Ever two weeks. That’s when the squares of the 2020 Moogly CAL come out.

Though this is my 6th year doing the CAL, it’s my friend Rah-Rah’s first. So, we decided to crochet together. You can read about that here.

The Score

Rah-Rah and I are currently tied at 2-2. The first square was a learning curve, but we got it done. The second square was harder than the first square…like, significantly harder, but we got both done.

Square #2: Quilt Ladies Square by Linda Dean

This one would be easier than the last one? Right? Wrong. What did Robin think after looking at it the first time?

Rah-Rah’s perspective: “Um, is there going to be a tutorial for this block?”
The expert (me): “Not all of the blocks have tutorials, so this one may not.”
“Okay, then I will see you on Saturday at your house at 1 p.m.”

So began our Saturday crochet session. If you could have been a fly on the wall for this one, you’d have laughed your head off. I learned so much, not only about how to do this pattern–but how bad of a teacher I am!

Rah-Rah’s perspective: Saturday rolls along, and I loaded up my hook and bag of yarn of many colors to head over. First, we chatted about the pattern, and then I picked out my colors. Heidi looked at the pattern and said something about “not being sure about that,” so, just, chain ______ and then double crochet ______, and so on.

Teaching mistake #1: I should have looked the pattern over before Robin came over. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, I just preferred to start a different way–in a ring instead of crocheting all the beginning stitches in one chain. This meant as I told her what to do, I had to change the directions on every row.

Rah-Rah: Slowly, I follow her directions as much as possible. At every turn, I check with Heidi to ensure that I am on the right track or in the right spot. Progressing along to the next few rows, she tells me to just put the stitch here or there, and now I have no idea what’s going on.

Teaching mistake #2: When your “student” asks you to look at her work, don’t just give it a quick glance.

This conversation happened more than once:

R: Is this where I put the next stitch?
H: *glances* Yeah.
R: *crochets a bit*
H: Wait. Why did you put that stitch there?
R: That’s where you told me to put it!

Rah-Rah’s perspective: Heidi whips through even more of the square. By 6 p.m., my family begins sending me messages, and I pack up my square, thinking I know what I’m doing, and head home.

Sending Robin home with an incomplete square left me wondering if she would get it done. I, of course, whipped out mine later that evening. I mean, I am the expert.

In reality, I figured Robin would be ok. She made the last square. She could get through this one, too. I probably did more to confuse her than to help her.

Rah-Rah’s perspective: Sunday morning, I pulled out my square and realized that I had no idea what I was doing. Believing I could fake it, I printed out the directions, found help on the Facebook site, and attacked the square. Within minutes, I was pulling out what I had done on Saturday. As I kept pulling stitches, it was dawning on me that I had absolutely no idea of what I was doing. Not to mention the colors that I picked looked like mint chocolate chip ice cream.

I began again with new colors. Using the pattern to start row one, two, three, four and then a diagram to complete it. This square was about trial and error. Eight hours later, I had a square. And I love my square.

Wait, did she just say eight hours?! Remember, Rah-Rah is a beginner. Many of these intricate squares take four hours for me to crochet. Some will take more, some will take less. Sometimes the dog needs to go out 18 times in two hours because you are actually holding something in your hands. I digress.

Rah-Rah’s perspective: We joke that Heidi was not a great teacher for me, but I have to say that I feel like watching her work and working along with her, I did learn. She taught me a new stitch that I would not have learned from the pattern or the diagram. It was the triple crochet. I did not even see where it said to do the stitch, so I worked some as double crochet, and I knew it was wrong immediately. Do not tell her I said this, but it was good working alongside her. I got to see how the whole thing works with someone who knows which end of the hook to start with. She also kept her promise. She said I would feel accomplished when I complete this project. I did not realize that she was talking about each square.

Aw, shucks, Robin! Why are you being so sweet? Even if I am a bad teacher, the fun part is being able to crochet with a friend.

Square #3 came out today. It doesn’t look too hard. Rah-Rah won’t even need me for this one. Right?