|
Blue_monday posted:I recently bought myself http://www.amazon.ca/Creepy-Cute-Crochet-Zombies-Ninjas/dp/1594742324/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2JX1DTU1FEDZD&colid=2PN8L5IKR586C on a whim, and after reading some reviews I don't think its exactly for beginners, which is bad because I've never crocheted before. There's plenty stuff around on YouTube - nothing specific, sorry, I just looked around until I found one clear enough for me. Have you got Happy Hooker? That has the basics in a very clear way (even for me and I auto-convert to UK notation). Creepy Cute...well, lots of people say it's not for beginners but it was my first ami book and I'd only been crocheting a few months (but I had been doing hats, so I'd had a bit of practice working in the round). NeedleNoodles' patterns are designed to give you the shape in a specific way - the heads are more oval than round, so the increases are placed such that you get flatter planes rather than perfect spheres. Most other ami patterns just go round and round, either in spirals or chaining up to the next row, so if you get used to the CCC way of doing things just watch for differences when you change books. I like CCC very much and always seem to have a couple queued (skeleton bride and groom are up next!); once you've made a few it's easy. Check out NeedleNoodles' blog if you get stuck, she put some great tutorials up a while ago. The hair one is especially useful. I have Tiny Yarn Animals by Tami Snow, which is quite good too, nice clear directions. Just finishing my second penguin from that today. In other news I finished my daughter's ballet cardigan yesterday (lordy, do I hate setting in sleeves) and am about to start all over again in the smaller size for a friend's baby. Why do I do this to myself?!
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2009 11:07
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 03:37 |
|
|
Blue_monday posted:I recently bought myself http://www.amazon.ca/Creepy-Cute-Crochet-Zombies-Ninjas/dp/1594742324/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2JX1DTU1FEDZD&colid=2PN8L5IKR586C on a whim, and after reading some reviews I don't think its exactly for beginners, which is bad because I've never crocheted before. There's nexstitch.com, but I'm not much of a crocheter so I can't comment on how good their videos are. I can make an elephant, though!   Unfortunately, those are the largest pictures I could take with my phone. It is actually crocheted, I promise.
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2009 00:32
|
|
|
Smam posted:My squid (given to a friend for her birthday, and I wanna make another for myself cause I miss him): I love the squid, it's fantastic! Plus it's my favorite color blue :3
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2009 03:55
|
|
|
Hey everyone! I just started with crochet (on Ravelry as InferiorCatwoman) and am working on a scarf for my husband, a hat for myself, a Nintendo controller afghan of my own design (hopefully it works out), and I finished an amigurumi stuffed poo for a friend. Sexy Poo!  What I'm finding is that crochet is difficult to teach yourself... not impossible, but it takes a lot of time. I have a ton of projects I want to start but yarn costs a ton. I've found a few websites that seem to have good prices but want you to buy in bulk. I can't remember reading anything in this thread about where people buy their yarn, do you stick to craft stores or online?
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2009 22:41
|
|
|
InferiorCatwoman posted:I have a ton of projects I want to start but yarn costs a ton. I've found a few websites that seem to have good prices but want you to buy in bulk. I can't remember reading anything in this thread about where people buy their yarn, do you stick to craft stores or online? I tend to buy the stuff that's on sale at Hobby Lobby and WalMart. I also found some cheap yarn at Salvation Army and Goodwill of all places.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2009 17:13
|
|
|
Generally I get mine from eBay or other online shops if I want anything like Debbie Bliss or any more specialist than that. But I don't have any decent yarn shops for miles (highly frustrating given that I live in the county next to where lots of the mills are!). Knitting seems to have died hard here and is only just on the way back. Even the good shop back home which has been there since I was tiny doesn't stock a lot of the more "designer" stuff, only your standard Rowan/Sirdar/Patons which are the average sort of thing for knitting over here. It isn't a much better range than my local Hobbycraft (big craft warehouse type thing), so I often have to buy without seeing/feeling. You seem to have a lot more specialist yarns over in the US, we're a long way behind! I get very frustrated trying to make the conversions and something like Noro silk is so far out of my price range it's a joke. I priced up a cardigan the other day which would have cost me £120 to buy the yarn for. Out of curiosity, what's the difference in price in the US? I pay about £1.25 for a 100g ball of basic acrylic and about £4 for say, DB cashmerino dk. The exchange rate is horrible atm but it seems to be about $1.80 and almost $6...is that expensive to you?
