Why You Might Want to Become a Certified Crochet Instructor Even if You Never Plan on Teaching

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It took two hundred thirty-one days from the time I enrolled in the Craft Yarn Council’s Certified Instructors Program (CIP) to the day I received my certificate and pin. In that time not only did I learn a lot about crochet, but I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I hate having a deadline, but I also learned that I will finish something if I commit to it. I learned how to make a ripple stitch and that you shouldn’t overstretch it when blocking just to make it the perfect 5″ square. I also learned that I’m a total badass when it comes to weaving in my ends!

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The Nuts and Bolts

The Craft Yarn Council’s Certified Instructors Program (CIP) is a self-paced correspondence curriculum. Students have six months to complete their crochet samples and send them in to their Master Teacher, but you have an additional six months to complete the required fifteen hours of teaching.  The program is broken up into two sections, Crochet Techniques and Teacher’s Handbook. The materials are very well organized and detailed explanations are given for each sample as well as lesson planning. The total cost is $85, but you will need to supply your own yarn, notebook for sending in your coursework, and you will need to pay to have it shipped to your Master Teacher.

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I really believe this program is beneficial for every crocheter, even if teaching isn’t the goal! First learning how to do things correctly is pure gold. The internet is full of tutorials and videos showing how to crochet practically anything, but occasionally there are mistakes. I recently found one when looking through a very popular crochet site and was surprised to see that the woman teaching a fundamental technique wasn’t doing it correctly. Crochet is also a craft that has been handed down from one person to another and it isn’t always taught the proper way. Now the goal isn’t to crochet correctly for correctness sake! Reducing fundamental mistakes will reduce big headaches down the road. It’s not to be nit-picky but to ensure a happy, stress free outcome!

The second, and I believe the most important reason to become a Certified Crochet Instructor, is because inevitably someone is going to ask you to teach them to crochet. I’m sure you’ve already experienced it!  There seems to be a renaissance in handicrafts happening around the world and more and more people want to get back to doing things the way their grandmothers did them! The availability of tutorials on YouTube is wonderful but there’s nothing like sitting down with another human being and learning how to do something useful and beautiful.

Craft Yarn Council’s Certified Instructors Program (CIP)

Have any questions about the program? I’ll be more than happy to answer them in the comments below! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you found this post beneficial!

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14 Comments

  1. This is wonderful! I’ve always thought about looking into this but never have. Thank you for this wonderful post!! Do you know if there is anything like this for knitting as well? I crochet and knit and an often asked by others to teach them how to do both.

    1. Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Yes, they have one for knitting as well! If you click on the link in the post it will take you to the Craft Yarn Council page and you can see both programs!

  2. I love to become a crochet teacher, but I live in the Netherlands. I admire your beautiful work and just want to crochet as beautiful as you!

    1. Awww, thank you so much! You can become a skilled crocheter without taking the course, it just takes practice! I shared a photo comparing one of the first animals I made with a more recent one to show how just practicing will improve your technique! I’ll share the link!

    1. Well not technically. You register online and download your course materials. But you read the manual for all your assignments. You physically send in all your crochet samples and printed lesson plans. Hope that helps!

  3. Elise, you answered all my questions in one place. Wish I could do this here in India. I am visiting USA next year for a month, but I guess it wouldn’t be enough to finish the course, correct?
    I am doing a Beginners’ masterclass next week and this will be my start of the teaching journey 🙂

    P.S. – I love your blog. You never mince words and write in a no-nonsense manner. I read your blogs and it feels like someone answered my queries on a phone call!!

    1. Thank you sooo very much for your kind words! The Craft Yarn Council actually responded to a similar question on the YouTube video. She gave her email address for people overseas to contact about doing the program. Looks like they are opening it up to international students. Let me see if I can find that info for you!

  4. I keep trying but it won’t accept my email Even though I am using the correct email address…it keeps saying it can’t send my request because of invalid email??!