Teaching Crochet

When I met up with my knitting group on Friday, a few of the ladies wanted to learn how to crochet.  So yesterday afternoon we gave it a go.

I made a quick trip to Jo Ann's in the morning to get the supplies we needed.  I thought we would start out with a dishcloth.  I taught them a chain, and a double crochet stitch.  I think I use these stitches the most so thought they would be a good, basic place to start.  It is amazing how many steps are involved in a double crochet stitch.

I have taught many, many people to knit.  For some reason teaching crochet is much more difficult for me.  You have to break down each and every step.  This is Kaylyn, she is ambidextrous so it was really hard for her as she wants to use both hands equally to do the work.  We tried it left handed and that did not work at all.  One hand has to be the yarn holding/stabilizer hand, and one hand has to hold the hook.  The hook holding hand really needs to do most of the work, but just learning how to angle the head/neck of the crochet hook to pull the yarn through the loop can be difficult.  It is easier with knitting needles, they are straight, no turning is needed to manipulate the stitch. It is hard to figure out how to hold the yarn stable in your left hand, after holding it stable in your right for knitting.  I think after you learn the dimensions of the stitch the tension  part comes later, but that is with a LOT of practice.

Rochelle has done this before, she just needed a refresher.  Just a little bit of info to make it all understandable.  A few words here and there as reminders of what to do.

 

Cathy had had a tough day.  So she picked up her knitting and gave it a go.  I taught Cathy how to knit about 9 years ago.  It really is the thing that has cemented our friendship.  We were friends before, but knitting brought us much closer, we have a yarn bond. 

I also taught Kaylyn how to knit a few years ago, she has recently picked it back up and is doing a fantastic job.  Rochelle learned to knit from her sister.  She makes some amazing things and really has no fear.

I think I need to brush up on my teaching skills if I ever have to teach crochet again.  It is a different beast from knitting.  I love them both and want to spread crochet love just as I do for knitting.  We meet back up in two weeks time, I wonder if I will see any finished dishcloths? I think after a nice dc dishcloth we might be able to do a simple granny square which is a combination of chains and dc, seems easy enough until you are ready to teach it.

Yes I had to buy yarn, but it wasn't for me so it doesn't count.  I wanted cotton as it isn't slippery, you really have to work the stitch, almost an exaggeration of what you would do with a smoother yarn like wool.  I also thought it would be fun to make something right away, something useful.  A lighter color is a must so you can see your stitches and where to place your hook.  Ah, the complexities of teaching, I don't think I am all that patient, and I hope I did not scare anyone off.  

I think the ability to crochet can add so much to your knitting.  Kaylyn made a beautiful knit, chunky scarf for her daughter recently in a gorgeous shade of turquoise.   At knitting group on Friday I whipped up three crochet flowers for her to put on the scarf, with fun buttons in the middle.   It is going to be such a fun thing to wear.  The crochet added so much to the final project. 

It was a fun afternoon spent with yarn and friends.  So even if I wasn't the best teacher, we had a good time.

Hey did you notice my photos?  I did a quick bit of editing on Picasa, and I tried a few things that Jen suggested.  Jen has had many posts on photography, her photos are amazing and she has recently run a series on blogging, go and check it out you will learn a lot.  Jen also directed me to Donna and this great photo workshop information.  Thank you Jen for taking the time to help me out.  The photos look a bit better to me, I hope I can continue to improve with their quality.  Bloggers are the best.  Have a wonderful day and stay warm if you live in the US.