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2009 20:56
|
|
|
discordiaskitten posted:Out of curiosity, what's the difference in price in the US? I pay about £1.25 for a 100g ball of basic acrylic and about £4 for say, DB cashmerino dk. The exchange rate is horrible atm but it seems to be about $1.80 and almost $6...is that expensive to you? I just bought a TON of yarn today, no cashmere yarn or anything but... Caron Simply Soft 7oz. (334 meters) for $3.49. 100% Acrylic. Red Heart Soft Yarn 5oz. (234m) for $3.49. 100% Acrylic. Lion Brand Cotton Ease 3.5oz. (188m) for $5.49. 50% Cotton/50% Acrylic. I Love This Yarn! (Hobby Lobby craft store brand) 7oz. (325m) for $2.79. 100% Acrylic. And another Hobby Lobby brand: Baby Bee. 4oz. (311m) for $4.99. 54% Acrylic/36% Polyamide. I live in North Carolina, east coast of the US. Does that help? 4.99 USD = 3.65474 EUR for cheap-y Acrylic yarn.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2009 00:23
|
|
|
InferiorCatwoman posted:I live in North Carolina, east coast of the US. Does that help? 4.99 USD = 3.65474 EUR for cheap-y Acrylic yarn. Good grief...I'll stop complaining, then, it's about a pound dearer for you - for the named brands, anyway. That really surprises me, it tends to be the other way round with most things. It may be different quality, though - I've got some US books of crochet for kid's clothes and they often recommend Red Heart and Simply Soft; no way would I use my standard acrylic for clothes. Perhaps I'm being faddy, I'll only use it for toys.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2009 14:13
|
|
|
discordiaskitten posted:But I don't have any decent yarn shops for miles. Even the good shop back home which has been there since I was tiny doesn't stock a lot of the more "designer" stuff, only your standard Rowan/Sirdar/Patons which are the average sort of thing for knitting over here. It isn't a much better range than my local Hobbycraft Yeah, our LYS is a bit of a joke in terms of choice, but at least the bloke who runs it is fairly helpful if you shop there often. He only seems to sell acrylic or crochet cotton though, there is very little else in the way of choice except for novelty yarns like eyelash etc.(he also doesn't sell patterns, which is very odd). When I needed Lambs Pride bulky for a poncho in Stich N Bitch, I used the internet to buy. Hobbycraft is terrible for knitting; I found it so overpriced. We also have Creative World which seems to believe art and crafts consists of paint by numbers, cardmaking, how to draw books and 2 balls of yarn. I have, however, occasionally been about to find yarn at the 99p store- small 50 gram balls of novelty stuff or just some plain acrylic dk. Acrylic DK at my LYS is about £1.50 a ball, but even saving 50p a ball is good! Other places to check are Indian shops- you know the ones that sell really junky homewares, wooden spoons, ugly furnishings, washing baskets and cutlery? Ones in my town quite often have DK yarn in them for a bit cheaper than the LYS. It's excellent for practising, or using for amigurumi.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2009 20:18
|
|
|
madlilnerd posted:Hobbycraft is terrible for knitting; I found it so overpriced. We also have Creative World which seems to believe art and crafts consists of paint by numbers, cardmaking, how to draw books and 2 balls of yarn. Ha, yes - the one in the next town over shut down a couple of years ago but similar story. All crafting was to do with wedding favours as far as they were concerned, couldn't even get basic embroidery thread, let alone yarn and no fabric at all. Not too bad for basic acrylic, yes - still plenty of little market stalls selling it reasonably cheaply, that's why I don't mind making lots of amis for friends. But it's so frustrating trying to find anything else. I was after some DB superchunky cashmerino today and it's been discontinued so you'd think it'd be cheap - but no, I found one place trying to flog it for £8 a ball!
