Teaching young girl to crochet

[ra060669]

I told a friend I would teach her granddaughter, age 12, to crochet while visiting for a week this summer. Anyone have ideas for short and simple patterns or projects that girls that age would like?

[crocheter4jesus]

You might just want to teach her the basic chain stitch and then inc and dec, then you could try a simple ami maybe......I was about 10 when I started so...........

[beth eathorne]

i started at age 11 making the basic good ole' granny square...

[krafty19]

I would start with the chain and then do a granny square or a simple dishcloth.

[appy_lover]

I know it's the wrong time of year, but scarves are great because you can use different rows to learn new stitches and stuff. I'd also use a nice light colored yarn without a lot of fuzzies so she can see the stitches easily. Maybe something kinda bulky so she feels like she is accomplishing something quickly? I loved that my beginner knitting class used a bulky yarn so that I could feel a sense of accomplishment right away. (I hated that it was $8 a skein x 2 skeins for the bulky wool though, yikes!!)

Or maybe 2 squares that she could sew together with a pillow form between them for her room?

[fc1123]

I know it's the wrong time of year, but scarves are great because you can use different rows to learn new stitches and stuff. I'd also use a nice light colored yarn without a lot of fuzzies so she can see the stitches easily. Maybe something kinda bulky so she feels like she is accomplishing something quickly? I loved that my beginner knitting class used a bulky yarn so that I could feel a sense of accomplishment right away. (I hated that it was $8 a skein x 2 skeins for the bulky wool though, yikes!!)

Or maybe 2 squares that she could sew together with a pillow form between them for her room?

 

I like your idea appy_lover I was trying to figure out what I should teach my 2 daughters because the youngest one really wants to learn

[quiet dissident]

My grandma taught me when I was 11, and my first project was a potholder, to focus on single crochet. It was a lumpy potholder, but I was pretty stinkin' proud to have made it myself.

[appy_lover]

Another idea (apparently I'm full of them today) is to have her make a long rectangle. When she's done fold it up and sew the sides to make an envelope purse. The beginning learning chain could be used for the handle. Or same idea could be used with a smaller rectangle could be a cell phone or ipod cozy.

[GreenFuzzer]

The first thing I did when I found a young relative interested in crocheting was to find out what brand of crochet hooks were available locally for her then taught her to crochet with that brand. BTW it was Boye, I have a hard time with those and make out better with Susan Bates myself. Anyway this way as she learned more and needed more hooks she was able to stick to the brand she learned with.

 

We started with chain and simple single crochet at her first lesson. By the time I seen her the next week she was showing me all kinds of scarfs she had made. Between myself and another relative we gradually increased her stitch knowledges. Just the other day I heard she isn't doing much with it now but she knows the basics and what people to come to when she picks it back up after these busy teenage years.

 

I think now if I had the opportunity to teach someone again I would want them to start out with squares. Teach them to do a certain size square with each new stitch learned then bag it and tag it with date and stitch etc. Someday they will have enough squares to make themselves a wonderful afghan. Plus with a square you can do so many things they can become rectangles, sew it up and gather the edge and make it into a hat, make it long and skinny into a scarf, make it wider and longer and you have an afghan.

[anoramaxsis]

I have recently started to teach a friend of my son's to crochet. I taught her the stitches with a square then she made a pot holder. She left my home smiling. She is coming back this week and we will make a bookmark. My rationale was something small for accomplishment and to keep her interested while learning the stitches. I will be teaching three teenagers over the summer. Keep us posted.Good luck!