Beginning to Crochet

Hi all -

To add to the fun, I decided to also start crocheting. I've wanted to do this for a while and in my spare time have watched a few classes on Craftsy and CreativeBug, but I finally made myself sit down, watch a class and actually do the class projects. I decided to do the Startup Library: Crochet class with Salena Baca on Craftsy.

The first project is a headband made with bulky yarn:

There's a funky spot just below and to the left of the button in the top picture and the side with the initial chain isn't as stretchy as the other side, but it's still comfortable to wear and I think it turned out nice.

The second project was this cowl:

I think it turned out cute, but I was completely miserable while crocheting it. The yarn is a rough-texture acrylic which looks pretty cool, but I had a lot of trouble with it splitting when I tried to push the hook through and I had a tough time keeping a decent tension because the yarn would stick to itself. But I refused to give up and was able to finish it. I didn't want to put the yarn back into my stash, so I immediately knit up the remainder into a scarf:

Interestingly, I really enjoyed knitting with this yarn. When knitting, I never had trouble with splitting and had no problem keeping my tension even. And it felt really comfortable in my hands. So maybe when I have more experience with crochet, I won't have this much trouble with yarns like this.

The third project was a quick hat crocheted with a bulky yarn:

This one was fun to crochet and I might make more of these.

The final project was a scarf:

(As you can see, Wesley has been insisting on being included in the modeling pictures. He just isn't as cooperative about sitting where I tell him to....) This was another fun one to crochet and I might make more of these. One problem I had when making this was that the chains I crocheted in the pattern were too tight for me to get the hook through on the next row. I got around that by crocheting those stitches in the big holes rather than in the chain stitches themselves, which I've seen done by others on some knitting/crochet shows on TV. The instructor was adamant that you have to get these into the chain stitches, but it worked well the other way for me on this pattern. I tried making my chain stitches really loose, but the slack seemed to be pulled up by the surrounding stitches so that just made the surrounding stitches a bit sloppy. The crochet hooks that I got are pretty rounded on the ends, so I might have better luck with more pointy hooks. I'll look around for some and will play around with other patterns to see how it all works out.

All of these projects will go into my Homeless Shelter bag to be donated next fall. I just watched another Craftsy class on crocheting hats so I'm going to try to find time to make some of those soon. But first I have to finish the quilted wallhanging I'm making for my step-niece for her wedding on June 2, and I have to finish knitting my first sweater which is almost done. I'll share both projects here when they are finished, which should be soon.

Nancy