Esther Prosee van Rooyen was eleven years old when she found a booklet tucked inside a copy of the South African magazine Sarie explaining how to crochet. Nobody in her family crocheted. Not her mother, not any of her three sisters. She taught herself from the page, and when she wrote to us she had been crocheting for forty-eight years. Here is her story.
A Magazine Booklet and a Curious Eleven-Year-Old
There was no one to show her. That is the part of Esther's story that stands out most. She saw the booklet, she was interested, and she worked it out on her own.
Her first projects that she can still remember were Barbie doll clothes and soft toys, made for her sister's daughter. Nearly five decades later she is still drawn to the same thing: new stitches and more complicated projects. She likes the challenge.
Forty-Eight Years, and Still Fitting It In
Esther works full time, seven to four. At night she studies, in her third year of a BCom accounting degree. And in between, for relaxation, she crochets, draws, and paints.
She makes the time and she enjoys it enormously. Her husband is very happy about the arrangement, as he says it is when she goes quiet.
The Doll That Looked Like Her Granddaughter
Esther found Crochetree through Facebook, and what caught her attention was the Hannah challenge. She was drawn to Hannah specifically because Hannah is not a white doll. One of her granddaughters is mixed race, and Esther wanted to make her something for her fifth birthday.
She finished Hannah the day before the birthday and handed her over. Thandiwe named her doll Millan. Esther describes the whole thing as a lovely, satisfying experience, and her colleagues at work liked the doll so much that she came away with four orders.
Grandpa Hannes and Granny Esther
Then came the project she is proudest of. Her husband Hannes turned eighty in November, Esther was about to turn sixty in the January, and the family decided to throw one joint party in December with a carnival theme.
Esther crocheted a Grandpa and a Granny to be auctioned together on the day, with the highest bidder taking the pair home. There were several other grandparents on the guest list, so she had a good feeling about it.
She built them both while working full time and revising for exams two weeks out, and finished in time. Each doll took her five days. The hair, she says, takes the most time and the most patience.
The Details She Worked Out Herself
Esther is generous with the practical details, which is a gift for anyone attempting the same thing.
She uses Elle Cottons 4 ply, a 100 percent cotton yarn, with a 3 mm hook. At the time she was paying between R18 and R22 for a 50 gram ball, and she used ten balls in total for Grandpa and Granny together, roughly R180.
Her granny is not gray yet, so Esther made her hair brown with light streaks instead. The glasses are bent from a coat hanger. And Granny got a vest she was not originally given, because, as Esther puts it, she may not be naked when her clothes come off.
One honest note she wanted included: after finishing Granny she realized she had used a 2.5 mm hook on Grandpa's head rather than 3 mm, which made his head smaller. She decided it was fine. Her husband is a little smaller than she is.
What Forty-Eight Years Teaches You
Esther has two tips, and the first one is worth reading twice.
Keep trying, and do not give up. She had to redo Granny's shoe three times before she got it right, and that is with forty-eight years of experience behind her. The second tip is simpler. When you have a rand or a dollar to spare, buy yarn.
Beyond the dolls, she crochets a blanket for each of her fifteen grandchildren, plus one for her husband and one for herself. Showcasing her work is newer territory for her. She posts her pencil drawings on Facebook as The Black Pencil Lady, but she never reads the comments, because she does not care for negative ones.
Asked what role crochet plays in her life, her husband's answer came first: it is when she goes quiet and counts stitches. Her own answer is that it calms her down, relaxes her, and gives her a sense of accomplishment that carries her through everything else, work and studies included.
Start Your Own Crochet Journey
Esther taught herself from a booklet with nobody to ask. You have considerably more to work with. If you are starting from zero, Crochetree's Crochet Basics Beginner Course walks you through every stitch you need, and when you want to make a doll that means something to the person receiving it, Hannah is where Esther began. You can also browse the full collection of doll patterns to find your own starting point.
Forty-eight years or four weeks in, one stitch at a time, you can craft this.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you teach yourself to crochet without anyone showing you?
Yes. Esther taught herself at eleven years old from a booklet inside a magazine, with nobody in her family who crocheted. Today the resources are far better than a printed booklet: step-by-step patterns, video tutorials, and communities full of makers who will answer a question the same day you ask it.
What yarn and hook should I use for a crochet doll?
A smooth 100 percent cotton yarn with a hook a size or two smaller than the label suggests gives you the tight, even fabric a doll needs so the stuffing does not show through. Esther uses a 4 ply cotton with a 3 mm hook, and used about ten 50 gram balls to make a Grandpa and a Granny doll together.
Why did my two crochet dolls come out different sizes?
Almost always a hook change or a tension change partway through. Esther realized after finishing that she had used a 2.5 mm hook on one doll's head and a 3 mm on the other, which made one head smaller. It is worth writing your hook size down at the start of a project and checking it whenever you pick the work back up.
How do you find time to crochet when life is already full?
You make it, in small pieces. Esther crochets around a full-time job and a part-time accounting degree with evening classes, and still finished two detailed dolls in the run-up to her exams. Crochet is one of the few crafts that fits into short gaps, because you can stop mid-round and come back to it.
