Saturday, April 04, 2009

beginner's woes


I sat down with a crochet hook last night.  

It was harder than I imagined it would be.  

I had no idea what size crochet hook I needed.  So I picked two to try.  I had two different fiber blends-100% cotton or a cotton rayon mix?  I chained.  I counted.  I swore.  I found the 100% cotton on a larger hook made a fabric I could work.  The rayon is a little soft for me to handle just yet.  Maybe later.  

I put it away.  I tried a less favored color and a motif in one of my books.  Then I chained my requisite 109 stitches, and tried again.  I was glad I accidentally bought a Japanese "how to crochet" book, because each stitch's symbol is shown next to a good graphic demonstrating how to execute it.  I have no idea whether I am working a half double crochet-in my mind it is "looks like the Easter Seal emblem."  Doesn't matter what it's called, does it?

This is not easy for me.  I am a competent knitter.  I am only a mid-level beginning crocheter.  But damn, I have high expectations from my knitting!  It's slow going.  I found mistakes in the short amount I have done.  I have a miscount.  If I yank back to it, I think it might help the color pooling I have on one end....at least I'd like it to.

Don't think I haven't considered just knitting the damned thing in Bear's Paw.

5 comments:

kellygirl said...

The pattern and colors sure are pretty. I love the motif. I'm pretty sure I couldn't crochet from a diagram although when combined with written directions, it often helps. All of my shell counts were off on my last project but it still worked out. How, I don't know.

Good luck, Bets! If anyone can do it, it's definitely you!

Suzann said...

Patience girl. I use to crochet cables, cause I didn't think I could knit them. Bulletproof. The colors look so pretty. It will go faster sooner then you think.

Cindy G said...

You can do it! (If you got through the cape, and you did, you can lick this one).

Anonymous said...

That looks really pretty. Hope it does not hurt your hands - I can't crochet for very long these days, especially with cotton.
Looking forward to seeing the final results.

Marta

smariek said...

The crochet looks pretty. Wouldn't know how to read the chart though.

Is the purple tumor at one end a result of the miscount in the middle?