Left Handed Crochet

To start, wrap the yarn around your fingers of the hand NOT holding the hook, try one of these ways:

Hold your work with your MIDDLE finger and your thumb, use your INDEX finger to keep tension on  the yarn:

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When at the end of the row you need to chain one so that you go "up" a row, this will create your "turning stitch":

To do this: wrap the yarn around the hook trying to move the "HOOK" to do the work. 

Pull the wrap of yarn through the first loop on the hook: 

Now you're ready to turn.  Flip the work, keeping the hook above the work stationary, do not remove it from the yarn loop.  Keep the work that you end at closest to you and let the other side sweep away:

You've turned and you're ready to work back across:

Skip the first "hole" and go into the second!  Pick which one you think then look at the next picture: 

 Go through that hole from front to back under the two legs of the "V":

 Wrap the yarn around the hook (try to move the hook to snag the yarn):

 Pull the yarn through the main body of crochet and pull up a loop, you now have two loops on your hook:

Wrap the yarn around the hook again and pull through both loops on the hook: 

You now have one loop on the hook and are ready to make the next stitch.

When you get close the end of your work the last stitch will get hard to see.  

There are three stitches remaining:

Two stitches remain: 

One stitch remains, but it's hard to see...

Go through the two legs of the "V" and make your final stitch of the row.

 If you turn too soon and do not make the final stitch your work will look something like this and you will not have enough stitches:

If you do not skip the first "hole" your work will grow off the edge, this picture shows an extra stitch in the row: 

The following pictures show the steps used to make a single crochet, you can see the hand positioning.  The first series of pictures uses the "KNIFE" method of holding the hook, go farther down to see the "PENCIL" holding method:

Note how the hand NOT holding the hook has the index finger keeping tension on the yarn, you will move your index finger up and down a little bit as your forming the stitch to take up the slack.  Allow the yarn to slide through your fingers as you need it to form stitches.  Try to use the hook to wrap the yarn instead of moving your non-hook hand:

The following series of pictures shows how to make a single crochet holding the hook in the "PENCIL" method:

Right Handed Crocheting

To start, wrap the yarn around your fingers of the hand NOT holding the hook, try one of these ways:

Hold your work with your MIDDLE finger and your thumb, use your INDEX finger to keep tension on  the yarn:

When at the end of the row you need to chain one so that you go "up" a row, this will create your "turning stitch":

 

To do this: wrap the yarn around the hook trying to move the "HOOK" to do the work.  

Pull the wrap of yarn through the first loop on the hook: 

Now you're ready to turn.  Flip the work, keeping the hook above the work stationary, do not remove it from the yarn loop.  Keep the work that you end at closest to you and let the other side sweep away:

You've turned and you're ready to work back across:

Skip the first "hole" and go into the second!  Pick which one you think then look at the next picture: 

Go through that hole from front to back under the two legs of the "V":

 Wrap the yarn around the hook (try to move the hook to snag the yarn):

Pull the yarn through the main body of crochet and pull up a loop, you now have two loops on your hook:

Wrap the yarn around the hook again and pull through both loops on the hook:

You now have one loop on the hook and are ready to make the next stitch.

When you get close the end of your work the last stitch will get hard to see.  

There are three stitches remaining:

Two stitches remain:

One stitch remains, but it's hard to see...

Go through the two legs of the "V" and make your final stitch of the row.

If you turn too soon and do not make the final stitch your work will look something like this and you will not have enough stitches:

If you do not skip the first "hole" your work will grow off the edge, this picture shows an extra stitch in the row:

The following pictures show the steps used to make a single crochet, you can see the hand positioning.  The first series of pictures uses the "KNIFE" method of holding the hook, go farther down to see the "PENCIL" holding method:

Note how the hand NOT holding the hook has the index finger keeping tension on the yarn, you will move your index finger up and down a little bit as your forming the stitch to take up the slack.  Allow the yarn to slide through your fingers as you need it to form stitches.  Try to use the hook to wrap the yarn instead of moving your non-hook hand:

The following series of pictures shows how to make a single crochet holding the hook in the "PENCIL" method:

PICKLES! Just a little yarn fun.

I love the Pickles comic strip especially when the guy gets it right about knitting, crochet, yarn... (c:

http://www.gocomics.com/pickles/2012/09/11
http://www.gocomics.com/pickles/2007/07/02/
http://www.gocomics.com/pickles/2011/12/30
http://www.gocomics.com/pickles/2013/01/08

1st project of 2013 completed!

Granted, I started this project last year, but I finished it on the 4th.  I completed the Bloomster socks found in the first edition of The Sock Report.  They have been blocked and are currently on display at the studio as they were intended as a shop sample.  I knitted them in Solemate by Lorna's Laces in Watercolor.

So, did I have to rip back 10 rows or did I finally sort out that pattern?  By the time I had made the mistake I had completed the pattern at least 2 dozen times.  I knew it was there even if no one else did and I had to fix the mistake.  Very anti my normal knitting philosophy.  I think that it probably wouldn't have unraveled with the lost stitch but I just had to be safe.

After dinner (and a tall glass of potent beer) we ended up needing to leave the restaurant because it was getting too loud to communicate.  Not ready to part ways we found a Starbucks and over a desert coffee we continued our chat.  I pulled my sock out twice while we were drinking coffee but I still wasn't ready to deal with the bird's nest.

Later that night when both the depressant of beer and the stimulant of coffee had worn off I sat down to a mess of needles and string with a bright light hovering somewhere over my head.  Everything became clear.  I dropped off a few stitches that I had picked up erroneously in my attempts to find the missing stitch, I found that missing stitch and worked back up the five stitches wide by ten rows block.  The pattern lay seamlessly before me.  It was a thing of beauty.

