My nana tried to teach me when I was a kid, and Mrs Rolley had a go in Home Ec in about 1978, and both times I sat there with yarn in one hand, a hook in the other, and a look of complete bewilderment on my face.
I simply could not connect the two hands. They felt like foreign objects, and my brain refused to have anything to do with them.
You might think this would lead me to believe I would have trouble this time round, but you would be wrong.
I sailed into the project, full of confidence, and then, as it became more and more obvious that I was, in fact, a crochet idiot, my confidence morphed into dogged determination.
I know, right? it took me by surprise, too. Normally I give up at the first sign of difficulty.
Did you know that YouTube is full of video tutorials that are not in the least bit helpful?
I know this because I'm fairly sure I found most of the begin-to-crochet ones that actually didn't teach me anything apart from how to make dirty, tight little knots.
Eventually, though, I hit the jackpot.
I found Mikey.
And I love him, more than a little bit. He saved my sanity.
So if, like me, you are thinking of taking the plunge into the dark and strange world of hooking, or crochet if you want to be perfectly correct, may I present, for your viewing pleasure, the wonderful...
MAGIC MIKEY.
lesson 1: holding the yarn and hook
lesson 2: hook size, gauge, and chaining
lesson 3: how to single crochet (US term) or double crochet (UK/Aus term)
That should get you started, though he has plenty more available!
You should try and chain a few hundred kilometres of yarn to get the rhythm going. If you can manage it in less kilometres, go you!
Once you feel confident that you have some sort of tension and technique happening, try moving on to learning the single/double stitch (depending on whether you're American or English/Aussie.
The conflict between the US and UK terminology is VERY confusing.
Here's a list of the basic terms:
If you can, make a copy of the pattern you're working from, and substitute the correct terms so you don't get confused.
Your hook may use an American or UK size ( a number or letter) or a metric size. Here's a comparison chart for that, too.
I hope this helps, good luck!
