the UGC: The One About Learning to Crochet

The One About Learning to Crochet
November 11, 2006

My decision to teach myself to knit was a little bit random. I thought I was going to be traveling more for work, and it seemed like a good thing to keep me occupied on an airplane. There was nothing specific that I wanted to make once I learned how to knit, it was more about learning a new skill.

Learning to crochet? There was a definite end product in mind.

Mum and I had taken a trip over to Half Moon Bay to visit one of our favorite yarn stores, and to have a late lunch. This particular store has a ton of sample scarves on display which have provided much inspiration for scarves I've knit in the past. It wasn't any surprise that I fell in love with one of the sample scarves hanging next to the Debbie Bliss yarns. I checked the little instruction tag hanging from it, and it did not list the size of knitting needles used, but the size of a crochet hook. If I wanted this scarf, I was going to have to learn how to crochet.

I knew the basic idea, that crochet involved making a chain, but making more than one row? I was totally clueless. Before I started knitting with the nice yarn, I pulled out some cheap cotton, and started practicing. I looked at videos online, and checked some other sources on the web, but something still didn't seem right. I finally broke down and bought Debbie Stoller's book, The Happy Hooker. Now, I was getting somewhere. A few more practice swatches, and I was a half-double stitching machine! I moved on to the good yarn and a little later that evening, I had myself a lovely new scarf.

If you've ever checked the about section of this site, you'll notice a lot of patterns (I use that term loosely) for knitting scarves. A couple of those have been gifts, but most of them are scarves that I knit for myself. Most of those scarves have never been worn. This new crocheted scarf? I've worn it every day for the past week. I love this scarf.

So it was kind of a bummer yesterday, when I realized I had left it behind after going out to lunch. I had hung the scarf over the back of my chair, and completely forgot to grab it when we left. I didn't notice until I was pulling into a parking spot at work. I ended up driving all the way back over to the restaurant, preparing myself for the worst. It had been at least 20 minutes, and someone surely would have taken it by now. When I got there, I decided to check the table we were sitting at first. I walked in the doors, and glanced in the direction of our table, and there it was. Still hanging over the back of the chair. I walked over as fast as I could, grabbed my beloved scarf, and walked right back out.

If someone had taken it, I could have easily bought more yarn and made another scarf, but it just wouldn't have been the same. At least now I'll probably never leave it hanging over the back of a chair again.

$\"\"$ \n\n\nMy decision to teach myself to knit was a little bit random. I thought I was going to be traveling more for work, and it seemed like a good thing to keep me occupied on an airplane. There was nothing specific that I wanted to make once I learned how to knit, it was more about learning a new skill.\n\nLearning to crochet? There was a definite end product in mind.\n\nMum and I had taken a trip over to Half Moon Bay to visit one of our favorite yarn stores, and to have a late lunch. This particular store has a ton of sample scarves on display which have provided much inspiration for scarves I've knit in the past. It wasn't any surprise that I fell in love with one of the sample scarves hanging next to the Debbie Bliss yarns. I checked the little instruction tag hanging from it, and it did not list the size of knitting needles used, but the size of a crochet hook. If I wanted this scarf, I was going to have to learn how to crochet.\n\nI knew the basic idea, that crochet involved making a chain, but making more than one row? I was totally clueless. Before I started knitting with the nice yarn, I pulled out some cheap cotton, and started practicing. I looked at videos online, and checked some other sources on the web, but something still didn't seem right. I finally broke down and bought Debbie Stoller's book, The Happy Hooker. Now, I was getting somewhere. A few more practice swatches, and I was a half-double stitching machine! I moved on to the good yarn and a little later that evening, I had myself a lovely new scarf.\n\nIf you've ever checked the about section of this site, you'll notice a lot of patterns (I use that term loosely) for knitting scarves. A couple of those have been gifts, but most of them are scarves that I knit for myself. Most of those scarves have never been worn. This new crocheted scarf? I've worn it every day for the past week. I love this scarf.\n\nSo it was kind of a bummer yesterday, when I realized I had left it behind after going out to lunch. I had hung the scarf over the back of my chair, and completely forgot to grab it when we left. I didn't notice until I was pulling into a parking spot at work. I ended up driving all the way back over to the restaurant, preparing myself for the worst. It had been at least 20 minutes, and someone surely would have taken it by now. When I got there, I decided to check the table we were sitting at first. I walked in the doors, and glanced in the direction of our table, and there it was. Still hanging over the back of the chair. I walked over as fast as I could, grabbed my beloved scarf, and walked right back out. \n\nIf someone had taken it, I could have easily bought more yarn and made another scarf, but it just wouldn't have been the same. At least now I'll probably never leave it hanging over the back of a chair again.

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