I'm In Trouble Now!

I learned to knit as a young girl.  My Aunt taught me the initial stitches and then later on when I was most of the way through elementary school, a friend's Grandma helped me to keep it up.  I then started taking 4H and one of the topics we learned about was knitting and how yarns are made.  Needless to say, I have enjoyed knitting for quite some time now.  Crochet on the other hand, is totally beyond me.

For some reason, I just cannot get my head around the loopdy-flippidy-round-and-round business.  I've been shown "how to" over and OVER and OVER again.  I've tried looking at little "Crochet Made Easy" brochures and still my brain doesn't grasp whatever that little hooky-hook is doing to the yarn when it goes in and out of holes and somehow magically makes an intricate fabric of stitches and loops.  Don't even get me started on written out crochet patterns and the diagrams of flowery things that are supposed to mean something other than a nice picture to colour and put on the wall.

Well, I finally decided that enough was enough.  I have been desperate for a granny square blanket for a long time now, however there doesn't seem to be a soul out there who will have pity one me and make one... Or even just the squares.  

>> Enter my computer from stage left <<  

Helllllllo YouTube!  That's right!  I figured out that YouTube is the bomb for just about anything to do with anything you need visual instructions for.  And crocheting a granny square is definitely one them!  I searched for a while to find a video that was suitable and discovered this one that even has classical music playing in the background.  It must enhance my learning ability or something because I actually made a square!!  Now, this of course is not forgetting that I must have paused, rewound, paused, replayed, paused, listened again, paused, and started over enough times for me to lose interest in keeping count.

However, all that aside, I MADE A GRANNY SQUARE!  And not only that, I had so much fun that I made a whole bunch more!  I am using an inexpensive yarn purchased for the express purpose of this learning process, thus, if it is a total failure, I will not be out a zillion dollars because I fell in love with a delicious cashmere at some ridiculous price!  I chose a 100% cotton dishcloth fiber by Bernat called Handicrafter.  The colours are very fun and there is a lot of selection.  But, cheap is the operative word here.

After falling in love with this little block, I still have no idea how to read a pattern, crochet something on my own, or really do anything except this exact block.  This didn't stop me from browsing through Blogland to find other creations that look easy to work up with my hooky-hook. 

Photo courtesy attic24's blog.

Photo courtesy Bunny Mummy's blog.

Photo courtesy of Curly Girl's Crochet Etc.'s blog.

Lucy, at attic24, has a fabulous blanket in vibrant colours done in simple stripes.  My good friend Cindy, of Yankee Valley Stitcher, pointed me towards Jacquie's blog (Bunny Mummy) for a fun looking variation on a striped blanket - and it starts with a granny square style!  Sonja has a tutorial for the most darling little block with a flower ever created at her blog Curly Girl's Crochet Etc.

Hooray for me!  I am now up to six completed blocks and four more centers started.  They aren't perfect, but they are perfect enough for me who could never figure it out!  Again, I can't make anything else, I don't understand anything about crochet other than this exact block, but I am having so much fun!

Happy hooky!

Heather