Lately I've started warming more and more to the idea of learning to crochet. There are just certain fabrics that can be achieved with crochet that knitting can't match. So a little over a week ago, I tried to start a moebius cowl and failed miserably. I made my typical mistake: I was too ambitious. What, a cowl with nupps isn't the best first project ever? Clearly, I need to be a little more realistic about what kind of projects to start with when learning a new skill.
And then yesterday I was out with my friend at a local yarn shop, and I saw this simple crochet scarf out of laceweight yarn. I fell in love, hard.
Really, what better way to suck me in than to waggle skinny yarn and a lace pattern in front of my face? And it's not even very hard - it's flat, it only takes chains and double-crochet, and it's out of my favorite weight of yarn to work with.
So I took my crochet to Purlygirls, and I proceeded to attempt to start it three times before finally putting the hook and yarn away. When I first chained on, my stitches were way too loose - this is probably a holdover from my knitting experience, where I've found that looser is better. So I changed my tension, and it started to look better. Then I did my beginning chain and started the pattern... and ended up with 3 extra chain stitches at the end. Not one time, but twice. I checked the math, and the pattern had given the wrong number of stitches to chain for the initial row. D'oh! I did a little math and fixed the number, but by that time I was a little tired of ripping everything out.
So I took a few hours off, and then last night around eleven-thirty, I taught Lumberjack to knit a little bit of garter stitch, and I grabbed my crochet, and we both made progress. I'm still all thumbs and I'm not sure if the rows are lining up correctly on top of one another, but I'm starting to understand a little more about the structure of the fabric.
I think I've successfully been bitten by the crochet bug, because now I can't put it down.
5 comments:
Ack! Too bad I was at the opposite end of the table. You can actually unpick extra stitches on your foundation chain without ripping back. My mom showed me that trick last year, and I wish she had shown it to me sooner.
Oh cool! I'd love it if you want to show me how next Purlygirls!
Looks fabulous!! Whats the pattern called?
It's from Bad Woman, and they call it Shells, Beads, and Ruffles Crochet Scarf. I couldn't find it on Ravelry, but I'll bring it next time I come to knitting!
I'm glad you gave it another shot. Sorry I wasn't of more help. I'd love to learn Andi's trick too. I had no idea you can pick back on the foundation chain - that is a trick I have to see and learn!
Keep at it, Cory. Your pics look great and just think back to your first knitting projects - its all a journey and you are on well on your way! :D
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