How to Crochet: Basic Stitches Part 1

Hello again! Today is the second part of the How to Crochet class! We'll start with an instructional video and then I will go over each bit individually written out as well! So if you learn better by reading, then don't worry I have something here for you as well. Just a quick apology for the amount of cleavage in the video, my mother was filming over my shoulder and somehow didn't notice the angle she had down my shirt. (I was unable to coerce her into shooting it again)

Now onto the written part!

Vocabulary

• Slip Knot: A slip knot is the beginning of crocheting your project, though sometimes is changed out for a "magic circle" which will be detailed in another lesson. To perform a slip knot, using your non-dominant hand, palm facing towards your face, lay the tail end of the string across your hand. Then Wrap it around your index finger creating an x that faces you while your palm faces you. Turn your hand so that the two lines of string are facing you. Slip your hook under the first string, and snag the other with it. Pull it through. What you have created is a slip knot. Tighten it around your hook and you are ready to begin.
• Yarn Over: Yarn over is a fancy way of saying "get that string on your hook" 
• Chain (Ch): Many, but not all,  projects begin with a foundation row created with a chain. To make a chain take your hook with a slip knot around it, loop it around the string and pull it through. Do this until you have what looks like a braid with the number of braid segments that the instructions require.
• Slip Stitch (Sl St): A slip stitch is good for when you want to finish off a project, or make some form of decorative detail around the edges, as well as for when you are crocheting in the round. To perform a slip stitch turn your work (do not chain) slip your hook through the previous stitch, yarn over and pull it through the stitch as well as the loop you have on your hook. 
• Single Crochet (SC): The single crochet stitch is used a lot in amigurumi as well as other smaller project where not a lot of stretch is required. To perform a single crochet stitch chain one off of your previous row and turn your work. Then slip your hook through the previous stitch, yarn over, pull it through, yarn over again and pull that loop through the previous two loops. 
• Half Double Crochet (HDC): The half double crochet stitch is used a lot in projects where you want a slight bit more stretch in your work, or you're trying to get more area done than if you were using a single crochet stitch. To perform this stitch chain two off of your previous row, turn your work, yarn over, slip your hook through the previous stitch, yarn over, pull through (You should now have 3 loops on your hook) yarn over again and pull that loop through the three already on your hook. 
• Double Crochet (DC): This stitch is used when you want to make a lot of area quickly, or when you want to have a bit of stretch in your project. To perform this stitch chain three off of your previous row, turn your work, yarn over, slip your hook through the previous stitch, yarn over, pull it through (now it should look identical to an HDC) yarn over again and pull through just two loops on your hook. Which will leave you with two left. Yarn over again and pull through the last two. 
• Finishing off: To do this yarn over and pull through the loop left on your hook. Pull it tight to create a knot then cut the loop. 

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to leave a comment on this post and I will respond as soon as possible! Have a good day and practice until next week!

How to Crochet: Tools

Alright so you want to know how to crochet! I might be able to help with that.

This tutorial will be written in several different parts to make it more easy for you to learn, and for me to write them out.

This one is for tools!

Lets dive right in shall we?

I messed up my alphabet, pay no attention to the GFE...Imagine it backwards.

• A: A basic pair of scissors, you don't need anything fancy for cutting in crochet, all you'll be doing with these is cutting the ends of your projects. 
• B: Ergonomic Grip Crochet hooks, I suggest these for anyone who crochets a lot or someone who plans on doing large projects. Don't buy them if you're just going to crochet for just an hour at a time, or for learning. They get expensive at roughly $8 each.
• C: Aluminum Crochet Hooks, These are the cheapest ones that are worth using (please do not go get plastic crochet hooks, when you first start I know a lot of people have problems with tension, and they break very easily.) and are the best to learn on. You can find these in just about any craft store you come across.
• D: Steel Crochet Hooks, these typically only come in smaller sizes, from 3.25mm and lower as far as I've found. 
• E: Measuring Tape, You'll need this for measuring your work, you'll be questioning your gauge quite a bit, one of these will become invaluable very quickly.
• F: Stitch markers, These are for marking your stitch (great for when you have lots of rows to do, or your crocheting in the round and you need to know the first stitch in the round) they're also used for when you want to stop working on a project and come back to them later. 
• G: Darning Needles, These are blunt needles that have large eyes for you to feed yarn through, you use them to sew bits on or to weave in your ends. 

Now you won't need all this to start with, Most of this you'll need to get only after you begin projects, but when you do get all this stuff you'll need something to keep them in won't you? Why yes. Yes you will.

Now you'll find expensive crochet hook holders in stores, and they'll run you anywhere between 8 and 12 USD. Do not buy these unless you just really want to. I did and I regret wasting the money.

I now use something much cheaper, and much easier to replace should it break!

What is it? A standard, run of the mill pencil case. 

Thats right. A pencil case. Cost me less than a dollar.

Aint it pretty? Just a slightly transparent Pencil box.

Now then we come to yarn. There are tons of different types of yarns and they come in a variety of weights, colors, and materials.

Now I'll try to cut this down for you so that it'll be easier to understand.

First you'll find a few different ways that yarn is wrapped. There's the ball (I can show you how to make a ball with your hand in a later tutorial) a Skein and a hank. In the majority of craft stores and chains like walmart you'll find yarn in Skein's mostly.

In yarn specific shops you'll be likely to find it in hanks as well, which is basically the yarn in one large loop, folded in half, and wrapped round itself.

