To crochet, or not to .....?

With inspiration from of lots of lovely bloggers, and from one of my friends who took up the challenge recently, I embarked on teaching myself to crochet. There's lots of wool lying around in tubs and assorted bags here, so what better way to use up some scraps? But, with the absence of a crocheting relative, it was many lovely American ladies (and one American man) who taught me to crochet via youtube. After many, many videos and nearly taking on an American accent, I got it. But the journey had a rocky start. Let me share my progress (and you can have a little giggle if you want!)

After many hours of fiddling (two evenings worth) I came up with this - my first granny square! Who needs corners and straight edges, accompanied with a flat surface, anyway?

At least Jemima has a cute beanie for those chilly mornings when Hobart has snow on it's mountain! Someone just has to find her clothes.

So I thought I would try something different - a young child's beanie using a pattern from the lovely Corrie. She is a super crochet mum so who better to learn from. Her pattern was clear and well written, but I came up with this:

Very cute, I know. But not quite what I was expecting! Apparently, the hook size, size of wool and number of strands matters. And also, I wasn't doing the chain stitches at the end of each round. But, a cute beanie for a dolly. I bet I couldn't have followed a pattern for a doll beanie!

Despite all this, I got it half way through a Friday night football game. My granny square had corners and straight-ish sides. And so I couldn't stop. The following day, Sarah insisted I teach her - a case of the blind leading the eager learner! Now I can't tell what bits she's done from mine. She even took it to school and did some in free time!!

All with wool I already had - now that's a good feeling. We are learning and having fun - and that's a good feeling too.

Hope you all have some fun today too.
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