know I keep banging on about crochet at the moment but I have a lot of people asking me about how I learned to do it so I thought I’d write blog post about it. (If you don’t give a crap about crochet here’s a post I wrote ages ago about adorable made up words so you can read that today instead). I started to crochet because I’m shit house at sitting still. I like to be constantly doing something. I rarely if ever watch TV without doing something else at the same time and I get up at least every 20 minutes during my work day. I’m pretty twitchy.
Blogging and writing used to be my hobby – I’d teach all day and then come home and spend the rest of the night on my laptop, blogging, writing and social media-ing. I now blog and write full-time which means that when I reach 6pm, I’m ready to hurl my computer against the wall so I need to do something else to keep my brain busy at night. I come from a family of knitters and I’ve tried knitting so many times in my life and I just sucked at it. I couldn’t get my tension right, I’d drop stitches all over the place and I had a terrible technique. My mate Pip from Meet Me at Mike’s is a crocheter and I kept seeing her cute projects pop up in my feed and I thought I’d bite the bullet and book in for a class. That was in March this year so I’ve only been crocheting for 4 months but I’ve come a long way in that time. If you’re keen to get handy with a hook, here’s how to learn to crochet…
1. Do an in-person class
I honestly don’t think I would have picked up crocheting as quickly as I did if I hadn’t booked in for an in-person class. I did mine at Yarn and Co on Smith Street and it was brilliant. My lovely teacher (who’s name I cannot for the life of me remember) pointed out all the bits and pieces that I couldn’t figure out from YouTube tutorials. It was like $80 for a private class and it’s easily the best money I’ve spent this year. I did an ask around on Facebook for some good crochet classes around Australia so here’s a few you might be interested in (if you know of others please let me know in the comments and I’ll add it to the post).
Wool School in Sydney – This one is run by one of our gorgeous students of Little Blog Big. You should check out her blog Paper and Pin – it’s beautiful!
Morris & Sons in Melbourne – this is a shop too and it is DANGEROUS.
Yarn & Co in Melbourne – this is where I went and it was rad. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
Mockingbird Lounge in Adelaide
Yarn Over in Brisbane
2. Make at least 25 granny squares
For the first month, I only made granny squares. During this time I developed my style and learned how to keep my tension consistent. Granny squares are super portable and teach you basic stitches, fastening off and changing yarn colours. I’d recommend making quite a few of these before you move on to anything more complicated.
3. Buy some books
There are some fantastic free resources available on the web but I was really able to crank my crocheting up a notch when I purchased a few books. I’ve found that web crochet instructions are sometimes incomplete or not very clear. There are some fantastic free resources on the web (hello Ravelry!) but I’ve personally had more consistent results from patterns that I’ve paid for online or bought in books. These are my three favourite books I’ve bought so far and they’re perfect for beginners. Particularly beginners that like modern crochet.
Sally Harding Crochet Step by Step
4. Find some websites you love
I’m quite specific about the patterns and colours I like in crocheting. I don’t love crazy bright patterns and traditional granny square style rugs, so I follow more minimalist crocheters like All About Ami and Molla Mills. I also love Crochet in Colour and Attic 24 and I use their patterns but adapt the colour scheme to suit my more muted tastes. If you have a cruise around I’m sure you’ll be able to find a crocheter that suits your tastes.
5. Practice, practice, practice
Practice really does make perfect when it comes to crocheting, so do it as often as you can. In front of the TV at night, while your kids do swimming lessons (I know Retro Mummy does this!), if you’re waiting at the doctor’s office or if you’re on public transport. I do it most nights at around 9pm as my way of winding for the day.
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Are you a crocheter? Do you want to be? Any awesome crochet resources you’d like to share?
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P.S Did you know there’s a Smaggle newsletter? And Smags on Facebook? There’s lots of cool shit in both places so make sure you go to there.