As I mentioned in my last post I only started crocheting two years ago. As I have progressed in this craft and the complexity of my projects, people are always asking me how I learned how to crochet. The very simple answer is – YouTube.
I searched YouTube for everything I didn’t know – which was almost everything. In the beginning I did know how to do a chain and single crochet across back and forth. Aside from that, I knew NADA. I did not know how to read patterns, what the acronyms stood for or what the difference was between worsted weight and Aran yarn. It was all a foreign language, but like any language you can start with the basics and build on each new thing you learn to create beautiful and functional goods for yourself, family and loved ones.
After I mastered the arm knit scarves, that I talked about in my first post, I decided I wanted to make other types of scarves. I searched Google for “free crochet patterns scarf” or “crochet scarf” and came up with all kinds of things. They linked to Pinterest, blogs, Ravelry, etc. Once you find something you like go and buy the supplies the designer used (if possible, some yarns will not be available in all areas). I would suggest finding a pattern that uses a bulky weight (6) type of yarn. It will stitch up faster and it will be easier for you to work with as a newbie.
As you are going through the pattern and see an acronym you aren’t familiar with just go to YouTube and type it into the Search section. Sometimes you will want to add the word “crochet” to the acronym to help narrow down your results. This will help you to find a large variety of videos.
Which videos are better? It is 100% personal preference. Personally, I liked people who didn’t go on and on about what they were about to do. I just wanted them to do it so I could follow along and keep moving on with my project. Others might enjoy hearing all that information.
Once you are done watching someone’s video and it was a benefit to you feel free to leave a positive comment or subscribe to their channel. Every blogger/small business owner in this craft (like other crafts) are wanting to help others and it is tremendously rewarding to receive positive feedback that what they are providing is worthwhile. And if you subscribe to their channel you will be notified the next time they upload something new.
I hope this information was helpful to you. Next blog we will be talking about some of my favorite Makers/Designers and I’ll outline some of the beginner patterns I started out making. Before you know it you will have a list of your own!
