Feeling Like I'll Always Be at Beginner Level

[cgd]

I've been crocheting in earnest for a year now, not counting the brief time I did it as a child. I've done dishcloths, place mats, caps, scarves and a couple of very simple afghans. I don't know if this should bother me or not, but I feel like I'll never get beyond the advanced beginner/early

intermediate stage. Each time I try something more challenging, it turns out crappy, as did the recent spate of garments I attempted. Does anyone else feel this way, and if so, does it bother you? Maybe it shouldn't bother me--I usually prefer simple things anyhow. Maybe I need some sort of crochet shrink!

[taligator]

I can definitely understand where you are coming from. My problem is that I enjoy learning more than I do *doing*. I can spend hours just making swatches of different stitches and never doing anything with. I've tasked myself to finish some projects and hopefully that'll help.

 

I would like to teach crochet but I think at my current skill level that it isn't very likely.

[niqita]

you are not the only one~! I have done plenty of afghans and my latest round ripple is driving me crazy I made the first one with no problem but this latest on I just don't know

[cgd]

I can definitely understand where you are coming from. My problem is that I enjoy learning more than I do *doing*. I can spend hours just making swatches of different stitches and never doing anything with.

 

You've hit it right on the head. I guess I'm all about learning rather than doing also. Patience is not my strong point, and I guess have crochet ADD that others have mentioned here. I tire of long projects before I can finish them, hence all the dishcloths, caps, and scarves etc.

 

Niqita, I can relate. I wonder how I can mess up something I've done 1,000 times, but somehow I manage to find new ways to do so!

[RoseRed]

I do. It takes a while to learn the Mysteries of the Yarn when you don't have someone to guide you. By the time I started crocheting my grandmothers was getting lost in Alzheimers and she was so dissapointed that she couldn't remember all the secrets she wanted to share with me. It's taken years to figure out a lot of it on my own.

 

I think CALS are awesome. With so many people working on the same thing you can greatly benefit from their experience.

 

I think this forum is great for help also. We can always ask for help and even get pictures for step by steps.

 

You're more than welcome to come and join us at the Flannelghan CAL or over at the DC HEART graph/row count pattern that'll be starting up soon. That's kind of advanced (row counts and changing colors) and I promised smileyface lots of pics to help her thru it too! It's my first every 'I followed a graph and it came out' pattern. Except I just hate to do anything in sc so I changed the whole thing, made the heart longer by about 1/3 and did it in dc with the filet count method.

 

Garments are just plain HARD! At least you had the hutspa to give them a try!

 

[Shellybrook]

I am SO THERE!!! I can make a zillion DC afghans or scarves...and Granny squares, but I'm scared to death to move beyond that! I get bored with making 5 million DC's for an afghan, but patterns scare the life out of me.

 

Then there's the time issue...I work full time...or more than full time, and I'm pretty tired when I get the time to sit in my chair at night, usually I get in about 15 minutes of crochet and just am too wiped to keep going. I just don't know how You SAHM's do it....Kids are a ton of work, and I don't know how you have any brains left to crochet when they've all gone to bed.

 

Well...i'll keep plugging, cuz the little time I have (that I'm not on the 'ville) I really enjoy...slow or not...I really enjoy it.

[JoAnn]

Don't feel bad! I have been crocheting for over 20 yrs and have never had the time to devote to it in order to progress very much. But I enjoy it and being on the 'ville has helped tremendously!

[auntbubbels]

Cindy - I am the same way - I can do things that are square and rectangle and still have problems with them sometimes. I just completed a hat and felt great about it. I also joined a CAL and did a felted bag. I do agree that those are great to join. You can learn so much when others are doing the same project you are at the same time.

 

I really believe that either you have it or you don't. I don't think I have it but I am still enjoying myself and will continue to make what I do best. But I am not afraid to venture out and try new things. Next on my list is socks and mittens. :cheer

[Elle]

I am in this same boat! I've been crocheting for three decades, and while I have made a sweater (argyle, no less! ) for DH, and a couple of really nice afghans that were a bit complicated (one was plaid), I tend to stick with the simple stuff as well. I bought myself a book of Celtic afghans because I absolutely fell in LOVE with the pictures of the afghans in the book, and every time I try to start it, my mind gets bogged down with everything that is involved in making the afghans and I end up giving up! The afghans are done in layers, and are quite complex, even though each layer is not all that complicated.

