I finally tried crochet! Here are my thoughts about it.
And years ago, I've tried knitting with plastic yarn (plarn) and chopsticks, I like it, I think it is fun, and I don't remember having a hard time doing it. I knew besides knitting, there's also this craft called crochet, so then I thought why not try it this time? I thought, like I really thought, the yarn and the needle that is used in crochet can be used in cross stitching too. So I decided to buy a simple crochet beginner kit.
Apparently I was wrong. Crochet yarn are so much bigger than cross stitch yarn, and so the eye on the needle. So I needed to buy another pack that is really for cross stitch, but that is for another story.
Today, I want to share what I thought about crochet! Okay, so right of the bat, I feel crochet is so much harder than knitting! A lot of people seems to think other wise, since first, knitting use two sticks instead of one like crochet, and the active stitches are a lot on the stick. You are not working with just one stitch at a time as in crochet. But I think the opposite, in knitting, I can clearly see which loop should I go for the next stitch. But with crochet, it is really hard for me to see where should I go next. I keep forgetting where I went last time. Like did I went to this stitch, or the one next to it? This makes me do an extra crochet so it becomes an increase, or it makes me do a skip, so then there's a gap on my project. So I feel like I have to frog (pull the crochet to redo it) all the time. I hate hate this so much.
And then, the second hard thing in crochet that I noticed is my yarn keep slipping out of my left hand! It took me a few days to get used to it. Like how should I put the yarn on my left hand so it doesn't keep falling over. And even now, once I think, I can get a hold of it better, I still struggle with the tension. I feel like I keep making it too tense.
The third thing is, I keep pulling some strand part I shouldn't pull on the yarn. The yarn that I used is like composed of about 5 individual strands, and it is quite often for me to pull strands from the other part of the stitch when I go through a loop. Though finally I found a way to reduce this from happening. First, you need to make sure that the stitches aren't too tight, so there's enough room to pull the hook with out it being stuck to other strand, and then the second tip is to angle the hook downwards, so it doesn't pull on the top part of the stitch that it went through, and then the third tip is to give a little tension to the active yarn so there won't be enough room for other strands to get in the hook. And I just got this, the fourth tip is, use a smaller hook so there's no room for other strands to get stuck too.
The fourth hard thing I found in crochet is counting! Okay though I have no comparison with knitting, since I've never knit circular things, but yeah, I guess this is also a little bit related to the first hard thing I mentioned above.
Okay, I think that's all for the hard things, now I'm going to mention some things that is a little bit more positive (maybe). First is that crochet is more flexible than knitting, as in it is easier for you to make various shapes and forms. You can literally go anywhere from the current stitch.
The second good thing is, the stitch steps are pretty easy. From slip stitch, single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet, and so on, the pattern are logical. Like the difference between them is just an added step. And a magic ring is just repeating a single crochet on a double chain stitch. The increase and decrease are very logical too.
Alright, so I think that's all about my first thoughts, so let's get into the actual project that I did. So at first, I really want to make this cute small frog keychain, but I wasn't happy with the stitch that I made. My stitches aren't regular enough. Just to let you know, I already know that for amigurumi (stuffed/doll crochet), it is better to do under the yarn, then over the yarn. But still, my stitches aren't regular enough, and the first hard point that I mentioned is really unmotivating. I want to do my frog perfectly. So then I decided to switch to something simpler. So I decided to make a lemon keychain.
To be honest, the stitches on my lemon are not perfect either, but I tolerate it much more than if it were on my frog. And I really need to actually make one finished project first regardless of the quality to kind of give me a reward so that I don't give up on crochet, you know. I need something tangible to show my progress. So yeah, that's how I made my lemon keychain.
I guess my favorite part of this project is the leaves, because it really showcases the flexibility of crochet. I can make it shaped like a leaf!
But yeah, I think that's all for this blog. I hope the next time I pick up crochet again (when I have more free time), I will revisit the frog. Because I really really want to make it! Besides that, I also have been looking at other cute things to make, like turtles! But that's for another story. 😊
Frog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPLw355E0IQ
Lemon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD-RBrau-10
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