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2009 20:26
|
|
|
Ah, well, you see, if it's discontinued they know they can charge as much as they want because the crafters are getting desperate. Speaking of discontinued, I really hope I bought enough Elle Chunky for my crochet masterpiece- giant rainbow blanket! I'm annoyed as hell that they've stopped making that stuff, it was good for toys. I'm also pissed that a lot of companies don't make basic colours any more- you can get 20 shades of brown, but good luck finding the basic seven in the spectrum.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2009 22:58
|
|
|
Poking my head round the door because I keep meaning to post in here. I am so in love with the happy anglerfish on page 2. Do you remember how you did it, Smam? I'm lousy at crocheting without patterns. I need to get my boyfriend to take a picture of the Portal companion cube I crocheted for him at Christmas.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2009 20:22
|
|
|
Bunny made for Skels (in the Snail Mail thread). She send me a handmade bead animal, so I sent her back my second ever amigurumi animal! The tag says "Hello, I am a bunny, please give me a home and a name". And this is Hermie, the Hermit Crab. I didn't have any pink or red, so he's cream like those freaky crabs that live in the bottom of the ocean. He actually started out as a mermaid's tail, but I converted it into a hermit crab instead. Lots of my projects evolve as they go along; I started a bunny yesterday that turned into an owl. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2009 12:34
|
|
|
madlilnerd posted:Lots of my projects evolve as they go along; I started a bunny yesterday that turned into an owl. This happens to me all the time. It's also why I suck at following patterns. I'll go along, following the pattern, and then think... Well, if I do THIS... Then is should look like THIS... and then I'm off track.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2009 16:03
|
|
|
Love that hermit crab - so cute! Argh. Can someone tell me why I started a lacework wrap in Sirdar Blur kid mohair four days before the wedding I want to wear it at? I am so dumb. Why do I do this to myself? Does anyone else set themselves insane deadlines with stuff they've never used before?? It is kinda pretty already, though. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2009 10:11
|
|
|
ARGH for some crazy reason I decided that as I can make a 3 inch hermit crab I can make a huge bedcover/hippy rug. I'm just over halfway through right now, using Elle Chunky (discontinued 100% acrylic) and a 6.00mm hook. To give you an idea of time spent so far, each row takes about half an hour, there's 14 rows in a rainbow repeat, so it's about 7 hours per repeat- 3 repeats there plus the 4 extra rows means I'm on about 24hours so far. Obviously not a one crocheting marathon.  Aerial view!  macro for artyfartiness  Had anyone else attempted a really large project? I'm struggling for motivation right now despite the incredibly simple zigzag pattern.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2009 22:02
|
|
|
So I just started experimenting with crocheting stuff out of fabric instead of yarn. I like the bumpy, raggedy look it creates and I especially like the fact that you can make stuff really quickly since you're working with thick strands. This is the first thing I made, out of an old shirt that I ripped up. It's a sort of bowl thingy that I'll probably use to hold random jewelry and stuff. It's kind of lop-sided because it's hard to count stitches when working with such a thick material. But I love that it only took me like half an hour to make (after tearing up the shirt and knotting the strips together), which is about as long as my attention span will permit. Sorry for the crappy phone pics.   Oh, and it can also be used as a kitty torture device. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2009 23:23
|
|
|
madlilnerd posted:Had anyone else attempted a really large project? I'm struggling for motivation right now despite the incredibly simple zigzag pattern. I did a 7'x8' blanket that took about 120 hours to finish. The way to do it is to pace yourself. Do one or two rows at a time, then put it down and go do something else. It might not get finished as soon, but that way you won't get sick of it and regret starting it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2009 00:00
|
|
|
madlilnerd posted:Had anyone else attempted a really large project? I'm struggling for motivation right now despite the incredibly simple zigzag pattern.  By the time I was close to finishing that baby blanket, I was annoyed and frustrated at how long it was taking. I know how you feel. If it makes you feel any better, getting it finished and seeing the final outcome was very fulfilling.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2009 02:50
|
|
|
Continuing with my rag crocheting, I've started a rag rug. I bought this ugly 70s bedspread from a thrift store, ripped it up, and did this with it: Close-up of the texture:  It's only about 2 feet in diameter right now, so eventually I'm going to get a couple more sheets or so to finish it off. I'll probably end up selling it because it doesn't go with any of the decor in my house, but I'm kind of proud of myself for making it.  Also, even though I'm quite certain I've been doing the right number of increases, it's still curling in a little, and I have to pull on it to make it lie flat. Anybody know why this might be?
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2009 20:50
|
|
|
I just finished my first amigurumi piece! I've never learned how to read a pattern before, I've always just done things like scarves and beanies which you can pretty much just make up yourself. My mom's birthday is in a few days though and she loves ladybugs, so I figured now is as good a time as any to get off my lazy butt and figure out how to read patterns. Luckily this one was really easy:  I love it. It's so cute :3
|
|
#
?