 

I think where I make my mistake is in looking at each item as a whole picture, instead of looking at it in steps that can be done one at a time. Looking at the whole picture leaves me all befuddled, but for some reason, instead of just sitting down and saying OK, let's take this row by row (or round by round), I IMMEDIATELY look at the whole picture and my brain freezes. I just bought a pattern for an afghan called "Cathedral" that is breathtaking, and I've looked at it and already put it aside as "I'll do that next", knowing full well that I'll just go on to something easy. I spend WAY more time frogging than I do crocheting. It's the thing I hate most about myself. It's almost as if I have a form of ADD that relates only to crocheting. I want instant gratification, to know that it's going to be done soon, and done the way I want it, or else I hem and haw and never complete it. UGH!

 

This thread has been very therapeutic for me, though, to know that I'm not alone and that there are others who like me. I really am going to work on myself to change, and to not give up when something starts to give me a hard time.

 

Elle

[Barbara]

When a pattern gets so involved that your eyes are more on the pattern than on the crocheting, then the crocheting just isn't relaxing anymore...it's become a job, or a chore.

 

I tend to stick with afghans and simple purses....all while I'm watching TV.

[cgd]

I think y'all have hit on some more points here. The time issue is one, I too work full-time and have a son, the relaxation thing is another. I too like to watch TV while crocheting and relaxing, and I agree that I don't want it to become a chore. While patterns themselves don't really scare me, the thought of something taking months to complete might. Right now DH is the only reason I'm keeping on with the cro-hook afghan. He likes the look of it and wants me to finish it. I made him promise to help me sew the squares together

[Elle]

When a pattern gets so involved that your eyes are more on the pattern than on the crocheting, then the crocheting just isn't relaxing anymore...it's become a job, or a chore.

 

I tend to stick with afghans and simple purses....all while I'm watching TV.

 

 

Very good point! I look at crocheting as a way to relax, so if it's so involved that it's nerve wracking instead of relaxing, that defeats the whole purpose of it.

 

Elle

[Mandys76]

Urghhhh I so know how you feel!

 

I've been crocheting since I was about 8 or something, and I'm now 30. I don't think there's been a week gone by since I started that I haven't crocheted. Yet, I still feel like I'm intermediate at best.

 

Why? I've got no one to show me more advanced techniques. I can practice from books, which I do, but who can tell me if I do it right or not?

 

An example I had recently is with knitting. I've knitted for as long as I've crocheted, and I found out about a month ago I was doing the purl stitch wrong!

 

The thing I would LOVE to try is socks. I've read patterns, looked at pictures, read the the threads in the socks section of the forum, but I'm still befuddled. I can't figure them out, but I SOOOOOOOOO want to!

[taligator]

Mandy - I just started my first pair of crochet socks. It's long been something I've wanted to do and I'm so excited by them. I used the toe-up pattern below and it's a lot easier than I thought it would be.

 

http://www.graftonfibers.com/socks.htm

 

Try that one .. I bet you'll become addicted.

[mizduck]

Ya know, I kinda look at crochet as an artform in a way (even though I'm picky about doing things "right!"). I agree crochet is about the enjoyment and relaxation. And hey, as long as you like it and think it looks good, who cares about anyone else!

 

Don't beat yourself up. No one goes around saying, "Oh, that afghan is so beautiful BECAUSE it was complicated." Instead, they say, "Oh, that afghan is so beautiful because of the colors, texture, time, love put into it, etc."

 

Ok, I'm done rambling. The moral of this story is....crochet is a form of self-expression and a means of enjoyment. If you like a challenge, go for it! Practice makes perfect. If you don't, stick to what you know (and love! ).

 

BTW, I'm terrible with garments and joining. Blech!

[RoseRed]

I always have a few projects in the making. I have one that I can just sit and relax and not even pay attention to to alternate with one that requires some attention and focus. I think that having both is great cuz I already have them started to just pick up when the mood strikes.

[Tiga]

Well, I can honestly say that I don't have this problem - I started a year ago, and immediately got bored with easy patterns.

 

I now do intermediate and advanced stuff.

 

And you know what? It's all the same stitches.

 

The only difference between an easy pattern and an expert pattern is time and attention to detail and the amount of concentration required.

 

That's all.

 

If you you see a project you want to do, pay absolutely no attention to the skill level. I honestly think they scare people away from projects that they can totally do.

