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| not pretty |
It wasn't pretty.
It led to the development of our Crochet Kit. Surely I wasn't the only one who couldn't get the hang of crochet?!?!
Through the repetition of one stitch and no additional scary diagrams, that can also encourage you to run before you can crawl, I managed to make my second item... a crocheted cloth.
Fast forward 2 years and I managed to crochet a WHOLE blanket (admittedly a small one). I used the excellent Granny Stripe pattern/tutorial by Lucy at Attic24.
I don't find crochet comes naturally to me. I struggle to see where to stick my hook and it's a battle to keep my edges straight. My hands automatically want to knit and my stitches can be very uneven!
But like most things perseverance does pay off. I have to remember the problems and struggles I had when learning to knit. It does get better!
So when I say the crochet cloth was my 2nd attempt it took several false starts before I got to the end.
And the blanket was a lesson in tension (one I learnt the hard way in knitting too). So it turns out I'm a loose crocheter just like I'm a loose knitter. But whereas I also cast on loosely in knitting my foundation chain (the start of all crochet) is a good bit tighter...
So I had several false starts when making the blanket too.
I do like the idea of crochet... I love it that you only have one stitch on your hook and (thank goodness) ripping back is a breeze. Blankets seem quicker and less cumbersome when crocheting and little flowers are cute too...
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| wonky crochet flowers! |
And I don't expect perfection in my knitting so there is NO way I'm going to beat myself up about flaws in my crochet.
So when I saw the team behind the Crochet Project had published a book of shawls (one of my most favourite things to knit) I was inspired to dust off my basic crochet skills once more.
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| The Shawl Project - see it on Ravelry and in the shop! {photo credit - Kat Goldin} |
The Shawl Project contains 6 shawl patterns by Joanne Scrace (notsogranny on Ravelry) as well as very helpful instructions on designing your own shawl.
Beautiful photography from Kat Goldin means this book looks good too!
So what was my first project?
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| woo-hoo! |
Northmoor Lock has a shallow triangle shape. It starts at one end and increases up to the centre point (half way through your ball of yarn) then decreases back down... (abit like the Baktus knitted scarf).
I crocheted ours in Vivacious 4ply, in new shade Dove Stone.
This was a challenge... as only the 4th item I've ever crocheted.
So it took a few attempts to get the increasing even and then the decreasing too.
I first attempted it in a Zauberball but given my novice crochet status the yarn was bit too woolly.
The Vivacious on the other hand was smooth and shiny! And it was much easier to see where I needed to stick my hook.
This was very quick to make too (despite the half dozen false starts). And I would highly recommend it as a next step beginner pattern - you only use one stitch and you can practice your increasing and decreasing.
You do need to get it relatively even so the increasing matches the decreasing (roughly!) but it's easy to spot and rip out any overly wonky bits.
Like I did... frequently.
It would look great in Definition Sock Yarn too.
Other shawl patterns in the book...
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| 4 of the 6 patterns in the book! {photo credit Kat Goldin} |
Cherry Pi (top right corner) is likely next and I would love to do Spirographical (bottom right corner), if only to hang in our shop window!
Although I imagine there would be much debating over where to stick my hook...
We still have places available on our Next Steps Crochet workshop on Sunday 28th June and we're sorting out our new workshop schedule which will be starting in August - so keep an eye out for our beginners crochet workshop too!
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