My Crochet Adventures

Many years ago (like 6 maybe), my mom and dad bought me a "Learn to Knit and Crochet" kit. It came with an adorable basket, 6 bright colors of yarn, a pair of knitting needles, a crochet hook, a yarn needle, and an instruction book. The book is definitely how I learned to knit, but for crochet, I couldn't get much beyond the chain; I just didn't understand anything else. A year or three later, my mom and I were at this girls' party and all the adult ladies were hanging out in the living room playing Pictionary while the younger girls were all hanging out chatting. The two girls who lived at the house started crocheting and I was so impressed! They let me have a ball of their yarn, lent me a hook, and taught me double-stitch crochet. Incorrectly, I should add, but that's all I knew for the next several years (until now).

I have recently decided to learn to make things other than scarves and... other rectangular things.... That's all I've ever crocheted! But I saw this craft on cut-out-and-keep and immediately wanted to know how to make a cloud. I found some YouTube demonstrations of single crochet, half-double crochet, treble (triple) crochet, and slip stitch. And then I followed this pattern. I made it without the raindrops. It was rather lumpy and misshapen, but still a cloud.

Well, since I don't have all the colors I'd need yet to make the rainbow scarf, I decided to use my new-found skills and tackle some other projects. So I tried making this dishcloth except I used leftover yarn, so it's baby blue, dark green, and hot pink. Rather garish. But I got to practice my new stitches.

Then, since I'm working madly on Christmas presents, I thought I could use my skills to help embellish a hat I'm making. The hat is knit, using my regular standby pattern found here. (The small size fits most people I know and I knit it flat and stitch up the seam.) I made this flower to stitch onto the hat and used the edging from the dishcloth (*ch2, sl st around) to edge the hat.

I've also tried making a few other flowers and a butterfly (that didn't work out so well). I found these great websites, too:

http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/
http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/

At these websites, you can either search for what you want to make, or click where it says "Free Pattern Directory" to see all the categories they have. Click on a category page and they'll show you tons of links to free patterns online. You may have to click through several to find something doable that you like, but it's worth it.

Good luck and happy crocheting (and knitting)!

Love and Ooh! a Legwarmers pattern!,
LeahJoy