Monday, October 19, 2009

Beginner Crochet!

It was my cousin that first inspired me to learn how to crochet. Her skill is brilliant and she has made all kinds of attire with this technique. I was a child and got quite experienced at making granny-squared potholders but didn't progress much further until that.

Recently I tried to use what I remembered to make a scarf which seemed straightforward enough but it was not coming out right. I think I discarded it, if not it would be a funny picture to put on here. Anyway after a short google session I figured out what I was doing wrong and started over and now have a wonderfully soft scarf to keep me warm. I prefer them longer and thinner so that is how i made it:



Anyway so for some reason I wanted to make crochet animals. I have seen them all over craft sites and they are rather adorable and seem fairly easy to do. Aside from that there are tons of great free patterns out there to test out. Amazon is saturated with crochet how-to and pattern books and the selection is rather overwhelming to say so in the least.

However I did stumble upon the Crochet Answer Book by Edie Eckman which is succinctly written and pocket sized. It seemed like a good resource to have if I were to have any and the reviews were good so I purchased a copy. I am rather glad I did. Its easy to carry with me so I can check on something if i need a refresher


Aside from that, the web has been a fantastic resource for finding free patterns and project ideas.
Here is what I found to be a couple of great resources :


www.crochetpatterncentral.com

this site has a rather old fashioned design but I have found it to contain links (many of them working!) to a large number of projects. Clicking on their free Pattern directory will lead you to a listing where you can find something and get started immediately




This site has a patterns to buy but a great collection of free ones. It also has a great introduction to crochet and types of stiches (including clear illustrations!). You need to register for free on the site which is completely worth the effort in my opinion. My first couple of projects were derived from this site:

new bffs


Often simply typing a search into google... for example "crochet elephant" will turn up many results that you can use to make your own cute crochet critter. There are thousands of craft blogs and websites out there so chances are you will find something do-able and sutiable to your level, whatever that may be. Its a great way to get your feet wet and not invest uneccessarily in books.

~skunkrabbit