Thursday, June 6, 2013

A knitting update, and learning to crochet

Today I thought I would report on my restorative session with Anne's heart cardigan last night, and some notes on learning to crochet, since Allison asked about it. Let's get started!

So, the knitting backward on Anne's cardigan wasn't NEARLY as horrible as I thought it was going to be. And please, let us all pause for a moment of silent prayer in thanksgiving for the fact that I didn't have to knit backwards with yarn that was double stranded. I may never have knit again.

*dodged a bullet*

Since the yarn is a bit thicker than one usually uses to knit lace, undoing the stitches, even the decreases, was fine. I'm pleased to report that the deformed hearts have been eradicated and cute, new hearts were knit in their place. I also re-inserted the stitch markers, and I'm just going to have to live with them.

In other crafting news, Allison asked about learning to crochet. I learned so long ago that I don't have any recent items to suggest that I have actually tried, but I did poke around a bit. If I were learning today, I would purchase this highly reviewed book on Amazon:
I looked through the free preview and was impressed, and buyer comments were good. It covers the basics, plus some intermediate and advanced stuff, all with color photographs and some patterns to practice on.

And I would search at YouTube for "learn to crochet." It's a real goldmine over there. I always go on YouTube to look up knitting or crochet techniques that I haven't come across before, and every single time I find a video that helps me. I'm a very visual learner, and videos really do it for me.

Once you learn to chain, double crochet, and to decrease (all covered in the book :)) you can make the Cottontail Dishtowels that I showed yesterday. The pattern is free here, from Lion Brand. Note that to access the pattern you do have to sign up for an account with them, but it is all free.

I used their Recycled Cotton yarn to make the towels, in the recommended colors. Although any kitcheny cotton in worsted weight will do, this is a lovely yarn for the project. It is stocked at JoAnn's. :) Enjoy!

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