My first "real" crochet project

I know it's only September, but I'm already thinking about what crochet creations I can make for teachers, bus drivers, co-workers, and family and friends.  I've dabbled in a little bit of everything from bedspread weight thread to super bulky yarn.  Some may say that it's a cheaters way out, but when you think about the time that goes into planning, finding or writing the pattern, picking out the perfect yarn and colours, and then the time to create it's a very personal and thoughtful gift.

When I started crocheting again at the ripe old age of 27, I only wanted to work with worsted weight (4) yarns.  At that time, it was the easiest for me to use and to create (plus it was super cheap!).  I made blankets for my step-children. I just dove right in, with both feet and didn't bother to check the temperature of the water.  I had no idea how to read a pattern, how to make the stitches, nothing.  I had inspiration though, a close friend had gifted me a beautiful crochet afghan and as I looked at the pattern, the textures, and the colours, I knew I just had to try again.

I chose two very different patterns for my blankets.  One was a mile-a-minute blanket and the other was a granny square blanket.  For those of you who don't know what a mile-a-minute blanket pattern is, it's basically a blanket made of multiple panels that are either sewn together with a whip stitch or joined using single crochets.  The idea is that the panels work up quickly and with relative ease making it a desirable project when you're on a time crunch. This is the blanket that I'm going to tell you about in this blog.

Oh dear, what was I thinking!

So the pattern itself, once I figured out what all of the abbreviations meant, I had to figure out how to make the stitches.  Chain, no problem! It was the only stitch that I mastered when I was 10.  SC, DC, Beg CL, CL, V-Stitch, TC, ummmm.....what?  The pattern was in a small book with about five other patterns and in the front was a glossary, yay! 

I look up the abbreviations and what they mean. Great!  I can do this!  SC = single crochet, got it!  But wait, how do I make a single crochet?  Instructions, I find them in the book (this was before the time that Youtube was a thing and most homes may have had computers but not always internet. I will refer to this time as "the before time.").

OK, SC here we go. "Insert hook into ch or st indicated, YOH, pull through, YOH pull through both loops on hook. YIKES! YOH? what the h-e-double-hockey-stick does that mean!! Back to the glossary, YOH = Yarn Over Hook; ch = chain; st = stitch.  I can do this.  Turns out, making the single crochet wasn't bad at all and I mastered that pretty quickly.

DC, back to the instructions: "YOH and insert hook into ch or st indicated, YOH pull through, YOH pull through 2 loops on hook, YOH and pull through remaining 2 loops." Theoretically I should have been able to do this fairly easily; however, I struggled.  I couldn't figure it out to save my life and I always ended up with 3 loops on my hook instead of 2.  Apparently I should have, it's why you pull through 2 loops and 2 loops and not 1 loop and 3 loops. Sigh.

I finally get it and I successfully complete a double crochet.  I spent hours that day learning one stitch.  I was frustrated, confused, and finally embarrassed that I had misread the instructions. **Blush** I continued on in this fashion learning each of the stitches that would make up the panels.  I discovered that I am a visual learner and so Youtube would have been most helpful to me back then, too bad it would be several more years until it launched. 

I started my first panel in September of that year. I wasn't working at the time and so I could dedicate hours a day to learning this new craft that was slowly weaving its way into my soul.  As I mentioned earlier, a mile-a-minute blanet is supposed to work up quickly, like hours to create.  BREAKING NEWS!! If you are a beginner like I was, it doesn't take hours, it takes days, weeks!

I recently learned the term "frogging."   It's what you do when you rip out rows or rounds in a project because you've made an error.  It sounds like a frog when you say it, "RIP IT! RIP IT!" hence the term, "frogging."  I must have frogged that first panel 3 dozen times before I got it right. I hadn't yet learned an effective method of holding the yarn and the hook and so I used two hands for each and every stitch in that blanket.  I mean, you use two hands anyway but I was awkward and clunky and really, really slow.

After about a week and a half, I finished my first panel, outstanding!! Six more to go!  It was painstakingly slow. My hands and wrists hurt every day but I kept on going.  Another week passes and I have competed panel number two.  Week three, the third panel is finished.  Week four I have panels four and five done.  Week six and seven see the last two panels finished and now all I have to do is sew or stitch them together.

The pattern tells me to whip stitch it together.  How hard can that be, right?  Well let me tell you - it was hard!  Or at least I made it hard. What seasoned crocheters know is that when you whip stitch something together, you match up the stitches on each panel and then sew it together two stitches at a time.  Guess what the instructions excluded.  You got it! How to do the whip stitching!

My first attempt at joining two panels was a crochet equivalent to a car wreck.  I didn't join them correctly and "forgot" to note which was the right side of the panel so I joined it wrong side to right side instead of right side to right side. Insert really heavy sigh here. More frogging. Place the panels with right sides together, start again.  Amazing! I now have a 2 panel blanket.  Repeat these steps for attaching the third panel.  I put it on wrong and here comes the RIP IT once more. Long story short, I finally get all of the panels together and I have a beautiful 7 panel blanket to give as a gift.  It took me almost two months to create this blanket, but I was so proud of myself! I did it!  I created a one-of-a-kind gift for someone that I loved!

What is the moral of this story, you might be asking.  Well, through this trial and error project I learned patience, to trust the process and myself, and to not fear the unknown.  Crochet was something that I had always wanted to learn and somehow I did!

My mother is an avid crafter and I grew up watching her teach herself to use a loom, I watched her crochet amazing  and intricate table cloths, doilies, blankets, and so much more!  I learned how to do counted cross-stitch by watching her work on various projects. It is from her that I have this love and passion for "wool" as she calls it, or "yarn" as I call it.

I love to create, especially crochet creating. It gives me a sense of calm and accomplishment. I love gifting my creations, especially to my niece and nephew who, quite frankly, love whatever I give them even if it isn't perfect.

I hope you smiled when reading this, heck, I hope you laughed while reading this. Please leave your comments below and tell me about your first project.

Happy crocheting!

Barbara