Many of you have been suggesting that I do this post for a long time now, so today I'm finally getting round to updating you all on my knitting and crocheting progress including how I've been learning and what I've been making. So many of you guys seem to be into crafting in a big way right now, so whether you're a seasoned pro or just thinking about taking up a woolen craft of some sort, hopefully this will give you some inspiration, or at the very least, a bit of amusement.
I decided to take up knitting last summer. My boyfriend and I had just moved house and I seized the opportunity to learn whilst I had the enthusiasm - I'd wanted to learn for ages. I haven't included any pictures of my knitting because, whilst I took quite a few to document my progess, it's all pretty rubbish. And who wants to see photos of strange shaped bits of wool with holes in, right? I find knitting fairly difficult, mainly because I'm never quite sure how to correct my mistakes. I'm sticking with it though, and it certainly helps that I have a decent set of bamboo Cath Kidston knitting needles, a Christmas gift from Sam and Leighton, my boyfriend's sister and brother-in-law.
I then decided to take up crochet, probably due to the fact that I was getting frustrated with my knitting at the time and I just wanted to succeed at something (and I also had a whole load of wool to use up!). I'm so glad I did, because even though I don't consider myself an expert, I find it a lot easier, plus you can make pretty much anything with a ball of wool and a crochet hook. I started out with my boyfriends mum Barbara (who made a lovely granny square blanket that we have on our bed) giving me the quickest tutorial ever. But I mastered the granny square basics fairly quickly and after a lot of trial and error, managed to whip up my first project whilst on a family holiday; a little crochet bag that was very quickly snapped up by my lovely niece Lyla (see super cute photo number 1, below).
Once I'd mastered the art of the granny square, I quickly progressed on to learning how to change and work with different colours, crocheting in the round (to make hats, etc.) and crocheting flat (for scarves, snoods and that sort of thing). Despite having many books on crafting, knitting and crochet, I'm not that great at following any sort of written pattern. I can do it, but it can get super confusing with all those abbreviations and symbols and it never takes long before I get annoyed and have to take a break. I've always found it easier to learn when I'm shown how, and so I started to crochet along to YouTube tutorials. I've found it a great way to master even the most complicated of stitches and it's how I've managed to make the majority of the projects I've crocheted. If I don't follow a specific pattern, I find that with a general idea of the finished item, plus my knowlege of most stitches, I can pretty much make it up and see where it takes me, sometimes with very surprising and exciting results (this is how I made the smaller lilac snowflakes, picured below).
One of the best things about being able to knit and crochet is that you can make very unique and inexpensive gifts. One of my biggest (and first) projects was a huge grey snood I made my brother for Christmas. To my relief, he loved it and my mum was so taken with it that she wanted one for herself. I then made her a smaller multicoloured one, which she is very kindly modelling in a picture below. I also made a set of baby headbands to greet the arrival of our newest member of the family, our baby niece Emma (see super cute photo number 2!). After spending a day with my friend Kristy (who's blog I will link here) and her teaching me how to make crochet flowers, I was stitching them on to everything!
So what do you need to start learning? All it really takes is a pair of knitting needles or a crochet hook (I bought my first pair of knitting needles from a charity shop and purchased my set of crochet hooks from Amazon for around £5), some wool (which you can get for a really decent quality and price from market stalls or charity shops) and either a crochet/knitting pattern or YouTube. There are of course, many different ways of learning any craft, but if you're just starting out, I highly recommend YouTube as not only can you see what your project is supposed to look like, but every step is explained for you in more detail which I think helps your understanding of the whole process. Check out Australian crochet channel Bobwilson123 - they have some great tutorials and cover everything from mastering basic stitches to more complicated individual projects. I guess it's all about finding what works best for you.
I'm currently working on a multicoloured afghan blanket which I'm really enjoying making but which is taking forever (I think I started it about three months ago). I've also included a picture below so you can see how it's shaping up.
What projects are you currently working on and what inspires you? Tweet me your project pics to @Fashion_Rockets, tag me in your pics via Instagram (@fashionrockets) or simply leave a comment below. It's always great to see what you guys are making plus I love sharing ideas as I always get some great inspiration.
Hope you've all found this helpful and as always, thanks for reading!
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