May 21, 2009 06:10
|
|
|
Wow! That ladybug turned out great! I'm just learning to crochet with the help of Stitch 'n Bitch and Youtube videos. I'm slowly but surely catching on. I can't wait until I can make something of value.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2009 01:18
|
|
|
Very cute! I just finished my fastest piece ever - a ballet cardigan my friend wanted for her little girl for a wedding next week. I got the yarn last Wednesday, I get about two hours a night to work and I had it done in six days flat. It's now heading across the country in the post. Piccies here: http://www.crafts.carolinewood.co.uk/2009/05/rose-for-evie.html
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2009 16:01
|
|
|
Hi. I recently got into crochet and thought I'd try the whole amigurumi thing, I thought I'd try and make a doll of my puppy (hes so cute) and I think it came out really well. Just wanted to show some people who might know if I'm doing anything wrong . I wasn't sure how i should have done the tail any tips? Sorry for the quality of the photo its from my cell :P.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2009 00:34
|
|
|
I adore the dog. The tail looks fine to me.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2009 05:16
|
|
|
Hey there fellas I finished an amigurumi for the first time ever. This lucky guy didn't go the way of all my other amigurumis, which is to stay unfinished forever. I used the pattern from here as a base.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2009 20:49
|
|
|
I love the top hat and mustache. Too cute! Which reminds me, I need to finish my octopus amigurumi that's only halfway done. Does anyone else have a problem with starting a project, then starting a couple more before being done with the original project? I'm really bad about that. I eventually get them all done, but still. I guess I just get bored with the first one and move onto something else.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2009 08:45
|
|
|
 Amigurumi bear! (the shoe is just propping him up) That moustoctopus is ballin'.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2009 09:51
|
|
|
madlilnerd posted:Had anyone else attempted a really large project? I'm struggling for motivation right now despite the incredibly simple zigzag pattern. I make blankets very often. I think in the 8 years that I've been seriously crocheting I've probably made between 15 and 20, some of them "bed sized". This may not sound like a huge amount, but if you actually think about the stitches in a blanket that you could use as a bedsheet, it really is staggering. I find that there are a few ways to get through them... 1) Agreeing with the suggestion to keep multiple projects. It may become disorganized, but it really does help you not want to go crazy when staring at the same stupid thing for forever. 2) Choose something that's beautiful, that you really love. Your ripple blanket is definitely that kind of thing! 3) If you're really stuck, visualize the person that you want to give it to, and why you want to give it to them. A lot of times their future happiness can give you the motivation that you've been lacking. 4) Put it down and walk away! If you're messing up and getting really frustrated, (and you have the time!) just don't look at it for a week. 5) Trick your brain- don't look at how much you've done too often, and for god's sakes don't EVER think about the enormity of the project, you'll get hells of overwhelmed. Just take it little by little and it will grow faster than you think
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2009 09:29
|
|
|
I've started another project. My husband got me a trashbag full of yarn remnants off of Freecycle and my sister-in-law's birthday is September 9th. Because it's 09/09/09, the decision has been made to give her 9 items of some kind from the 9 people participating. My gift, a 9 square afghan. Each granny square has 9 rounds with each bunch containing 3 triple crochets. It's better than my husband's current plan. 3/4 of a 12 pack of pop. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2009 18:40
|
|
|
Sometime today I am going to go down to the fabric start and get some yarn and a hook, so I can start to each myself how to crochet! I have always found it to be interesting, but just never got around to doing it, but I figure now is a good time to start! (Even though my sister gave me massive amounts of poo poo for wanting to learn how, apparently in her world guys can't crochet.)
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2009 20:35
|
|
|
Ragnar Danneskjold posted:Sometime today I am going to go down to the fabric start and get some yarn and a hook, so I can start to each myself how to crochet! I have always found it to be interesting, but just never got around to doing it, but I figure now is a good time to start! (Even though my sister gave me massive amounts of poo poo for wanting to learn how, apparently in her world guys can't crochet.) Screw your sister and get started! I personally would go weak at the knees for a man who could hand me a warm blanket/adorable amigurumi toy and then proudly proclaim "YEAH I MADE THIS". There is one thing in crochet I just haven't gotten the hang of yet though: How do I store it without the hook slipping out and it all coming undone? Currently I just make a load of extra sacrificial chain before I put it away, in the hope that I will be able to catch my loop before it reaches actual work.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2009 20:41
|
|
|
madlilnerd posted:There is one thing in crochet I just haven't gotten the hang of yet though: How do I store it without the hook slipping out and it all coming undone? Currently I just make a load of extra sacrificial chain before I put it away, in the hope that I will be able to catch my loop before it reaches actual work. Improvise! I use a binder clip to clip the loop and the active yarn strand to the flat part of the crochet hook, but I imagine you could also use a clothespin or something to do the same thing. There's probably some "correct" way to do it, but this method does work.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2009 21:19
|
|
|
So I went down and got some yarn and a hook, and I have been practicing for a while now. (My hands hurt like hell!) I have the chain stitch down fairly well, I just need to work on getting them all uniform in size. I can kind of do a single stitch at this point, but not so much. It looks so easy in the Youtube videos! 