 

It's like girls and math - we used to be told that "math is hard", so we all though math was hard. I sucked at math - like failed it - until college. When I finally just "got" it. Now, math isn't easy, but I'm not scared of it anymore.

 

Same with crochet - just keep trying, take it slow, and pay attention.

 

Don't be scared of long term projects; this is a hobby, not a job. It's okay for something to take a year to finish.

 

Like Rose Red, I have several projects going at once; some afghans that will take me all year, a sweater that will take me a month or so (it's an "easy" pattern), and then I work on stuff I can finish in a week or a few days all the time.

 

I'll finish a hat for myself tomorrow, and I'm working on lots of little stuff for my swap partner that I'll finish each week of the Spring Swap.

 

It's easier to work on long term projects if I finish off some small stuff in between.

[JoBug]

yes, your NOT alone, wearables are NOT my deal, no matter what, I try, I try, and I give up, give up....

hey, you can do alot of crocheting with out wearables.....

[loopy_jess]

I've been crochetting on and off for about 10 years now, but I've only just tried to make something more challenging since joining crochetville. I'm slowly (and at times painfully) making a pretty poncho out of crochet thread. I was almost at my wits end with it last night though, as I had to re-do a huge chunk of work. I've managed to get it right so far though - and I'm so proud of it that it really has been worth all the heartache that it has given me.

 

I agree completely with Tiga - harder crochet is the same stitches, you just have to concentrate more.

[mythunderbird]

don't feel like your stuck, just pick it up and try, i mean how do you know you won't be brilliant at it unless you try.wearables are not always easy especially with all the different sizes and stuff, but its all the same stitch, give it a try and if you need help, just ask lots of people are willing t show you how to do it:hug:hug:hug

[WendyLee]

Tiga is right ladies. It isn't hard it is just a lot of counting! You can't sit and mindlessly crochet. Some times what I want is mindless so I usually have a couple projects going so the harder can be set aside when it gets on my nerves or I just need something relaxing.

 

The satisfaction I get when I finish a pattern is huge!

[eurolyons]

You've hit it right on the head. I guess I'm all about learning rather than doing also. Patience is not my strong point, and I guess have crochet ADD that others have mentioned here. I tire of long projects before I can finish them, hence all the dishcloths, caps, and scarves etc.

 

Niqita, I can relate. I wonder how I can mess up something I've done 1,000 times, but somehow I manage to find new ways to do so!

 

You know when I was a kid learning to crochet, it was a good long while before I got past the point of crocheting something and then ripping it out...it seemed like I never finished anything during that time. And then I spent years making things only of my own design (again simple stuff) and rarely using anyone else's patterns.

 

I'm like this with alot of what I do...I do like to learn...but at the same time I still have a goal in mind with what I do.

 

I don't think it's just a matter of being more of a learner, but that you might be a bit too hard on yourself...if your more advanced stuff is turning out not as you're expecting, what can you learn about those things that you're not happy with to make it better next time?

 

I didn't start using other people's patterns until 2-1/2 years ago...and man I can't get enough and it's helped my own designing in the long run. It's all a learning experience. I don't do too many practicse swatches just for the sake of doing practice swatches...they have to become part of a project down the road for me...

 

I've been crocheting for over 35 years, and I sew and I knit among other things...and I've spent way too many years feeling like I'm not good enough to go to the next level of whatever (like with my writing for example...struggling to fight that notion that I'm not good enough to pursue getting published...)

 

One way to look at what you're doing is that it's all practise, but make it practise with a purpose. Take baby steps when you go to try something a little more challenging until you feel comfortable with what you are doing.

 

Many of the experience patterns are really more about size customizing and shaping (especially with wearables...) rather than intricate stitches...

 

Some patterns, especially wearables are more suited to one's figure than another...

 

When you make something and it doesn't turn out how you expect, ask yourself what you didn't like about it...was it color, the stitch, the time it took to make, if it was a wearable, the fit of it...once you pinpoint what it is about the finish project you weren't happy with it will be easier to go onto something else that might be of equal challenge...don't be afraid, keep striving to grow with your crocheting...

[eurolyons]

Have to add another thing, if you're impatient with your progress and get bored with long term projects, it simply might not be time for you to move on to the next level of crocheting...baby steps...take your time with what you are doing.

