Crochet

[dragon_wings]

So today I bought some yarn and a crochet hook. And tonight I'm gonna try to teach myself. Any advice? And/or any websites with good beginning instructions? I'm excited.

[Food Lady]

Pay attention to how you hold the hook. When pulling a loop through, the hooked part should be pointed toward the floor, then rotated up while completing the stitch. Also, you have to hold your non-working hand in what will be a foreign position to you in order to hold the yarn. It's weird because your thumb and middle finger are working together, and your index finger sticks out, which is unusual. But if you don't master that, you'll lose control of the piece you're working on.

[Elspeth]

Knitpiks.com is a good site also the one for Lion Brand Yarn has some good patterns. My Mom has found a lot of teaching videos on YouTube

[dragon_wings]

Ok. I'm frustrated. I can't get past the chaining stitches. *sigh*

[dragon_wings]

Oo. But I got it. Yay.

Pic is of my progress. I'm on the fourth row. I'm sure I've missed a few stitches but I'm getting better. Woot.

[Bardmaiden]

I bought a couple of children's kits/books on crochet and taught myself that way. I looked for books with clear pictures and instructions on how to do the stitch and if I couldn't work it out from the book I hit Youtube.

Crochet Bat

I made the bat without a pattern to work from and he won me a prize from Forbidden Planet.

[Shpepper]

Nice work. Now just practice. You will get better as you go. And carry it with you places. You never know when someone can teach you a new stitch.

[dragon_wings]

I'll post a pic of my progress before I go to bed. I love it. It's so much fun.

[dragon_wings]

It's lopsided. Lol. I was gonna make a scarf but I'm thinking otherwise now. I'll find a use for it.

(my glasses are to show the size)

[Food Lady]

Or you can rip out the stitches and try again. It's called frogging (rip it, rip it).

[Elspeth]

if you want to get other hooks I highly recommend bamboo hooks. My mom got mine really cheap on ebay. Full set for about 15 to 20. I can ask her who she got them from if you would like.

and congrats on the progress. Another good project are granny squares.

[dalesys]

Don't sit on the hooks!


My mother had a guy stand up (suddenly!) with a 5 pound purse hanging from his ass... Really, really impressed his date.

[Kittish]

Start with something small, like a potholder. My potholder is nearly big enough for a king sized bed! I... uh... got kind of carried away with it? Don't be afraid to experiment. Once you've mastered the basic chain stitch there are all kinds of fun variations you can do with it. I don't know the language to describe the stitches tho, so I'll leave that part to someone who does.

Learn how to make circles! Seriously, circles are easy and really tough all at the same time. The basic spiral is pretty easy. The tough part is in figuring out how many extra stitches to insert and where to keep it flat.

Keeping the right amount of tension on your yarn is important, that is what determines how tight your stitches will be. You want your stitches somewhere between so tight you can't work the hook into one and so loose you can read through it.

My 'potholder' is actually a crazy mismash of colors and styles. It isn't square, and it doesn't come anywhere near lying actually flat. It's fun tho, and very very warm. Our dogs think it is the bestest blanket in the house.

[Food Lady]

Half-double crochet is a pretty stitch. I am working on a baby blanket (well, was, until the baby came--oh well) that is predominantly hdc. If you want to see it, PM me; if I post a link it gives up my identity.

[dragon_wings]

I had so much trouble figuring out how to get past chaining. But after a lot of frustration I finally figured out the single crochet stitch.
I had no pattern or anything as a guide cause I was literally just trying to see if I could do it.
Tonight I'll probably tear the stitches and start over. I think I've got the single crochet stitch down and I'm gonna work with that for a while. But I wanna learn everything. And I'm prepared for it to take a while to learn a bunch of different stitches.
I mentioned that I had taught myself crochet to my SM and she talked to me for a few minutes about her and her sister (she knits and her sister crochets).

Eta: I have issues with keeping the tension right. I was better after 3 hours then I was when I started but I have a long way to go.