Hi Oombawka Design Readers! Today we have a short book review, a GIVEAWAY (at the end of the post) and a special guest post providing insight on how to teach a lefty to crochet, if you are a righty!

This Special Guest Post is from Marie Segares, Author of:

Make Money Teaching Crochet:

Launch Your Business, Increase Your Side Income,

Reach More Students.

Marie’s book is an excellent resource; filled with guidance and tools to help you decide if teaching crochet is the right career path for you. By following the leading questions set-out in the first section of her book, you will learn how to create your own specific teaching goals and you will be guided toward the teaching path which is right for you.

As you progress further through the pages you will develop your own specific business plan while being introduced to the following:

• Setting up your business (Business entities [sole proprietorship, Limited Liability Companies]; payment options; payment, refund and cancellation policies; pricing based on class structure, size and venue; sales and self-employment taxes, etc.)
• Marketing (Online Marketing Resources, Reviews, Local Press, Word-of-Mouth, Paper Marketing Strategies, Promotional Items, etc.)
• Preparing for class (Writing course descriptions, lesson plans, what to pack, supplies and samples, tips for teaching online and in person, etc.)
• Helpful resources (Online resources, free resources, marketing resources, supply resources, etc.)
• CRO-PRO TIPS (Found throughout the publication in special boxed sections; these are bonus tips and strategies learned from Marie’s years of experience.)

Marie writes in a clear and open manner – bringing transparency to the table and letting you know straight away that although teaching crochet can be an emotionally rewarding experience, it is something you will likely only be able to rely on for a part-time income, or as supplemental income for your established crochet business.

The eBook is a full 92-pages in length. The Workbook Edition includes 15 additional worksheets and forms. The Ultimate Printable Edition includes 15 additional worksheets and 5 additional customizable forms.

You can purchase Marie’s book in a variety of formats including Kindle eBook, Kobo eBook, Workbook Edition (paper) and the Ultimate Printable Edition eBook.

Until July 4th the Ultimate Printable Edition eBook is available for 25% off with this link: 25% Off Sale

I read this book from cover-to-cover and found a number of interesting tidbits that I can take away and apply to my own website and tutorials.  The resource section alone is filled (and I mean FILLED) with helpful links and resources.

I especially appreciated the CRO-PRO TIPS located throughout the book. One of my favorite examples is this one:

“CRO-PRO TIP” Keep in mind that short-term memory can hold only about seven items at a time. To a beginner, a single stitch may have seven components! …A more advanced crocheter will simply think “make a chain” and will have “room” in their short-term memory for six additional steps…”

Lately I have been considering teaching crochet to my friends and my family members – and the same concern always comes to mind and causes me to hesitate to begin….I am right-handed and I am concerned I will be unable to effectively teach someone who is left-handed how to crochet. When Marie offered to do a short guest post for me on a topic related to teaching crochet – this is the question I asked:

How do you teach a lefty to crochet if you are a righty?

I hope her expert advise is helpful to you too!!

Now let’s learn how to teach a lefty to crochet if you are a righty:

I’m Marie Segares from Underground Crafter and the Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Show and I’m excited to be visiting with Rhondda and the Oombawka Design Crochet readers today!

Rhondda asked me to address one of the most difficult questions facing any crochet teacher: how do you teach a lefty to crochet if you’re a righty?

How Do You Teach a Lefty to Crochet, If YOU are a Righty?

There are three approaches to this common situation.

• Teach the lefty to crochet as a righty. Many teachers will insist that crocheting right handed is the “right” way (pun intended!). They will tell a left-handed student to do everything a right-handed student would do. Many lefties have faced similar challenges since learning to brush their teeth, tie their shoelaces, and write, so perhaps they are a bit ambidextrous. Other lefties are just so used to being told to do things right handed that they will “grin and bear it.”
• Tell the lefty to mirror everything you do. Other teachers will put the onus on the student. Instead of changing their own behavior, these teachers will ask the student to do the work of trying to learn crochet while also trying to reverse everything in their own head. In my experience, this method only works with very visual students with excellent hand-eye coordination since most people are completely unable to reverse images while also commanding their hands to work correctly.
• Demonstrate using your left hand. As a teacher, learning the basics with your left (or non-dominant) hand is challenging, but no more challenging than learning to crochet! In fact, trying to crochet with your left hand will give you a bit of empathy for what your student is experiencing. It will feel awkward, your stitches will look terrible, and you will have to consciously think through everything you do – just like everyone else learning to crochet. In addition to gaining insight into what your student is going through, crocheting with your non-dominant hand helps you to really think through the mechanics of each stitch and break down each stitch into smaller parts. This will actually make it easier for you to explain the process to any beginner.

It may be obvious but I prefer the third method. Since I’ve started teaching crochet, I’ve learned the basics as a lefty. My stitches still look terrible, but my left-handed students really appreciate the effort. I have also found that some left-handed students are willing to pay a premium for classes with a teacher that will actually teach them to crochet left handed. (Full disclosure: My sister is a lefty, so I may have more insight into the plight of lefties than the average person.)

Thank you, Rhondda, for inviting me to visit Oombawka Design Crochet today!

Marie Segares is a crochet and knitting teacher, designer, blogger, and podcaster. She hosts the Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Show, the podcast where you can find great ideas for launching, managing, and evolving your yarn-related business, and shares her patterns, tips, and projects on the Underground Crafter blog. Since she began teaching crochet part time in 2008, she has taught hundreds of beginners to crochet and helped even more improve their skills. Marie is a professional member of, and volunteer blogger for, the Crochet Guild of America, a designer/teacher member of The Knitting Guild Association, and an affiliate member of The National NeedleArts Association. Marie is a graduate of Barnard College and earned master’s degrees from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and New York University Stern School of Business. She lives in New York City.

Do you want to learn more about how to make money teaching crochet? Follow the Crochet Book Blog Tour to each of the following blogs for inside tips and tricks, guest posts, interviews and more chances to win your own copy of:

Make Money Teaching Crochet: Launch Your Business, Increase Your Side Income, Reach More Students.

This giveaway is open worldwide where allowed by law.

Start Date: June 16, 2016, 12:00 am ET
End Date: June 23, 2016, 11:59 pm ET

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