 

I go through phases where I want instant gratification with my work...so I'll do a bunch of things that I know can be completed in a short time...but then that's not enough and I want a project I can sink my teeth into...be it a more complicated doily or a sweater or an afghan or something like that...something different, something that makes me stretch myself...most of them get done in about a week, some don't...there's an afghan that I'm almost finished with that has taken me 9 months to get with the program on...I trade off, I have my fair share of WIPS and UFOs...but most of them get done...mostly to my satisfaction...and I've learned something along the way.

 

The problem I feel like I'm having lately is finding more experienced patterns...most of what's out there is the beginner/advanced beginner...and I want more experienced patterns than that...but I'm far from maxing out on this craft...there are so many avenues with crocheting and really I've only hit the tip of the iceberg...

[Tiga]

I think it's also very important to remember that we're very used to things being "perfect" these days.

 

Crocheted items are handmade, and there are going to be imperfections. Some stitches are going to be at a different tension than others.

 

There are going to be rows or pattern repeats where you just forget one dc or something, and it's far too late to frog tons of work to go back and fix it.

 

What you are making doesn't have to be perfect.

 

My grandmother has made my family afghans for years. It wasn't until I learnt to crochet and started minutely examining them that I realized SHE MADE MISTAKES!

 

Can you believe it? I never, ever noticed them before.

 

So, that's my "frog test" - if I put the piece on the love seat, and I'm on the couch, if I notice something iffy about it, I frog. If not, the mistake stays and I call it artistic license.

 

Sometimes, you do have to frog - I'm making a bucket hat for myself right now (it's stupidly cold here and I don't own a hat; it's not usually this cold where I live), and when I got done with the top of it, there was a noticeable lump in it. So, I frogged two hours worth of work and switched patterns.

 

I was having trouble getting my stitch count right, and rather than struggle trying to make it work, I decided the pattern was screwy for me.

 

I didn't fail; I just couldn't work with THAT pattern. And that's okay.

 

Now, sometimes, I'll get into a battle of wits with a pattern, and I'll fight it out until the bitter end. But that's when I know it's a good pattern (i.e., other people here have made it and it's turned out well, or it's my first attempt at something new and I'm using a paid, vetted pattern).

 

If I'm using a freebie pattern for something that should be easy enough, and I'm struggling, I just get a new pattern.

 

I'm not perfect, and neither are all pattern writers. I could be misunderstanding a direction they think is clear, or they could have made a typo, or miscounted their stitches, or maybe the planets just aren't aligned right.

 

Whatever.

 

And you know what else I do? Sometimes I *gasp* fudge it.

 

If I'm supposed to have, say, 60 stitches, and I have 62, I'll just throw in a few decreases on that round or row to get the correct number of stitches for the pattern repeat, as long as it doesn't throw off the look of what I'm making. Or some increases, as need be.

 

No need to frog an hours worth of work when it can be "fixed" with two or three stitches.

 

Is my work perfect? Nope. But it's done, it's wearable/useable and no one can tell there are some corrections to it.

 

I'm not crocheting to be perfect. I'm crocheting to be creative. I'm crocheting to play with yarn and color. I'm crocheting to relax and have a hobby. I'm crocheting to create beautiful things to give to people I care about.

 

I'm not crocheting to show off technical skills. I'm not crocheting to compete with knitting machines. I'm not crocheting to compete with other people who crochet. I'm not crocheting to prove my self worth.

 

Now, if I was entering a county fair with a crocheted piece, obviously, different rules apply. I'd most certainly pay attention to detail and make sure every stitch was perfect and my tension was even on every stitch and I'd made no corrections.

 

But the afghan for my daughter's bed is so not going to be entered into the county fair, lol! It's mostly likely going to be dragged around the house, have fruit punch spilled on it and possibly be used as a cat scratching post of some sort.

 

So yeah, not so concerned with perfection there, lol!

[Auntie Kellie]

I've found that going by Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced labels can be misleading. I've found some patterns claim to be for beginners but were really complicated and advanced patterns that were very simple. It was these kinds of patterns that taught me to read through the pattern to determine if it will be easy or hard for me to concentrate on with my busy schedule.

 

Just relax and enjoy the patterns. Read through them to determine if you want to work on them now or later. A friend of mine that teaches art classes once said "Don't plan on becoming an expert, there's too much to learn. Just enjoy the ride."

 

Hugs and Cookies

Auntie K