Hoppo Bumpo (n): A children's game. Played by folding one's arms and hopping on one leg. Aim is to bump opponents, so that they lose their balance. Last person standing wins.


August 08, 2008

Should I spin you a yarn?



Last week there was laughter. This week, its blushing, embarrassment and perhaps a little anxiety. I seriously considered telling you that the dog ate my crochet.

But I'll 'fess up instead. Yes, here is my meagre output from a week's earnest endeavours in the Crochet-Along. Its (meant to be) the first round of a granny square. I'll be honest and admit to being so unsure of what I am doing, that I cannot tell if it is crocheted correctly or not!

If you are wondering why it took me so long to get this far, look ye here. See ... now you understand ... right? And for the skeptics, who think I'm simply playing this up a bit and going to whip out large granny rug next week ... no. The sad reality is that I'm missing a gene in the crochet department.

If you're already a dab hand with the crochet hook, I'd be interested to hear how you learnt. Was it from a book? Did someone show you? I'm finding it quite tricky to teach myself, despite the array of excellent websites, books and YouTube videos at my disposal. At least Kirsty left a comment last week pointing out differences in US and Australian stitch names, otherwise I would have been totally flummoxed!

Now over to news from other crochet-alongers:
  • Ellieboo had already made the first round for two squares a week ago. Her work looks picture perfect.

  • Not only did Sparkly Green Knickers master the granny square last weekend, but she has gone on to be showcased on Craftblog with these luscious squares. Nice work
So with aspirations to do as well as these ladies, I have set myself these goals for next week
  1. Re-do the existing crochet and see if I can get a better finish!

  2. Complete rounds 2, 3 and 4 in The Purl Bee tutorial
NB: Maybe you haven't crocheted before and would like to join in. Don't be shy. Its not too late. For sure you will be finished before me!

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for letting me know about the craftblog plug! How delightful!

    From the looks of your first round, I think you are on the right track. You need to do 3 trebles, then chain stitch 3, then 3 trebles, then chain 3 etc til you have four groups of the 3 trebles. Does that make sense?? Yours looks like you have just done trebles all the way around, with no 3 chain break between.

    Hmmm, might just send you an email with some photos...

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  2. Just to confuse you, I use doubles (not trebles) in my granny squares. It could be a US/Aus thing. Is Sparkly green knickers from the US?

    Sparkly green knickers is right about the space between your doubles/trebles though. It looks to me like you might have one chain in between your groups of 3 doubles. I would suggest putting 2 or 3 chain between your groups of doubles so that you can see the spaces a little better.

    I have a book that I used to get myself crocheting again. I will look up the title and let you know what it is. There are only a few pages that actually cover how to do the various stitches so I could always photocopy them and email them to you.

    You tension looks good to me so that's a great start. The hardest part of granny squares is definitely getting the first couple of rows out of the way. Once you master that, there'll be no stopping you.

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  3. It looks great to me!! Slow and steady wins the race!

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  4. Woolcraft by Patons (30c @ oppy)! I'll teach you for a latte...

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  5. I feel just the same as you it seams that no amount of help will ever help me learn to crochet. But we must never give up, their must be hope!

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  6. Giving up is just not allowed..or that is what I keep telling myself!! Glad to see you have set yourself some targets for next week....one day when we have mastered this we will wonder what was so hard, I am sure!

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  7. Okay, I can crochet enough to do that. Not enough to be able to tell you if you have done it right, though! lol

    I learned from my mom...she taught me a little of a lot of things...enough to get me started on a life of crafting, lol. I wish I had been able to live near my Grandma, though, cause she DID know it all. Would have been awesome to have her there to teach me!! :D (She's still alive, but, you know, wrong continent and all. :p )

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