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2009 00:04
|
|
|
madlilnerd posted:There is one thing in crochet I just haven't gotten the hang of yet though: How do I store it without the hook slipping out and it all coming undone? Currently I just make a load of extra sacrificial chain before I put it away, in the hope that I will be able to catch my loop before it reaches actual work. I "weave" the hook through the the work and stick it in the skein of yarn.
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2009 01:08
|
|
|
madlilnerd posted:There is one thing in crochet I just haven't gotten the hang of yet though: How do I store it without the hook slipping out and it all coming undone? Currently I just make a load of extra sacrificial chain before I put it away, in the hope that I will be able to catch my loop before it reaches actual work. The trick I learned from my grandma was to pull the last loop really big and hold it in your right hand, then take the yarn leading to the skein and make a big loop using your left hand, then make a knot like you're tying a shoe. To undo it you just have to pull the end leading to the skein, slip your hook in the remaining loop and pull the loop back down to the right size. I usually just stick the hook into the skein if I know I'll pick it back up soon, but the above method is handy if you want to take a longer break and store it away or if you need that same hook for something else.
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2009 02:31
|
|
|
madlilnerd posted:There is one thing in crochet I just haven't gotten the hang of yet though: How do I store it without the hook slipping out and it all coming undone? Currently I just make a load of extra sacrificial chain before I put it away, in the hope that I will be able to catch my loop before it reaches actual work. Stick a safety pin in the loop. I don't keep the hook in when I put things down for a while. The safety pin keeps the last loop from going anywhere. I just started crocheting a few weeks ago and so far all I've really made is a granny square lap blanket. I'm still working on the edging which is just me going around with whatever stitch I feel like using at the moment. Today I started trying amigurumi but I kind of forgot how to read instructions and made major mistakes. Oops.
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2009 04:29
|
|
|
Thanks to this thread, I bought a hook and some yarn, having never tried knitting or crochet before. I've got ch down, and I can do sc, dc (slowly). O am just making a very simple scarf at the moment. What sort of skill level are these stuffed animals everyone is making? They are kind of the sort of goal I want to get to (moreso than blankets or sweaters etc).
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2009 05:40
|
|
|
Chin Strap posted:What sort of skill level are these stuffed animals everyone is making? They are kind of the sort of goal I want to get to (moreso than blankets or sweaters etc). Most of the stuffed animal patterns I've done use pretty basic stitches. The difference is that you use a smaller than normal hook in relation to the yarn and you have to crochet tighter than normal so that the stuffing doesn't show in the end product.
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2009 13:41
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 03:37 |
|
|
^^Ed: Ah, that's good advice that didn't occur to me. The one thing that pissed me off about the animals, especially the cat, is that the stuffing fibers keep sifting out through the gaps. The animals are very easy. My very first project that I made less than a week after buying my hooks was a pair of amigurumi animals, and all I needed to know were chain, single crochet and how to change yarns (which is harder than just tying two ends together, btw). At that point I had no idea of the proper hook to use with what yarn or anything; I just knew the basic stitches that you mentioned. They also taught me how to keep the correct tension and how to make simple increases and decreases, which are extra or skipped stitches that make the fabric wider or narrower, as well as how to work in a circle. Plus, they're so small that you're getting instant feedback and that's awesome. Just stuff them really, really full - I made the mistake of understuffing one and its neck is all floppy. I found the pattern on Crochet Pattern Central - it's the Cat and Mouse linked in the amigurumi section. I made the mouse into a guinea pig by leaving off the tail, adding four feet and doing the top half in black and the bottom half in white, and it was still quick and easy. If it appeals to you, try it out. The broomstick lace granny square on that site is also pretty nifty. Good luck. lemonlime fucked around with this message at 13:55 on Aug 9, 2009 |
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2009 13:51
|
|
