Laura’s Left Hook came about because I am a lefty who crochets. I used it on tags for a craft show about ten years ago and recently found the opportunity to start an etsy store (lauraslefthook.etsy.com) for which I used the same name.
I am a mother of two girls, one of whom is hard of hearing. That is where my interest in American Sign Language bloomed. I was always interested, but had never found the time to do much more than learn the alphabet and a few signs useful for babies until we discovered our child was born with a hearing loss. Now I probably am still only as fluent as a toddler or perhaps a preschooler, but I would love to learn more. Signing Time! is a great place to start with kids, and www.lifeprint.com is great for adults.
My mother was the one who got me interested in a love for both books and crafts. Although we did not end up liking the exact same types of books or crafts, a few interests overlapped. We both enjoyed mysteries and cross stitching.
My husband is the one who has allowed me to do more traveling. As our children grow, we hope to do more.
Hi there! I am a fellow left handed etsyian!
Your blog is simply lovely!!!
Bless you, bless you for learning ASL for your daughter! Your interest and support will make her life a lot easier as she tries to determine where she fits in.
Hi Laura,
I love your site & your name! I was thrilled to see a lefty with a website. I’m also a lefty & have been crocheting (left-handed) since about 1970. I was recently told that to submit a pattern (where they also want a sample) for mags, they want the piece in righty crochet. I was told that it was because people have a hard time judging the work of a lefty. The work looks “funny” to them. I was floored by this & actually don’t know if it’s true.
I’ve had a hard time learning to knit because whenever I ask at a shop that gives lessons, they want me to learn right-handed. This is literally impossible for me, Continental or not….
I don’t know why it was so easy for me to learn crochet from a book, but near impossible to learn more than the bare basics with knitting. Do you also knit? My eldest daughter is a published seed bead artist & I was talking with her about it. She told me that she didn’t even realize for al ong time that she beads lefty & has to re-do her instructions to compensate for that. But she teaches all over the US & has never found it a problem to teach righties. Weird, yuh?
Oh Laura,I’m soooo jealous of you!
I’m a left-hander who crochets with my right hand:(
I’m a lefty too! My mom is a lefty, so fortunately, she taught me to crochet as a lefty too. I had to teach myself how to knit, so unfortunately, I only know how to knit and purl– no increasing or decreasing!
I just found your site looking for free patterns. I also am a left handed crocheter and have an interest in ASL although I pretty much only know the alphabet and please (as learned from baby signing time). I’ll be checking out your etsy shop.
Laura,
So excited to see a lefty crochet site. As another has posted, I taught myself to crochet, Mom, sisters, and Grandma all rightys…..no one could figure it out….funny that Mother and I are only ones that still crochet.
Also, interest in ASL as the office I work in has several deaf or hard of hearing clients….
Thanks for all the info. Plan on checking back often.
Hi Laura–
Thanks for visiting my blog and I lOVE your site name!
I also am a left hand crocheter. I am not left handed though. I taught myself how to crochet on my way home from Michael’s one day (to buy a book, yarn, and a hook). I was sitting in the back seat of my dad’s car while he was driving home. When he stopped to go grocery shopping, I decided to stay in the car and work on my chain stitch. I saw in the book that there was the left hand method and the right hand method. I tried with my right hand first since I am right handed. I was very clumsy and easily frustrated. So I switched and from then on out (April 2003-) I have been a left handed crocheter.
I cannot knit left handed though. I have taught two crochet classes with no trouble at all getting them to learn the right handed method. I had only one left handed student among several.
When I was five, my older brother (who is a lefty) decided that he would try to make a lefty out of me. He succeeded in getting me to do nearly everything with my left hand, but I couldn’t write or use scissors with my left hand no matter how hard he made me practice. To this day most of my everyday tasks are done with mostly my left hand. I am an ambidextrous person because of my brother.
Anyway, just thought I would share this with you. I enjoy your site. Your title is truly catching.
Your site name is so clever and catchy! I will follow your blog. My dd is a freshman in college but is an amazing ASL student. She signed all of the speeches at her HS graduation ceremony – I was so proud of her. She plans to major in Communication and ASL.
I see you did make the doll and it sold on etsy. Very Sweet!
Hi Laura,
Love the name! I am not a leftie, but my best friend is and we crochet together every week. I found your site by looking for crochet hand puppet patterns. Gotta have that ballerina pattern of yours! Ha ha! My grandaughter is taking dance classes (she’s almost 3) and she wears a cute little tutu. She’d love that puppet for Christmas. (hint, hint Ha ha!)
I also am trying to learn ASL. Right now I basically only know the alphabet, but I just learned the signing for Silent Night! Have you tried http://www.aslpro.com ? It has toms of videos for letters, words and phrases. I will also check out the sites you listed.
God Bless!
Hi Laura,
Just stumbled upon your website – I too am also a leftie who crochetes both left and right handed. It looks really funny. When I crochet right handed I crochet like I am knitting and when I crochet left handed it looks like the typical way of doing it. I think it is easier for lefties to flip visually in their mind – well that’s how I do it.
Anyway, will also be following your blog and if you know where I can get some nice patterns for crocheted wedding bouquet feel free to let me know.
Cheers
L.L.
I couldn’t find an email address to contact you, so I hope this is okay!
I am trying to gather all the tawashi/pot scrubber/coaster paterns I want to make in one place. I would love to have photos next to the links so it will be easy to see what is what and it would be nice to share with other people.
I am writing to you because I either want to link to your pattern or blog or beacause I want to use a photograph of your work.
The current page is at http://www.GrowingFree.com/Tawashi.html
I just created it and it is not currently linked to any other site.
It will eventually have more information on tawashi and be linked to a craft page I am putting together (with other crochet and sewing projects).
Is it okay for me to use your work?
If it is not okay with you, my apologies.
I will remove the part/s that feature your work immediately!
Are the links to your blog, your name, the project name okay the way they are?
Thank you,
Kiersten Pasciak
KPasciak on Ravelry
I just happened thru here on a search for new patterns….May I suggest to help with your asl learning..ASLPRO.COM?? It is a wonderful aid and you have a clearer view of the signs . Life print is where I started as well…good for beginning…aslpro.com will help you and your child fly! Trust me.
I have heard negative comments about ASLPRO from fluent signers, so I stay away from it unless I can confirm the signs are correct through another source.
I am sorry that you disagree with the opinions I was given by a fluent signer who is also a certified interpreter. I do not remember her exact examples from when she explained her reservations about the site, so I cannot give them here. Since she has explained differences in regional dialects as well as the differences between ASL and SEE and SE, I do not believe that her issues with the site had anything to do with regional slang and so forth.
As with any resource, it is always a good idea to back it up with a second resource to make sure the information is correct. Even with sites and books that I have heard good things about, I always check a second source before sharing or using information as true in any subject.
I also am a left hand crocheter. I am not left handed though. I taught myself how to crochet on my way home from Michael’s one day (to buy a book, yarn, and a hook). I was sitting in the back seat of my dad’s car while he was driving home. When he stopped to go grocery shopping, I decided to stay in the car and work on my chain stitch. I saw in the book that there was the left hand method and the right hand method. I tried with my right hand first since I am right handed. I was very clumsy and easily frustrated. So I switched and from then on out (April 2003-) I have been a left handed crocheter.
+1
i was about 9 yrs old and wanted to learn to crochet and both my granny and aunty who crocheted were right handed. my uncle told my aunt to crochet infront of the dresser mirror and let me watch the mirror and yep it worked i have been crocheting ever since ~~~ smart uncle !
I learned to crochet watching my right handed aunt crochet in a mirror ! works !