Hi! I’m new to crocheting since the pandemic

[MaBear65]

Hi! I’m new to crocheting since the pandemic. I have spent a LOT of time teaching myself to crochet.  I have completed several projects already, including some dog sweaters, hats, dog and baby booties, ladies slippers, amigurami seashells and Halloween bats and ghosts.  I am working on a big blanket currently in Premier Serenity super chunky yarn! I love it!  My family wants me to start making sweaters. They all love the hats, gloves and slippers I have made for them.  I have found that I am quite good at making things and creating high quality stitches.  (I mostly follow tutorials on YouTube ). I am quite confident that I can do sweaters following very methodical step-by-step YouTube tutorials. I am still learning about yarns and hooks.  I recently purchased a more expensive hook with an ergonomic handle that I really like. I want to buy a high quality set and am looking for a bit of guidance on what to invest in. Also: I need some help  figuring out what yarns to buy. I bought some Lion Brand Scarfie yarn recently, as it had good reviews on Amazon. It’s 78% Acrylic & 22% Wool. It’s a “bulky” #5. It was $25.00 for 3 skeins. I thought it was a good starting point. My new hook is a 5.75 mm (J).  The pattern tutorial calls for a 6.0 which I think mine is close enough.  I’m having a TERRIBLE time with this yarn!  It is full of fibers, it’s hard to see my stitches and stitch definition is lost. When I start working the yarn, it gathers a clump behind my tension fingers that leads back to the skein and it grows into a big blob as I progress.  It is hard to get my hook into the previous stitches, not sure if that’s the quality of the hook or the floppy/slippery nature of the yarn. I have started over several times to test out different loosenes levels of my foundation chain and have adjusted my tension.  It’s still very difficult to catch some of the stitches. The yarn also does not like to be frogged (ripped back) to redo; It just turns into a ball of knotted up mess!  I’m so frustrated!  Please help!  What would be a better choice yarn? My budget is rather tight. I don’t even know if I can return this yarn to Amazon and get my money back! Christmas is coming and I have several people that want sweaters!  HELP!!!

Edited September 15, 2020 by MaBear65
Spelling errors

[Tampa Doll]

Hi Welcome  to Crochetville from the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Grab your yarn and hooks, put your feet up and sit a spell.

We are always so glad to meet new friends.😁

 

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Edited September 15, 2020 by Tampa Doll

[Granny Square]

Welcome, to crocheting and to the 'ville!

Your hook is WAY to small for super chunky, no wonder you are having trouble.  I doubt if you can return the yarn as it is not defective, I'm sure you will be a lot happier with it using the appropriate sized hook.

A link to yarn weights (US classification), and a range of hook sizes that work reasonably - this isn't cut in stone, just a guide.

A link to US hook sizing , notice J is 6mm (altho it's a half mm "to big' per the chart for medium weight yarn, I've used J often for medium weight), and the hooks the other site suggests for super bulky is 8-12.75mm, so letter size L thru P.  I just looked at your yarn online, it calls for an L, really that is still probably on the low end of the hook I'd choose for super bulky--I'd probably go for a N or P size hook.

Throwing this out there--a lot of beginners, including me eons ago, tend to start out crocheting too tight.  I figured this out and eventually focused on loosening up somewhat, and was much happier with my not-sore fingers and my better-looking projects after that.

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by Granny Square

[Granny Square]

On the Premier yarn site, looking at crochet patterns that call out that yarn, this throw calls for a N hook.  Most of the patterns were knit...

[USpolishgirl]

Hello and Welcome

You probably need a little more practice to be able to handle  "fancy" yarns like Scarfie.  Those yarns you can only crochet by using your finger finding openings to know where to put another stitch in to LOL. Maybe you should continue using "plain" yarns for a while...

Yes, some yarns are hard to rip. Sometimes those yarns will get damaged by ripping.

I have one advice for you. Stay away from Velvet yarns. 

Krys

[Granny Square]

Oops, my bad Mabear65, I was mixing up the 2 yarns you mentioned, I overlooked the 'scarfie' and commented on the Premier Serenity Super Chunky, sorry.

Scarfie looks like it might be a purposely inconsistently spun yarn (haven't paid attention to it in person, just by looking at photos online) - this is not a defect, some folks like the 'home spun', rustic look like that.  I am not one of those people...Still, it is bulky weight so my thoughts re: "you need a bigger hook" also apply.  Also, I wouldn't recommend thick/thin or 'artsy' yarn to a beginner, it may look cool on the skein but it's not the easiest to work with to keep the tension even.

Edited September 15, 2020 by Granny Square

[USpolishgirl]

13 hours ago, Granny Square said:

Scarfie looks like it might be a purposely inconsistently spun yarn (haven't paid attention to it in person, just by looking at photos online) - this is not a defect, some folks like the 'home spun', rustic look like that.  I am not one of those people...Still, it is bulky weight so my thoughts re: "you need a bigger hook" also apply.  Also, I wouldn't recommend thick/thin or 'artsy' yarn to a beginner, it may look cool on the skein but it's not the easiest to work with to keep the tension even.

Some people do not like home spun yarns, I like it.

When it comes to "Scarfie" yarn everything is thru what you said. Few years ago I bought I think 8 skeins of that yarn. At that time that was a "New" yarn on market. I just hope by now they fix the problem that was there with that yarn. Many people were complaining about that. I should read those comments before I bought that yarn. The HUGE problem was a BIG difference in thickness of that yarn. For many yards it was very thick about #5 than it was getting so thin close to Sport weight yarn for another couple or few yards. In many places that yarn had to be cut of complitely. Sometimes almost that whole shade needed to go to a garbage. Than that scarf or a hat did not looked right with one shade missing in between two other shades. Out of 6 I throw out at least half of that yarn to a garbage. I still have 2 balls left and I am NOT  planning to deal with that soon! LOL. I forgot to mention there were a lot of knots in each ball and big parts of some shades missing....

I might combine that Scarfie with RHSS (2 strands) and make a "fluffy" Cat bed for my daughter :).

I did talk to someone last year about that Scarfie yarn, she was working on. From what she told me that yarn was not that bad anymore. That factory started making that yarn better. 

Krys 

[Terri/LadySorce]

Howdy from Oklahoma

  Welcome to CrochetVille