Of course unlike many people who set up businesses with the aim of making money, my motivation has always been about the joy that teaching brings — not only to me, but to my learners too. That’s why I set up StraightCurves as a not-for-profit company.
I want to do a good job. I don’t want you to finish a course without the confidence and skills to carry on at home. I’m passionate about doing things properly and, as many of you will know, I have a serious bugbear with one-off sessions for learning skills that need time and practice, such as using a sewing machine or learning to crochet.
Why take a course when it costs more?
Learning a practical skill such as crochet takes time, patience and repetition. As a learner, the more you practise the same movements, the more automatic they gradually become — sometimes described as developing “muscle memory”. This means you can concentrate less on remembering every individual stitch and more on the overall pattern, solving problems and enjoying the creative process.
“With any considerable number of repetitions, a suitable distribution of them over a space of time is decidedly more advantageous than the massing of them at a single time.”
— Ebbinghaus (1885/1913)
Not only does a course with multiple sessions give you opportunities to practise, but forgetting between sessions can actually be helpful too! This might sound a little crazy, but it is where repetition becomes particularly important.
Ebbinghaus’ research into memory highlighted the benefits of spacing practice over time. Returning to a skill repeatedly, rather than trying to learn everything in one go, can help strengthen long-term retention. With crochet, every time you pick up your hook after a few days and have another go at a stitch, you are reinforcing what you have learned and helping to move that knowledge into long-term memory.
Learning progression is important too.
That’s why our sessions are designed by experienced teachers specifically to build and develop your skills each week, at a manageable pace. We don’t overload you with everything all at once. We want you to feel relaxed, succeed and come away from each session with a secure understanding of what we have covered.
Multiple sessions also give you the opportunity to practise at home — if you have the time, of course; it’s not compulsory! You can have a go, discover what you’re struggling with and come back with questions for the next session. Most importantly, you get the chance to have those “Why isn’t this working?!” moments and have someone there in person to help you work out what has gone wrong and how to fix it.
Yes, you can go on YouTube… but YouTube can’t make you a cuppa, it can’t see exactly where you’ve gone wrong and it definitely can’t give you a smiley face when you finally get it right! 😊
Our courses also include take-home sheets and resources to support your learning between sessions and after the course has finished, so you have something to refer back to when you’re practising at home.
And there’s another benefit to learning over several sessions: friendships.
Seeing the same group of people each week gives you the chance to build connections and get to know one another. You’re all learning the same thing, so you instantly have something in common — no awkwardly wondering what on earth to say to start a conversation! Our StraightCurves studio, I am proud to say has been the birth place of many friendships over the years and will continue to be for many years to come.
Most importantly, I don’t want you to go away thinking you’re “bad at crochet” — or bad at anything creative — simply because you’ve been taught everything in one session, with no opportunity to practise, no time to consolidate your learning and too much cognitive load from trying to remember everything at once.
Learning a new skill should be enjoyable, not overwhelming. Sometimes the best thing we can give you isn’t more information, but the time and space to practise, make mistakes, have another go and gradually become confident.
That’s what we’re trying to create at StraightCurves. ❤️
Looking forward to seeing you in the studio soon our courses start soon, Karen x
Further reading
Ebbinghaus, H. (1913) Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. Translated by H.A. Ruger and C.E. Bussenius. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University. (Original work published 1885).