Step 1: Buy All the Things.

One of the fortunate things about having to travel almost every weekend is that I get to some bigger towns that have bigger craft stores and better selections than what I can find at my local Walmarts. I took advantage of a weekend trip this last weekend to hit Hobby Lobby and buy my crocheting supplies. Yes, I decided to go crochet over knitting. Mainly because there's only one hook involved and not two needles, and I'm uncoordinated, so it seemed like one would be easier to manage than two.

I started with a beginner's book--one that was so "beginner" it told me how to buy a crochet hook and thread. I also got two skeins (that's a technical term that means "ball" as near as I can tell) of yarn to practice with, and some yarn needles (the book said I would need these).

Finally, it was time. I sat down with my book and started reading. So far, so good. I managed the simplest of steps with some difficulty: making the slip knot. Then, using the book's diagrams, I made a "chain." Pleased with myself, I sent a picture to my sister-in-law, who crochets, and asked, "How's this?!" I was fully expecting her to text me back a thumbs up or something otherwise encouraging.

She called.

It wasn't quite right.

She suggested I find a youtube video rather than the book. My stitches (or whatever the proper terminology is; I'm still learning) were too tight and I would have difficulty working back through them. Of course, I did not realize I would be working "back through them." I told you I was level Beginner.

I thought that watching a video was a pretty good idea; diagrams have always been hard for me to follow. I found a nice beginner's tutorial on youtube and watched that. About six times.

I don't think this is very good because my stitches or hooks or Vs or whatever aren't even, but I kept practicing, and I think it got better:

I was pretty pleased with this, but then this is where things started getting confusing because I'm left-handed. I decided to switch over to a video that showed how to crochet left-handed, and that cleared things up some, but I still need more practice!

Getting down one side went OK, but I got really lost when it was time to turn around and go back, so that is this week's goal!