Mmm, books. Mmm crochet. Mmmm setting up.

[afuna]

Passed by National Bookstore in Podium on the way home from work, and managed to snag a couple of cheap books (of the bargain/sale kind): three Redwall books (which I haven't read, but I might as well give it a try at the price), and one crochet book.


First time I tried to crochet a couple of months ago, I think I was using a too-small hook for my yarn, because my wrist started aching horribly when I tried to push the hook through the loop. IT's much better now; of course I'm trying this with a cotton yarn, instead of the stiffer acrylics, so that might have also made a difference.

I'm finding crochet very hard, though. I keep missing loops or something? My chains inexplicably keep shrinking as I go on.


Got a little bit (a very little bit) of commit work done, but I was mostly distracted by setting up a local dev installation. No more lag, when trying to do dev work! No more twiddling my thumbs while waiting for my changes to be sent remotely! No more having to give up a productive coding session because my connection has suddenly decided to slow down or my router has gone wonky! At least, that is the general idea. I am excited, and I think that the couple of days I've spent on this will pay off :)

Comments

[zarhooie]

I bet I know what is going on with your crochet. To prevent your pieces from decreasing by one or two, you need to chain one, two, or three (depending on the stitch you're doing) before you start your next row. You also need to make sure to crochet the very last stitch on your row. It might look like it is coming off of the side of your piece, but you do need to work it in order to not lose stitches.

[afuna]

I think my record is four stitches lost out of ten, in one row /o\

Thank you! I'll look extra carefully for the last stitch; I'm pretty sure now that I'm also doing the very first stitch wrong, so I'll prod at that again!

[starshadow_rivaulx]

My standard crochet hook for Anchor/Cannon crochet cotton is usually a steel No. 7 - that was how I was taught. I think one of the larger hooks does better for acrylic yarns. I also second the advice on the turning chains at the end of each row.

*looks at various doilies from student days that still exist, miraculously enough*

:)

[afuna]

Oooooh. *looks at her crochet hook set* Hmm, I've been using a larger hook for these. Isn't No 7 a bit small? Or maybe my problem was that my hook was a bit large.

*tries*

[starshadow_rivaulx]

If steel 7 is too small for you, try steel 6 - that's a size bigger. :) Also, watch the tension of the crochet. If you make the loops too tight, they're almost impossible to work with. Just relax and have fun - it goes much better that way.

[afuna]

Trying, trying *giggles* (I don't always succeed *G* Thank you for the tips!)