octopi), thinking it would be a fun craft. But it’s no fun if you don’t know how to start, and the videos make no sense, and you’re 8 and naturally impatient! So I decided to teach myself so I can teach them, like a “good mom.”
I’ll be honest. I thought I could buy 60 Quick Crochet Projects for Beginners, some fluffy yarn, a couple hooks, and voila, I’d be in business. Scarves and hats and rainy Sunday amigurumi projects for days. How hard could it be? These animal kits are made for kids!
Well. I would not say it’s easy, nor would I say it’s quick. So far, I’ve learned how to do a slip knot, a chain stitch, single crochet, half-double crochet, double crochet, and the slip stitch. (Yes, I really do think it’s important to list the slip knot here.) I’m currently learning how to work into a magic ring. What should look like a coaster looks more like a cat-sized beret. I will be pulling this one out and starting over.
What I’m also learning is that it takes practice.
The book says to practice each stitch over and over. Get to the point where it feels comfortable to hold your hands in these awkward positions. Commit the stitches to memory. So I set up a little basket next to my chair in the living room with a couple skeins of yarn and my 5mm hook. And after a few weeks of practice, I have one very sad, uneven square in single crochet, one decent square in half-double crochet, and a scarf in double crochet that I might even wear.
Every new stitch started with a struggle. I couldn’t figure out how to keep my edges even. I didn’t know which stitches to count. I wrestled to get the hook into tight spaces because I hadn’t slid the yarn up the hook properly. I’m pretty sure I was yarning under when I was supposed to be yarning over. No wonder my squares didn’t match the perfect squares in the book.
But I continued practicing. And with practice - and YouTube - I now know exactly which stitches to count, my edges are even, and I’m not (always) wrestling with the hook. Make no mistake, I’m not done learning, and I’m not done practicing. Remember the cat beret? Not to mention, I still have to learn enough to (patiently) teach my daughters how to make some rainbow amigurumi. But I’m learning a new skill, which feels good, and I’m learning the lesson that goes along with it.
The same lesson can be applied to writing. Especially when we start writing something new, but even when we come back to the same old piece over and over. Wrestling those words to the page and pinning them down in a satisfying way can be a struggle. But sitting with the words every day is just like sitting with the hook and yarn. More words on the page is just like more loops stitched together. One after another they eventually come together.
~Megan Thompson
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
WRITING PROMPT
On the theme of practice, let’s borrow a prompt from Kathleen Driskell, local poet and Chair of the Naslund-Mann School of Writing at Spalding University. She recently appeared on the podcast Writing Lessons hosted by Kentucky author Silas House, talking about what makes a great poem, the power of revision, and much more. (If you haven’t listened to the podcast yet, I highly recommend it.)
Writing prompts are a way of opening the door. You may find, like Kathleen, that reading great writing opens the door for you to write. So pick up your favorite poem or lyrical piece and read. See if that opens the door for you, and be ready and “at the page” when it does.
Focusing on poetry, Kathleen also suggests copying over a great poem, as a way of learning and understanding what the writer was trying to do. Choose a poem or a short lyrical piece and copy it, with a pen and paper or your keyboard and monitor, and apply what you learn to your own writing.
~Megan Thompson
UPCOMING MEETINGS
Our February 11th member meeting will be from 6:30 PM to 8:30 at the St. Matthews branch of the Louisville Free Public Library at 3940 Grandview Avenue.
If you are interested in receiving a peer critique on February 11th, let us know by noon on the 11th by emailing us () and telling us what you plan to share. Please bring 8 printed copies of the manuscript you want us to read. No more than 1300 words (4 to 4.5 pages double-spaced) for prose (excerpts of longer pieces are welcome), or two pages of poetry.
Our March 11th meeting will also be held at the LFPL St. Matthews branch.
Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash
WE WANT TO SUPPORT YOUR WRITING LIFE
Members, if you have a website or social media platform dedicated to your writing, share it with us so we can share it with our Women Who Write community. Send your details to and we will share in a future newsletter.
Members, write a poem, story, or essay for the Women Who Write website blog. No more than 2,000 words, please. Publishing on our blog will expand your writing platform. And you’ll help WWW show off the variety of talents within our writing community! Browse our web blog now! For more information, email and pitch your story or poem—the one you’ve written or the one you want to write! We may provide suggested edits, for flow and clarity.
Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash
SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITIES & LOCAL EVENTS
Member and former Director, Kimberly Crum, will host a day writing retreat entitled "Re-imagining your characters in your story” on February 22, 2025 from 9 AM to 5:30 PM at the Valaterra Spiritual Retreat Center in LaGrange, KY. The cost is $65 (plus $12 for an optional box lunch). Send your request for a PayPal invoice to Kim at .
The 19th annual Kentucky Women’s Book Festival takes place on March 1 at University of Louisville’s Belknap Campus’ Ekstrom Library starting at 9:30am. Deadline to register is February 21. More info here.
The Carnegie Center’s Kentucky Great Writers Series will feature Margaret Verble (Stealing), Sheila J. Williams (No Better Time), and Lynnell Edwards (The Bearable Slant of Light) on February 12 from 6:30 to 8:00pm in Lexington. Admission is free. More details here.
The Bluegrass Writers Coalition is hosting the 2025 Conference of Writers on April 26, 2025 Kentucky State University's Harold Benson Research and Demonstration Farm in Frankfort, Kentucky. It promises to be “a jam-packed day of instruction, networking, and fellowship.” More information here.
The Blue Mountain review, a Southern publication, accepts poetry and prose submissions via Submittable. More info here.
Submit a story to Landslide Lit(erary) on Medium.com, a publication edited by two WWW members—Kimberly Crum and Bonnie Omer Johnson—who will provide editorial suggestions.
Duotrope is a fabulous resource for writers who want to publish in literary journals and anthologies and enter contests. You will receive a listing of submission opportunities in your inbox, specifically for your genre. Cost is $5 per month or $50 per year.
Submittable is another terrific resource for publication and other opportunities for writers. Many publications require submissions to be made through this service. Also, it’s free!
HerStry literary essay/memoir blog seeks to empower women through their writing. In addition to accepting personal essay submissions four times per year, HerStry accepts submissions on “monthly themes” that are intended as prompts for writers to tell their stories.
Poets and Writers has an extensive list of literary magazines to which you can submit.
Consider submitting to Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, an online magazine of personal essays with the tagline, “Brazen words by witty dames. Everything true. More or less.”
SUPPORT OUR WRITING COMMUNITY!
Become a member or renew your membership—As a community, WWW strives to nurture your writing life. We hope you choose to join or renew as a member and participate in our monthly meetings, author talks, retreats, and workshops. Our membership coordinator will notify anyone due to renew. Regular annual membership is $50. Student annual membership is $25. Scholarships are available. Membership entitles you to discounts on workshops and retreats.
Attend our monthly member meetings on the second Tuesday of each month for a brief program, peer critiques, and conversations about the writing life. Not currently a member? You can attend two meetings before deciding to join.
