Yep this is yet another non-books post. Been quite a bit of those lately!

It’s been over a year now that I’ve been crocheting and I want to start keeping a record of the various projects I’ve made. This post will hopefully by the first of monthly posts chronicling my crochet projects.

I’m not a crafty or even an artsy person so it never occurred to me to try something like crochet. I picked it up after I asked a friend how she learnt and she said simply, “Youtube videos”.

And that’s where I began. I discovered YouTubers like Bella Coco and The Crochet Crowd and learnt so much from them. It’s also really cheap to pick up one hook and a ball of yarn to try. I figured I’d give it a go, if not I’m just out a few dollars (who would have thought I’d go on to spend lots of $$ on yarn and now have different sizes of hooks from small to large!).

I learnt the hard way that there are UK and US terms when it comes to crochet – it’s so confusing as the US single crochet is what is known in the UK as a double crochet, whereas the US double crochet is the UK treble crochet. What is up with that???

Anyway, important point to note, if you are a beginner, always find out if the pattern is in US or UK terms. You can read more about the different terms here.

My crochet journey has gone from making ridiculously tight and uneven granny squares to simple scarves and hats, to a very wonky bag that was far smaller than it should have been, to a granny square afghan and more. I’ve even dabbled in amigurumi – but the tiny stitches are so much work!

I started off crocheting just way too tight for most of the patterns and have since learnt to hold my yarn differently, and also use larger hook sizes than the patterns call for. I still have not really gotten into making swatches yet, I should really learn to do that.

One good way to practice your crochet stitches is making granny squares. It’s also a great way to use up your stash of yarn. This is the first big project I made and I now see very many issues with it especially with how I seamed it together, but it’s still very special to me.

My younger boy outgrew his mittens so I thought I’d try making some. I was pretty shocked when I was following the pattern that I was actually MAKING MITTENS, as in, something that someone could wear. I’m quite proud of this project.

And somehow from there I started trying out other things like this dinosaur hat I made for the boys for Christmas.

A cocoon cardigan I made for myself. First time using bulky yarn.

A vest for each boy’s birthday.

This is a crochet-along project I did this spring, a new pattern came out every week and it was fun to learn lots of new stitches like the Popcorn stitch (bottom right) and cables (top right).

You can find the pattern from The Crochet Crowd

https://reallifereadingreads.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/img_7902-1.jpg?w=730″ alt=”” width=”730″ height=”730″ /> Crochet beret and scarf

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Pikachu pattern from The Bunny Studio

Recently, I’ve been working on crocheting bags, as I thought they’d make great presents for people in Singapore, where it is far too hot for scarves and hats.

This was the Capri Circle Bag I made for my sister. It was a first for me in several ways – the first time I used tape yarn (this is Lion Brand Rewind Yarn), the first time I made a crochet project holding two strands of yarn together, the first time I spent quite a bit on the yarn and bought online as it’s not sold in stores here.

You can find the pattern here.

Another project I made for gifting was the French Market Tote, a much easier and more repetitive pattern, making it a great one for car rides – I made part of one while on a road trip to Gold Beach, Oregon.

French Market Tote pattern from Two of Wands

Works-in-Progress

My current projects include ripple blankets for each of my boys. I’m using the Caron One Pound yarns.

Ripple Blanket pattern from Attic 24

And this Lacey Arches Stole I’m making for myself, using Lion Brand Ombre Life yarn.

Lacey Arches Stole pattern from Cascade Yarns (pdf)