I typically put my yarn into balls after I've used a good deal of it to keep it from knotting when I'm not using it.

Weight: Every yarn has a weight, it goes from Lace, Fingering, DK, Sport, Worsted, Bulky and Super Bulky. Now the weight of the yarn is basically just the thickness of the yarn.

Look I did my ABC's backwards again.

A is a standard worsted weight acrylic yarn in a skein. You can find this brand at walmart, and is great for beginners.
B is a DK weight yarn, I've had it for a while and have since lost the label, so I'm not exactly sure what its made of. Its been put into a loose ball.
C is a fingering weight yarn and is wrapped in a ball as well.


Most patterns for beginners that you come across will be for Worsted weight yarn, which is the little 4 on the back of the label inside the picture of a skien.

You'll find yarn in more materials than I can count, from cotton to silk to acrylic to alpaca wool. What you use greatly depends on what kind of project you're doing and what level of softness, stretchiness and warmth you want.


Now. Thats a whole lot of stuff to know and think about, and if you're like me I got a little confused when I first heard all that.

What do you really need to start crocheting?

yes lovely blurry picture for everyone. Very sorry for the craptastic phone pictures I'll try to take some better ones for when I revise this tutorial later.

All you really need to start is some cheap acrylic worsted weight yarn (remember size 4 on the label), a 6mm aluminum crochet hook (its easier to use a slightly larger hook when you begin, your tension will be tight, everyone's is so don't worry. Mine still comes out tight pretty often). and a pair of scissors. Thats all you need to start learning crochet.

So go get your materials, they shouldn't cost you more than $10 usd and you should be able to find them all at walmart if you don't want to get lost in a craft store.

 I'll see you next week with a tutorial on basic stitches.

Halloween Set

I've been working on this Halloween set for a little over a week and I finally finished it! I'm really excited that it turned out so well :D
The leg warmers took two shots to get the pattern right, but now they're fantastic and will bunch up like real leg warmers if you try. The fat bag can actually hold things and the curly scarf stays on really well because the curls lock up with each other.
The hat took two tries because the first one was much much too small, this one barely fits but it does the job. I really hope I'm able to attend the Halloween meet up so I can bring her to show everyone.

I think I'll make other versions of this set, maybe some other Holiday colors as well as some every day fall tones. I was thinking of selling the pattern to the leg warmers, but I'm not 100% sure it would be a good idea, or if anyone would even be interested so I'll wait and see.

Snood

I made this really comfortable (and warm!) snood a while back and its only just now warm enough to wear it. I'm really happy to be able to wear it out finally. This is the only crochet project I've made specifically for myself so far and I absolutely love it. I listed it on etsy so that if anyone else wants one for winter they can buy one and I'll make them one as well. I normally list other colors along with the ones pictured but this time I really couldn't. The yarn I used for this (although very soft and exceptionally snuggly) only comes in a couple of different colors, and it would be quite the task to try to come up with different combinations for people. 

If you'd like one click here!

I will be doing a bit more work on the Halloween set I've decided to make for Seraphina (My Dollzone Rosemary) So Far I have a crochet pumpkin purse and a orange and black scarf already completed.

I made a hat, but it will need to be made again, the original try ended up a bit too small. I plan on making some orange and black leggings to go with it; and I also plan on sewing a dress that will compliment everything, but so far that hasn't worked out very well at all.

On top of this I have to continue my planning for National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo! I want to get as many ideas and spark of inspiration written down as I can before November begins so that, when the marathon begins, I won't have to struggle as much to pull words out of my mind. I'm very excited to start this because I have been wanting to write Seraphina's story for over two years, but it has always been a "one day I will sit down and write it" thing. Now that I'll be doing NaNoWriMo I'll have the motivation I need to actually get her story written. Once I have the meat of her story down from NaNoWriMo I plan on going through several edits, having a friend edit, and then a trusted member of my family who enjoys literature to edit as well. I then would like to send it to several publishing houses, if it is rejected I may self publish and sell it on Amazon for a few dollars a download (a bit more for actual paperback copies). Regardless of how it happens I would like to become a published author.

Then I also would like to put a few adverts on Tumblr and possibly here as well for Avon and my Etsy store, advertising is very important for getting sales, which of course I need to survive...

And of COURSE I need to play some more pokemon, because who doesn't? I have a goal of always having every pokemon in my team at full affection, so that takes a lot of my time in the game. Plus the drive to be fashionable is ever present in this game, and I enjoy that very much. This is the most I've enjoyed a pokemon game in several years (since I believe crystal version) I think it has to do with all of the new features, Pokemon Ami and the options to dress your trainer at the forefront of my mind. I'll likely write a full review when I finish the game.

I'd like to start writing game reviews as I play them, but I've always been a little stand offish to put my opinion out there. Games I have right now are Pokemon X, Harvest Moon: A New Beginning, Animal Crossing: A New Leaf, Pokemon Black2, and Legend of Zelda: The Phanton Hourglass for the DS/3DS. I also have Dragon Age: Origins and Oblivion for Xbox but I doubt anyone would like reviews for such old games.

I may also put a donation button on this blog in the future so that, if you would like to see more reviews, or more stories/novels by me, You can help by funding me.

I plan on adding polls when I go to do more crochet projects so that, the people who read this blog, or followers from my tumblr who would like to come here to vote, can do so and you can help shape what my next project will be.

In conclusion these are my plans for the near future, some more long term than others.