Tackling a Hook

• Posted on 1 December 2024
• By Anne
• 0

After years (and years) identifying as a 'knitter', I've branched out, vowing to conquer the art of hooks and knots. Many, many, many trials and errors later, I'm proud to declare myself an amateur crocheter. And loving my new found skill.

I’ve doggedly resisted taking on any new fiber art that might take away from time playing with needles and pretty string. Spinning? Nope. Weaving? A hard no. Embroidery? Well, maybe. That crack in my resolve opened the door to pick up a hook and give it a go. And to my surprise, I really am enjoying this new skill.

It all started with Knitted Wit’s ShannaJean Club and Explore the Rainbow. Each month in 2023, a new color released, followed the next month by a coordinating speckle. And two blanket patterns, one knitted and the other crocheted. A very simple pattern, with a small amount of work each month, so I decided to give it a go. Armed with a very helpful ‘how-to’ book, colorful yarn, and a hook, I was off. And looking forward to each new color. Several months into it, however, I hit a road bump. Two of my fellow yarnologists noticed my blanket had taken on a somewhat irregular shape, growing wider with each additional color. First lesson – you do have to count and not add double crochets as you progress. And first wonderful discovery – rather than tinking, correcting crocheted mistakes involves merely pulling out the hook, frogging back to the error, reinserting your hook, and starting up again. Wow! That alone makes me love this new found craft.

Blanket finished, and off to the next project. This time I tackled granny squares. Coinciding with the release of The Barbie Movie, MadTosh created a whole palette of Barbie inspired colors. Ken-ergy, Trapper Keeper, Beach Bonfire, Electromagic - perfect for their Groovy Granny Scarf. And my granddaughter, who switched from knitting to crochet with the discovery of amigurumi, helped with the finishing touches – fringe. A colorful journey back in time.

And now I’m on to my third, and most challenging crochet adventure. Again from MadTosh, a cowl. Meaning crochet in the round. They recently released the Icicle Cowl, which uses three colors of worsted weight yarn. A bigger hook, so a quick project right? Well, if you know me, wrong. For so many reasons. First, and much like my problem with new knitting projects, I can never decide on just one color scheme. So of course, I’m crocheting two – one with some more neutral colors, and one with pink. So twice the time to get a store sample complete. But the even more daunting issue is my crochet skills, or lack there of. A lesson I just can’t seem to learn – know what you’re doing before getting started. The pattern involved a few new stitches, and as mentioned, working in the round. Do you think I practiced those before diving into the cowl? No way. So of course, I hit the wall several times. Where to put my hook, which stitches, spaces, to count, . . . the list goes on! Thank you Shelly for your patience and advice. My guess is you had a few good chuckles and eye rolls with each of my silly questions. Alas, after several false starts, and a lot of ripping out, I think I’ve gotten the hang of this thing, and am making real progress on both cowls.

So that’s the story of my foray into the world of crochet. And I’m very delighted to say I’m loving it. Something about the repetitious movement of the hook is so soothing. I plan to always have something involving a hook at the ready, giving me a calming break from my plethora of knitting endeavors. And the craziness of life in general. A new title to my repertoire – amateur crocheter.