This is my first pattern project with rows and it came out lousy. What should have been a small purse would have been a small trapezoid if I had continued. (:-<

I found a way to sample Caron Dazzleaire yarn.  A local dollar discount store carried it for a very brief time.  I spotted it in the craft aisle, then came back later to purchase it. The supply was nearly depleted when I got back! With only a few colors left to pick from, I decided to try three: summer rose, mahogany, and pinot noir.  I was hesitant at first because I already have so many different yarns stashed away, but not like this one!  It's an amazing soft and plush fuzzy type yarn. As far are working with it, I like making simple stitches rather than patterned stitches. It gets tangled and kinky to take the stitches apart. But you can reuse it as good as new. This is the newer version according to their website. You should try it.

Lovely brushed acrylic yarn

Here I rant about crochet.  It may not make much sense at first.

Do I have what it takes? like...

---> speed -- don't have it (I guess some are turtles and some are rabbits)
---> agility -- is this a sport?
---> integrity -- the opposite attitude to 'get it done, get it done fast'

I'll revisit this later in retrospect. Honestly, when I considered crochet for the first time my mind was really on results. (ranting 3/28/11)

A few years back I had this chevron design hat & scarf knit set from JcPenneys.  It was my favorite.  I would get compliments and a lot of stares when I wore that hat. It had so many odd color combinations.  I no longer have it because I decided to throw the set away.  The hat got stretched all out of shape because I wore it so many times over about two years. This year I started to really miss that hat. I was so surprised to find a knitter's blog with a strikingly similar design. I hope they don't mind that I share it here:  http://www.annettepetavy.com/blog/2011/ida/

Yearning for my dear lost hat is what led my heart to the crochet & knit books this year. 'If only I could knit', I thought. I could remake the hat. This is where my journey began to learn needleworks. I'll see how far it takes me. (written 3/27/11)

As a beginner I chose to skip practicing stitch patterns and gauges. Rather, I started straight away with an easy pattern to see results in something tangible.  My first finished piece was a tiny flower. Quickly, I found that there is a big difference between patterns calling for straight lines (rows) versus curves (rounds).  I found that my lack of experience is so much better hidden in curves. I choose rounds over rows any day ;)  (written 3/26/11)

I am in awe of the idea of creating a fabric by hand.  As I read about what crochet is I have discovered that you are creating a fabric.  That is so amazing to me. (written 3/25/11)

Watch out, beginners,  for those mitten patterns where you end up with something that looks like a handcast! They may look really cute in the pattern photo, but in real life not so cute at all. Ugh!
It's happened to me over and over.  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, pattern images inspire me.  So I fall for the image first, not realizing that it's not the best choice. If you are making mittens as a gift for someone maybe you can try a few rows to test the look and feel first, especially before you fasten off.

I am inspired by the aesthetics of the crochet pattern photo.  Whenever I see the photo for a pattern I'm either excited or not so excited.  The image is everything for me. Images that I like follow an immediate path to my

I want this book

brain. It's transferred to my imagination - the geometry, the symmetry, the colors and so on. Then I find myself in pursuit to bring the image to life. (written 3/24/11) 

As a beginner I really don't have many crochet supplies. So I'm on a hunt around my house and in discount stores to find bargains. After all, I don't yet know how far I will get in this craft. If it ends up being a phase
of sorts then it's all the more fitting to keep spending low. Right?!

Hooks you can shop for locally. But there are better deals through merchants from Asian countries. So far I have purchased hooks from the local department store, from an American ebay merchant and from Asia. So far I like working with the soft aluminum hook (2.0 mm) versus the steel one because steel applies more pressure to my fingers. (written 3/23/11)

I'm shopping on foot this cold March 22 for yarn & supplies. Why in my town can't I ever find
the yarn I need when I need it? What the patterns call for I can never find the brand or its equivalent in the store. I read somewhere that American stores concentrate on medium (4) acrylic yarns.
Just so happens that none of the patterns that I have call for this size yarn.

What should you know to crochet?

You should know math. But, if you don't then you must be good at this free-handedly (if that's a word). Think of a  musician. There are those musicians that must read notes to play and there are those musicians who learn by ear. My mom played piano by ear by the way. I think that math is essential to follow patterns especially. Crochet is good for boosting students' confidence in arithmetic and geometry. Freehanded is more creative or intuitive. (my thoughts - written 3/21/11)

Scarf A with 4mm hook (left) & Scarf A with 6mm hook (right)

My helpful lesson of the moment about choosing hook sizes:  choose the one that gives the best quality work. Scarf A is what I am crocheting at the moment using Simply Soft yarn. Scarf B, a work in very slow progress, was crocheted with RH Super Saver...  How was scarf B so much softer than scarf A?  To find out the answer go to my page Lessons Learned: Hooks, gauge, and yarns

Scarf B with 8mm hook

A round and around, motif after motif, ugh. Just 5 motifs. What took so long I think was learning the steps.   For each motif there were 6 rounds. What I liked so much was that each round was a totally different design. This is what made this so challenging. I actually liked the challenge. Wearing the hat in red was going to be another challenge.  I have yet to try it on.  See the results for My First Hat Ever on a separate page, a milestone for me.

What about another color?

My first project within the first month of learning to crochet this year was a hat (started around February or March).  Boy, did this take long to make.  According to the instructions it was supposed to take a few hours. Try a few months!  Started in February and finished in April. There were five of these motifs to make and attach together. Then to finish off, the top of the hat was a series of crochets done in rounds.  Right away I noticed that I like working in rounds and that I was mesmerized by lace crochet.  This project was a learning process that lasted and lasted!  To try to speed the process along I tried working on two hats at once, the first in natural and the second in victory red.   Something about colors would either speed my work up or slow it down, hmm.

Crochet takes time for beginners. As a beginner myself, it's been 16 years since I had a brief introduction to this craft. So I'm starting over.  Those years ago I remember making 2 things, a blankie and a baby-hoodie.

So how long will this take?????????
Is this the question that you've asked yourself or wondered before you started this craze for crochet? 
This question sounds more like a question you would ask at an appointment like at the doctor's
office. "How long will this take?...cause I have to be somewhere."

I'm not one that thinks ahead so I didn't think too long or hard about getting started. I just jumped right in. How I started was from a craze or in a daze.  So this is just the beginning, not just of this blog
but of this crochet craze of mine. How long will it last? The blog will tell.   (So far it's been 6 months.)