Saturday 31 January 2009

Caterpillar Girl

Look at these!! Just look at them!! They look like something which just crawled out of my brocolli. But they're not! They are my first pathetic attempts at crochet ..


These crawled out of my brocolli ... can you see the resemblance?


I'm upset .. i'm very upset. All night it took me to get just a few caterpillars. All night, and all morning. I have a headache and my fingers have gone funny, so twisted and contorted were they whilst trying to co-ordinate all the different strands along side the hook, whilst maintaining some level of tension! What is it? What's wrong with me? Children can crochet, why can't I? Is my tension too tight? Is my yarn to thin? My hook too thick? What am I doing wrong? I wanted a square - just a square, one little square .. and after much persevereance, I got ... a savoy cabbage leaf shape ... I have plans .. grand designs! I will learn how to do this. Even if my family goes hungry, my house turns into a squat and I get square eyes looking at Youtube.

Unless anyone has any tips ?

18 comments:

Gina said...

I shouldn't be laughing should I? Possibly wrong yarn weight/hook size combination?

Daisie said...

It's probably nothing to do with either yarn or hook, I believe crochet is in the blood (as it's not in mine)!
I have been trying to learn to crochet forever!
I started knitting just over a year ago and apart from my irrational fear of DP needles I am really rather good. Crochet has me baffled, my poor mother spnet an age with me until she lost her temper and will to live! Youtube is great but didn't work for me. I also will crack it one day but fear it may beat me first!!
Thinking of you and the caterpillars xxx

Selfsewn said...

At least you are giving it a try, its the taking part that counts!!
I remember getting a lot of hand cramp!!

Clare

Anonymous said...

I tried myself and gave up. It requires so much patience, blech.
I would put the yarn c.pillars in a little glass jar, I think it would look cute!

Kitty said...

There is a website out there with video tutorials of how to crochet - you can stop and pause the videos as you go along. Have a google, and see if you can find it.

For what it's worth ... I love the colour of the yarn ;-)

x

Lorna said...

Buy me a coffee and I will show you how to crochet. I learned at my mother's knee.

dottycookie said...

You'll get it, you'll get it. I do recommend treating yourself to some really lovely wool - my breakthrough came when I started crocheting with Rowan cottons of various weights, which seem a lot more forgiving than woolly wool to me!

Florence Knapp (Flossie Teacakes) said...

I ended up going on a crochet day course, which was helpful, but ultimately I think I'm a fabrics girl, as it all just felt too hard. Before the course I remember having one awful weekend where I emailed Joanne (Today we are...) a lot demanding advice - which in retrospect was really awful of me, but it seemed like a genuine crisis at the time as I was so desperate to be able to do it.

Looking on the positive, I think there is a real market for crocheted vegetables and I can see that in yellow it could just as easily look like rows of sweetcorn, no? If at any point you do want to venture further than my suggested line of industry you might want to look at videos of crocheting on YouTube, as they are plentiful...but I'm a really bad one to advise on this as my own crochet was such a non-starter and also I think vegetables are good.

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Just keep going! Pretty soon you'll be doing those in your sleep and you'll look back and be amazed that it ever gave you any trouble. You can do it!

Jane Le Galloudec said...

Persevere... its best to learn crochet when you are young... if you start it later than about 13 you will find your fingers all thumbs and vice versa and the positions your hands get into just feels unnatural... you may even get cramp in your hands. With a little regular practice it gets easier. But squares are hard... circles are usually the easiest to start with. Never give up! Never surrender! x

Joanne said...

How funny - that's exactly the colour I used to learn with :) The best book I found was the Happy Hooker, which explains things very simply with good diagrams. it does use american names for the stitches but has a conversion table if you want to use UK patterns.

(And it wasn't awful of Florence at all, despite what she says, and if I can be of assistance to you in the same way I gladly will)

Jo Power said...

I have tryied crocheting but found I could never turn the corners some how my brain just didn't work that way. I can knit little flowers and paint pots and stupid little things you stick on knitted clowns but crocheting is beyond me, maybe it is in the blood as my two sisters could do it. Good luck and keep trying. xx

Anonymous said...

Psst - you better come to visit me. You'll be very pleased that you did.

jennyflowerblue said...

Can't help you- crochet is my nemesis too.....and my family are already going hungry in this hovel with my obsession with what I CAN do!

laoi gaul~williams said...

oh my word i know those frustrations so well! last year i decided to start a crochet project, i had in mind one of those nice old fashioned patchwork type crochet blankets...bought what was advertised as a simple how to book with easy projects...i could have cried with frustration
:( so i went back to knitting! but i still have days where i pick up the book and wonder if i will ever 'get it'!

Jess Heath MUFX said...

awwww you'll get better at it!
everything takes practice.
i've never attempted crotchet...and probably never will, i'd never have the patience!

dragonfly said...

I have a very similar pile of caterpillars in the bottom of my basket too! Persevere - you will get there. I only started this time last year (it was one of my New Year Resolutions), I am now completely hooked (tee hee!).
I agree with DC - the Rowan cotton handknit is gorgeous to use and much more forgiving. Try it with a 4mm hook...
Also, The Happy Hooker is a great book for reference...
Good luck!

Mrs Moog said...

I agree with Val - cottons are a good starting point. For DK weight I usually use a 4.5mm hook as smaller ones make my work too tight.

Stick with it - you can do it!!

xxx