Crochet
- Thread starter Mel
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GingerFoxx
No effin' whey!
About a week and a half ago, after being a knitter for 20+ years, I finally took the plunge to learn crochet. My mother taught me how to knit as a child, but I didn't have anyone in my inner circle, as it were, whom I could ask to teach me crochet. Now, through the wonders of YouTube, I found some great step-by-step tutorials for beginners. I already completed the ones in this particular series for single, half double and double crochet. I watched the one for triple crochet last night and plan to attempt that later. I am making a 30 stitch square of each one, to get a solid grasp on the concept. I feel like I am picking up speed very quickly and starting to understand the logic on the movements, etc. It may be a while before I am solid enough in my foundations to take on anything irregularly shaped, and I am sure crocheting in a circle is a whole other set of techniques. so far I am enjoying it though. I'd like my first project to be a patchwork afghan of sorts. I am noticing not all my squares are equal size to one another though, even though they use the same hook and similar weight yarn. Perhaps the stitches themselves are a factor. I am trying to keep my tension even as I work. I'll probably post pictures of my first swatches later. I am very proud of them.
I was wondering if I would be able to learn through YouTube videos. Maybe I should start out by watching a few. I think my problem will be, if I don’t grasp something pretty quickly, I tend to get frustrated and give up. I dislike that about myself but I don’t think it’s going to be any different with crocheting. But I’m off today so I can at least check it out.
I'm not sure whether the videos addressed this, but maintaining consistent tension can be helped by wrapping your working strand around the pinky and the index finger. If they didn't address that, I could try to take a pic and post it here.
GingerFoxx
No effin' whey!
The ones I have been watching even include a slow motion reply of some of the motions, which I like a lot. Here is lesson 1:
GingerFoxx
No effin' whey!
Here are my results so far. The one with two swatches is my first attempt at single and half double crochet. Then I switched to slightly chunkier, smoother yarn which combined with the variegated color made it easier for me to differentiate and count stitches. The one with 3 swatches is what I accomplished this weekend. One square each of single, half double, and double crochet. I am ridiculously proud of them, despite them being nothing fancy.
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I just might pick up some yarn, my discount store now has a whole aisle full of it! Like two big skeins (same colors) of beautiful colors, forget the price but it seemed good.
I just can't imagine my cats letting me do it, though this time of day they seem to be doing their own things
I just can't imagine my cats letting me do it, though this time of day they seem to be doing their own things
GingerFoxx
No effin' whey!
The height of the stitches is an obvious difference, but even the width of those 30 stitches seemed to vary, number of rows aside. That's the part I was not expecting and I was wondering how much of that was the result of my yarn choice and how much of it was just beginner technique.
GingerFoxx
No effin' whey!
I need to do all my knitting/crochet either in the bedroom or in my home office, where critters are not allowed. Part of the reason is the obvious of the cats playing with my craft supplies. The other is that my boyfriend, who loves my cats very much, does have a mild allergy to them. So if he is exposed to blankets they have been sleeping on, etc. he get sneezy and his throat tightens a bit.
The next few lessons in that series I shared will start introducing common afghan squares, so my first big project once I feel solid in my fundamentals is going to be an afghan for him. (Seriously, he doesn't own nearly enough blankets and remarks occasionally that he needs more.) We'll probably go on a quest for yarn this weekend since he needs more woodburning supplies anyway, and all the miscellaneous scrap yarn I have in various colors, weights and textures is not going to be ideal for a cohesive large scale project. Part of the trick will be keeping it dander free.
That's going to be the case regardless of yarn choice or technique. The "taller" the stiches, the more give they are going to have horizontally.
It's the same with knitting. For example, a knitting stitch pattern that uses slip stitches is going to pull in horizontally as well as vertically.
Sampler afghans ( whether knitted or crocheted) that are made up of blocks, where each block is of a completely different stitch pattern, will have you start various blocks with different numbers of stitches to take that into account.
I love sampler afghans.
They are so pretty. I love all the different patterns of the squares.I do too. I also love ones made from pieces with the same stitch patterns, but different colors, like these:I love sampler afghans.
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Those are gorgeous!I do too. I also love ones made from pieces with the same stitch patterns, but different colors, like these:
They really are. Some people have an amazing eye for color.
I'll never make one because - cats. (Blankets, etc. get washed on the average daily in this house.) But I do love to look at the gorgeous work posted on Ravelry.
Awwww, that is a shame, but I understand. I love Ravelry. So many talented people. I'm always amazed at the people who come up with the patterns. I can't imagine doing that.
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