As if sewing, and the odd bit of knitting, wasn’t enough to fill all my spare time. Thanks to Emmely over at Infectious Stitches I now have a new addiction! This is all very good and positive – it gives me something to do when I sit down on an evening with the family and watch TV. Usually I’ll get bored and sneak off to my sewing sanctuary, which my hubby thinks is unsociable (he’s never said but i just know!).
First of all I enrolled on the Craftsy course that Emmely did, and by the end of the evening (in front of the TV with the family!) I’d learnt to chain, single crochet, double crochet and made a granny square – from now on referred to as Nanny squares as my mum’s a Nanny not a Granny. I used a ball of yarn which was cotton with no loose fibres, and a 7mm crochet hook.
Here’s what i managed to make in my first evening:
Single Crochet ‘square’ – not very square, I lost some stitches at each end when I was turning, but pleased with my first attempt.
Double crochet ‘Square’ – a little bit neater on the edges, and grows a bit faster than the single crochet.
My first ‘Nanny Square’ – I loved making this, it was like magic how it came together!
The next day, though only less than 24 hours into my crochet adventure I felt I needed to stretch myself and have a go at putting my new knowledge together and try something new. I found a website call New Stitch A Day which shows how to create hundreds of different stitches, all with video tutorials. The video tutorials are really easy to follow and go at a steady pace.
Here’s what I created on Day 2 of my crochet adventure:
2 colours – really easy, just uses chain stitches, single and double crochet. It’s really easy to change colours.
These flowers didn’t quite turn out like the picture (below) but they still look good – they’re both the same pattern but turned out different sizes – the small one was made with a 4mm hook and the big one a 7mm hook.
Here’s what it should have looked like – this is from the New Stitch a Day website.
More Nanny Squares!!! not really sure what i’m going to do with these!!
I was running out of wool and had this which was going to be a jumper last year. Although I loved the colours I didn’t think it was me and wouldn’t wear it much. I unravelled it and decided to try and make a hat. After sewing round in circles for the cream flowers, I thought this would be easier than making anything square as I found it had to keep the edges straight. I used the stitch a day website to find out how to increase and decrease stitches and practiced double and treble crochet. I also made some rib for round the bottom.
At first my hat looked like a place mat – this is when I knew i needed to learn to decrease!
I managed to decrease and the bottom red row is my first line of rib. I wanted it to keep my ears warm when i’m played golf so kept going…..
I’d finished the hat in no time – on day 4 and 5 of my crochet adventure. I made a flower for the side and added a heart shaped button from my stash.
Here’s some more views of my hat:
another…..
and another……. can be worn in different ways – this is a mash up of a beret and a flat cap! Probably not a look i’d want to show in public!
Today I went to play golf, the first time I’ve hit a ball in about 3 weeks. It was a bit chilly but I had my new hat to keep me warm and cosy!
My first ever proper ‘selfie’, after playing golf today!
Here’s my official Lady Captain Photo
A bit different to my selfie, mainly due to make-up and hair brushed!
Well, that’s it for now! No doubt I’ll be blogging soon about further adventures from Crochet Land. Thanks so much to Emmely for writing her blog and getting me ‘hooked’!
T H I M B E R L I N A 
Wahoo! Good job! You’re off to a good start. I’m a crocheter… I tried to knit once. Once. It didn’t turn out so well… but after reading your post, maybe I’ll give it another go 🙂
Thanks Jess,
you really need to give knitting a second chance but I’ve knitted in the past and crochet now wins hands down now, but I think it would be good to do both.
Wow! Well done …you are a quick learner!
Thanks Amanda – don’t think I would have learnt so quick without the web tutorials – they have a lot more patience than my friend who tried to show me last year!
Ah well, interesting as my daughter got a Cath Kidston crochet tin for Christmas and my mam tried to teach her but she didn’t have the perservence! I showed her what you had made and she wondered if you could teach her! Haha , I will get her to check out the tutorials though!
Haha, send her over! I keep threatening my 11 year old that I’ll team him!! But he’s more interested in cricket and football!
Ooops! Should say teach him!!
Hehe! He could make a cricket jumper!? She has had another little try tonight and is sooooo neat! Fingers crossed she sticks at it!
Fab!!
How was the poodle outfit??? Hope it was a success!
It was fab!
I’m just about to write my blog…and also a little giveaway – my first!!
Oh wow, you’ve really come far in just one week! Love how your hat turned out!
Thanks Emmely, it’s all thanks to you for pointing me in the right direction!
I’ve only come on so much because I wasn’t kidding when I said I had a new addition. It’s been difficult to put the hook down long enough to update my blog and have a game of golf!
You are very welcome! I think I’ll soon try to switch to making crochet garments. I’m not really sure what to do with the granny squares either once they’re finished and you only need so many scarves….
I’d love to make a crocheted top for the summer, especially as i’ve joined to RTW 2014 fast, but for now i’ve started making an afghan blanket. So far I’ve made 4 squares, only 117 to go!! I got the pattern from an online magazine, an american one so it’s the same crochet terms as what i’ve learnt. Once I’ve finished making my 1950s outfit I’ll be adding to my blog and keeping a record of my progress. The squares aren’t typical granny squares, they have a popcorn stitch in a circle so hopefully it will look a bit more up to date than a granny square blanket.
Ditto! I seem to have the crochet bug something rotten at the moment as well. For me it fulfils the creative urge without having to get loads of stuff out first, then pack away. Most convenient 🙂 x
I’ve just hand a peek at your crocheting antics – your photos put mine to shame! They’re really funny and look great, I love the pale blue beanie hat!
Thanks for stopping by x
Thank you for having a looksie. My daughter is a handy model with a comic nature so I often get some fun shots that she is happy for me to post which is great fun! I LOVED your pictures too, they were fun which is wonderful, making people smile is a great thing. Well done you! X
Thanks! It’s lovely to get comments, when I started my blog I was so giddy when I started to receive them, and I still am now! Non-crafty friends/family don’t always appreciate what you do and all the hard work you put in.
Wow, hat and flowers, sooo cute! Well done, you persisted longer than me with crochet! My husband thinks the same, so nowadays I do quite a bit of handstitching, men are sooo needy…
Thanks!
why don’t you give crochet another try? I think everything’s so much easier now, what with You Tube, and so many online tutorials.
I think the men in our lives would be happier if we were half as interested in cooking/baking as we are in all things handmade. Mine would be. Note to self, must bake some muffins this afty! haha, maybe not, I have a mammoth amount of sewing to done!
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Wow… you learn quickly. The flowers look great and I love the hat. I haven’t crocheted in years and never did get past Granny or Nanny squares.
Thankyou! I don’t think I could have learnt as quick if I’d not have followed the video tutorials.
If you fancy getting back into it take a look at the ‘one stitch a day’ website. Their stitchionary is amazing and the videos are really easy to follow.
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