My Version of “You CAN Do Anything”
Some time back in the cold winter months early in the year 2012 I had decided to learn knitting. So I bought two rolls of pure wool yarn, one white and one grey. “I’d like to knit something for you, like a scarf or a hat, what would you like?” - I asked my friend. “A summer vest,” - my friend replied. “White or grey?” - I asked. “Black,” - my friend answered. Okay, I had to get another roll of yarn, a black one this time. “Not a big deal, right?” - I thought.
I got on the Internet and found a number of summer vest designs with schemes of how to make them. There was only one problem: none of them were to be knitted; all of them were to be crocheted… “Are you sure you want a summer vest?” - I asked. “Positive,” - my friend answered. Okay, so I had to learn to crochet before I moved onto knitting. “No biggie,” - I thought.
I packed my friend into my car and drove to a local shop, the best in the city (or so I then thought), to look for a thin black cotton yarn and a right-sized steel crochet hook.
“There must be some mistake,” - the shop assistant told me: “the crochet hook is too small, the yarn is too thin, you can’t make a vest out of this!”
“Really?” - I asked.
“Well, you probably can, but it would take you forever, and it definitely won’t be ready for this summer, unless you spend days and nights crocheting non-stop…” - she answered.
“Oh,” - I said.
“And you have never crocheted before?” - she confirmed.
“No,” - I answered.
“Hm,” - she said. “We still have the right sized yarn,” - she offered.
“Really?” - I asked.
“Yeah! Which colour do you need?” - she replied.
“Black,” - I said.
“Oh, we don’t have black,” - she declared, “but we have ten other colours.”
“Okay, do you like any of these other colours?” - I turned to my friend: “A navy blue perhaps?” - I offered.
“Black or I’m not wearing it,” - my friend stated.
“Right,” - I turned back to the shop assistant: “Do you at least have a steel hook of the right size?”
“Only plastic,” - she replied. “Don’t bother,” - she added: “No one would appreciate it anyway!”
We got back into the car. “I don’t think I can crochet a summer vest for you,” - I confessed. “That’s okay. You are still my friend,” - my friend replied.
Later on that day I was in my bed with the cat on my knees and a cup of tea in my hands, surfing through the net. And then it hit me! Somebody out there had crocheted a summer vest! And they had used a thin cotton yarn and a small-sized crochet hook. So why was I so convinced by the shop assistant that I couldn’t do it? Was it just because I had never crocheted in my life? Or was it because they didn’t have the right colour of the yarn in the shop?
So I got onto Internet and found an online shop selling a thin black cotton yarn and the right-sized steel crochet hook. Three days later, they were on my doorstep. “Pick the design, I’m crocheting it!” - I called my friend whilst searching for crochet instruction videos on youtube.
I had to start over about five times before someone else showed me what I was doing wrong. It was mid-April by then. But I had finally learned, and, eventually, after I had started all over again that day in mid April 2012, I was able to present my friend with the final and fully completed version of the summer vest on Thursday 21st of June, year 2012. Since it was too cold in England to wear it yet, my friend had hanged it on the wall as a portrait and I was now welcomed to come and look at it if I was ever in doubt again.
Thank you, my friend, for teaching me to make up my mind and not settling for anything less.
PS: I had started to knit a throw for myself a day after I had completed the vest.
PS2: The throw is not knitted out of those two pure wool yarn rolls I had bought that winter. In fact, one of the rolls, the grey one, is now extinct due to the efforts of my cat.