I have to say crocheting is one of the hardest hobbies I have done and I’m not alone in that thinking. I see in crochet Facebook groups all the time beginners seeking help.
So what makes crocheting so hard at the beginning?
First of all, I thought, if I just find a pattern I will be able to learn how to crochet from that. Nope. No.
The very first thing you can do to learn crocheting is look up and then practice how to crochet different stitches.
From the patterns I have used for amigurumi they are some similar stitches for most patterns. Ch, sc, inc and dec.
If you learn these four stitches you will be able to complete a crochet pattern.
Please note though if you are wanting to learn how to crochet a beanie, those use different stitches. So work out how you want to crochet. Then look what pattern stitches are used. Then learn those stitches.
So how do you learn the crochet stitches?
YouTube is great for learning stitches because you can watch videos. You can stop and replay as many times as you want. If you can’t see the stitches being crocheted very well, watch a different video on the same stitch until you learn how to do that stitch.
Now don’t just do the stitch once. Buy a yarn and practice each stitch as many times as you want. The more you practice, the more you practice your tension around your fingers and how loose or how tight to do a particular stitch. It might seem boring because you aren’t making anything straight away but I feel it’s necessary so when you do go to make something you can focus on counting stitches rather than how do I do that stitch again?
Crocheting you will learn is all about being patient. Also it’s important to note the more you practice, the more better you will get. Eventually your fingers that have the yarn wrapped around your fingers will stop hurting. That’s a huge win.
And then once you start to crochet amigurumi it may not get easier. I suggest and I didn’t do this when I started was start with no sew patterns. Trust me, learning to crochet amigurumi does have levels which no one talks about. Sewing is hard and I still get nervous sewing.
So no sew patterns helps you learn how to read patterns and get familiar with the regular stitches you will use.
Sewing is just a bit harder.
So when you are ready start with sewing faces on your no sew patterns. So you get familiar with sewing in general.
And when you feel comfortable with sewing faces then move onto crocheting augumani that is still beginner level but a bit bigger, where sewing legs and arms is now important.
When learning to sew legs and arms, it’s important to try to match each side the same. Some people count the stitches to work out where both legs should go on the amigurumi. Others like me, place it where it should go and then sew by purely guessing and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
The sewing part is cruicial because if it’s uneven then you won’t be happy with the end result. Even if you crocheted all parts perfectly.
Which brings me to the next challenge
When crocheting two of the same thing, like two arms… you have to count the stitches exactly otherwise the two objects won’t look even. This is also hard.
So again, it’s just practice and not sewing on a shorter arm compared to the right size and just crochet a new arm altogether so it’s perfect.
It sounds hard and that’s because it is. But I will promise you one thing. The more you crochet and practice, the better you will get.
#crochet #beginnercrochet #meltoye
Also if you are a beginner in crocheting, you may appreciate reading my ‘The journey of crocheting for beginners’ ebook by Melanie Toye. You can purchase here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1808619
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