I remember learning to crochet. My Aunt Phoebe taught me how to make a granny square, and I made little red granny shapes all over the place. I wouldn't call them squares, exactly; I only turned a corner when I felt like it. I think I was 7 or 8 at the time. But, she taught me crocheting very well, and it has stood me in good stead over the years.
I never considered crochet to be difficult, no more than knitting, and I was mystified when a knitter came into the shop and was put off knitting a cardigan because it had a crochet crab stitch as a finish. "I'll teach you," I said. "I'll find another pattern," she said. That was my first eye-opening experience, and it led to me teaching a class, Crochet for Knitters, all about adding edgings and stuff to your knitted garments. It was popular, as I recall.
The only crocheting I've done in years has been my Scrap Sock Yarn Afghan project. I started out crocheting a little granny square just to see if I could, and then I thought, I can use up my leftover sock yarn this way, and it grew and grew.
It will be done when I can't lift it anymore, I suppose. My scraps don't go as far as they used to!! They only make it about halfway around the square now. It's been a good project to hang onto, though. I can look over the various yarns that I used and remember the finished projects I made. It's kind of nice.
It's been a long time since I followed a pattern. I used to crochet Aran sweaters, believe it or not. Blasphemy, I hear some of you whispering, but it was really fun, like figuring out a puzzle, and the resulting sweaters were nice. I gave them all away, or I would prove to you that I did that.
Lately the crocheting bug has me by the throat. There are some wonderful patterns for free on Ravelry, and I have been poring over them (instead of knitting my Cardioid Shawl as I should), but so far none have quite gotten the crochet hook out. Almost, though, almost ... I love the Venus Shawl by Aoibhe Ni:
She has an e-book of patterns that I like. Here's another one:
That's Argo. Pretty, isn't it?
Not all my favorites are shawls, though. I like sweaters, too! The one thing that is appealing is that I can create seamless pieces in crochet, which I no longer can in knitting. I'd like to make this hoodie:
And this cardigan is nice:
And then of course there are these books on my shelf:
Crocheted Sweaters More Crocheted Sweaters
Is it time to make a move to crochet? We'll see :)
