Clarity is king – reducing extraneous load

Waking up on New Year’s Day, I, like many, set myself a resolution. For some it was a promise of ​‘dry January’ or a mammoth house clear out, for me it was trying a new hobby. I bought myself all the gear needed to master crocheting, enthused by visions of future creations.

Pattern and hook in hand, I sat down to start my first masterpiece. I read the instructions. I read them again, looking at the accompanying diagrams. After several failed attempts, I was well and truly stuck – both mentally and physically with yarn tangled between my fingers.

Was this new skill beyond my abilities to understand? Or was I instead a victim of confusing instructions?