I knitted away finishing the final repeat and even got the ribbing on one sock done.  All that was left to do was the other ribbing and bind offs.  That would be for another day.

That day came on Thursday this week.  What also came was learning a new bind off:  Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off.  I opened the book that I was going to use and bound off the first three stitches.  Something wasn't right.  Why would a pattern call for you to do a 2x2 ribbing and bind off with a 1x1 type binding.  I picked up my pattern and realized that the 2x2 ribbing was in my head.  I pulled back the ten rows of ribbing I had completed and started again, yarn to the back knit, yarn to the front purl... ad nauseum.  I ribbed one sock during that open studio and started the bind off again.

Friday was here and with it came the second sock's ribbing and another bind off.  I dunked the socks in Soak and water, eventually rolled them up into a towel and slid them over my homemade sock blockers.  Overall I was very satisfied with the entire process, the pattern was simple but lovely, and it has given me several ideas for new patterns.  A picture will come soon.  I forgot to take one when I finished!

Sock update...

It has been some time since I was able to spend any amount of energy toward the completion of my most recent pair of socks.  The end is now in site!  I have one more pattern repeat on sock 2 and then the ribbing on both.  The hazards that plauged me at the start of the socks have thankfully not followed.  For the most part at least.  I had not knitted on the socks in weeks because there was the rush to finish up a couple hand made Christmas presents and I'm sure a few more projects I can't think of at the moment.

Yesterday's efforts were more along the lines of figuring out "what the heck did I do?"  The pattern called for five stitches at the beginning of the round before the chart was worked.  I had four.  Four?  What happened to the fifth?  Where did it go?  I didn't drop it in an obvious place, no that would have been too easy.

I looked over the work and scrutinized the pattern placement over the last ten rows.  Somewhere, ten rounds ago the stitch went missing.  Pull back ten rows or figure a way to pick up the stitch?  I sat on a bench inside the entrance to a restaurant where we'd be meeting a friend for dinner.  The lighting was dim but I had to work to try, it was the only project I had with me!

The fix became less about knitting time and more about problem solving.  I thought this pattern was so simple.  Sure it involved a few yarn overs, wrapping stitches a couple times, and even carrying stitches up a few rows but it was THAT hard.  Where could I have made a mistake, and how had I not noticed it for ten rounds?

I saw what might have been a dropped stitch tucked firmly behind a cluster of pattern stitches.  I picked it up with the empty needle and gently nursed enough yarn out of the stitches on either side to form a new stitch.  I worked up ten rows.  Something didn't look right.  I dropped the row I'd just made and tried again.  Still no good.

I was working with five stitches that were the trouble area.  Could I drop these five stitches down and figure out how to rework the pattern from there AND create a new stitch?  Why not.  In that dim light I slipped a stitch off the right hand needle and let it rest in space.  Then I pulled.  Four more stitches followed the first one.  A mass of twisty threads dangled off the back side of the work and challenged me to tame them back into smooth rows.

I leaned forward squinting at the mess.  Was that a stitch?  What about that one?  The four needles that held the rest of the work took their turns being nudged out of half their stitches as I twisted the free needle around and through the bird's nest.  Occasionally when I was working with the tips of the adjacent needles to try to form stitches the one holding the few intentionally dropped stitches would shoot out and plink across the tile floor.  The hostess kept looking at me funny.

Did I mention that I was in a low light restaurant waiting for a friend?  Ten minutes after the time that we were supposed to meet we decided to get a table and order an appetizer... and a beer!  I salvaged what I thought was one stitch but the light at the table was worse so I nursed my beer and tapped my idle fingers on the tabletop.

Maybe I should just rip back the ten rows and be done with it... to be continued...

Crochet Village

A couple of months ago I finished the crocheted barn and silo for the Indianapolis Crochet Guild.  I started it a couple of months plus one week ago.  A great deal of furious crocheting gave me a silo in a couple days the barn took less than 24 hours.

The project was a donation from the Indianapolis Crochet Guild to the Indiana State Museum.  The buildings we donated would be assembled as a "village" around the pendulum clock located in the spiral staircase of the museum.

I had committed to donating the silo but it looked sad and lonely without a barn.  I think I was intoxicated by the completed project which caused me to completely loose my head and imagine that I could finish the barn the next day (the day after that was when it was due).

A pound of red yarn worked with a random pattern of slip stitches, single crochets, half double crochets, and double crochets all through the back loops produced the illusion of irregular siding for the barn walls.

The roof was a half pound of doubles worked at a fever pitch.

When the end was in sight I wrapped what was essentially a "scarf" around my chosen box and found that it was about 8 inches too short.  More yarn, more rows added to both the sides and the roof, and an hour later I was 80% there.  I then picked up stitches along the top of the "ends" of the barn sides then worked back and forth decreasing to a point to fill in the gaps.

A little hot glue and a bit of sewing the pieces to the box with darning needle and yarn produced the completed product.

Except there were no doors... no windows!  How would the horses get in?  How would the owls get out?  During the meeting on Saturday morning I put together doors and attached them with crocheted chains and tacking stitches so that they would be raised off the side of the building.  Windows were a length of chain stitches tacked down in a square.  Complete.

Almost.  I gave a nod to all those lovely quilt designs you find on barns but this one had that crochet twist.  With a little yarn leftover I put together a granny square and tacked it to the eave.

Done.  Really.  Done.

On display in the museum.

My worst fear... I joked about giving the museum "fluffing" instructions. I should have been serious, that's a giant thumb print in the roof of the silo!

You can sort of see the granny square on the eave.

There was some concern as to the pendulum knocking the buildings over. Though it swung close, it never got near enough to do damage.  

Third floor looking down.

More photos can be seen at my flickr page.