Where to start?

[Franky]

I am a complete beginner and I am looking at getting started. I have ordered an assortment of hooks to see how I get on.

 

I have no idea where to start with yarn. I would like to do a blanket to start with, it may be a bit ambitious but hey.

 

I would like it for my daughter's single bed. It's so confusing with all the different types. I don't know what quantity to buy. I just know I would like pinks and purples.

 

Also, I am not sure what type of blanket to start with either.

 

So, I have a lot of things I am unsure about but not a lot I am sure about

 

Can anyone help?

[passionfyre]

You should go to http://www.ravelry.com

theres alot of free patterns for everything on there

Pretty much all patterns tell you how much/what type of yarn you would need and size hook for that particular item, and if you dont fully understand how to do a type of stitch, theres plenty of tutorial videos on youtube

 

hope that helps

[Franky]

It does help! Thank you!

[Skoggy]

I reckon the best kind of thing to start on is Amigurumi... all those cute little animals. Thats where I started. Also you could start making Squares for afghans / friendship squares. They can use all kinds of stitches and easy to practice by making your first afghan blanket. There are lots of patterns and help on Ravelry and also at Crochet Pattern Central.

 

Hope that helps and gives you some idea.

[carevun]

So for a complete beginner (I was mostly a beginner) I found an online "crochet school" that was free and really nicely done just to get started, it went through all the basic stuff different kinds of yarns and hooks. I personally did Craftyminxs' I think if you google craftyminx and crochet school it should come up. Also- redheart.com lionbrand.com and raverly.com are all EXCELLENT sites to find patterns. Also you can google afghan patterns and usually you'll come up with several.

 

Good luck and happy hookin'

[Redloon]

Hello Franky,

 

I would suggest you start with a simple Granny Square Blanket. A Granny

Square is the easiest, fastest to make up, pattern I know of for beginners. there are MANY patterns for granny blankets on the net. a good place to start with is Lucy's Blog Attic24 at http://attic24.typepad.com/. She has some amazing tutorials and wonderful colours. Good luck.

[Granny Square]

Practice making swatches of stitches and techniques first, get the lopsides and oopses out of the way before you undertake a big project. I know you want to 'jump right in', but when you were little and first learning the alphabet and how to write, you didn't expect those practice pages to be the next best selling novel, right?

 

Do learn how to read patterns. I see you're in Scotland...Crochet pattern terms have evolved, they used to be the same terms for all english speakers, but for some silly reason after WW1 the US's terms changed. There is a post in the reference section that shows the difference: chain and slip stitch are the same, but the other stitches are 'demoted' in US terms (US single=UK double and so on). Here's another link

http://crochet.about.com/od/conversioncharts/a/termtranslate.htm

 

Here is a link, using US terms, of how to read patterns. Note there are other very helpful pages in the menu on the left side.

http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/tip_crochet.html

 

As far as knowing how much yarn to buy, that's another reason to follow a pattern, it will usually tell you. If you are buying a different yarn than the pattern, follow the yardage (meterage?). For a blanket, US worsted weight or UK 8-10 ply is common. Hook size typically 4-6mm.

[acraftylady]

What granny square said, that is what we did in class then we made a scarf first then worked up to a large simple shawl then an afghan. Mary

[Aggie May]

:cheerThe very best thing you can do is just make chain after chain after chain until it is nice and even and not too loose and not too tight but just right, then you unravel it all and use it for something real.

Remember, every stitch in crochet is based on a Chain so if you can do them well, you will be more relaxed with the rest.

Most people start off with a Granny Square but I dont think they are the easiest to get your head around when you are unfamilair with the names of the stitches etc.

Start off with rows of SCs and DC, learning to keep the edges straight so you only need about 20 stitches.

When you have mastered these 2 stitches, you will then be ready to try a Granny Square.

Hope this helps.

Have fun.

Colleen:hug

[craftylady1956]

I agree 100% with Aggie May.....just last weekend I taught my son's g/f how to crochet. She had never tried before.

 

I made her make a long ch--when I saw that the all the ch sts were uniform, I held the end and ripped it out--she was shocked.

 

I then made her make another ch--(was perfect) then taught her sc. She did about 3 rows - then we moved onto dc and hdc. About 3 rows each.

 

My advice was to find a simple dish cloth and get 1 ball of cotton yarn for her first project. I emailed her 2 simple dish cloth patterns the next day.

 

I assume by the next time I see her she'll have a few finished W.I.P.s

[Bailey4]

I found dishcloths were great practice for crochet and knitting. Even when they aren't perfect they are practical. I found I had lots of early squares made from acrylic that I dumped because they were certainly not worthy of making into a blanket.:lol However, I still use those less than perfect dishcloths because perfect stitches or not they get the job done.