Books - My First Crochet Book

You may need help from an adult. C rochet is a great craft that you can quickly learn yourself with just a hook and some yarn. Youll soon be able to make hats, bags, cushions, and cute toys in funky colors, to keep for yourself or to give as gifts. In this book there are four chapters: Clothes and Accessories, with bags, belts, hats, and scarves that will add some fun to your wardrobe; Jewelry, where youll find a beaded necklace, bracelets, some pretty pins, and even a tiara; Bedroom Essentials, with some fabulous ideas for adding comfortable and colorful pillows and storage ideas to liven up your room; and Perfect Gifts, where youll find things to make that are ideal presents for your family and all your friends. Crochet is a great hobby for when you have a quiet moment, perhaps on a long journey, on vacation or on a rainy afternoon. Why not invite a friend over to crochet with you, too? Crochet can be a bit fiddly to learn at the start, but youll soon master the basic stitches.

You can start by learning to make chains, and turn these into friendship bracelets to share. And once you learn to crochet in the round youll be amazed at how quickly you can create something really impressive, like the cute Mushroom on . To help you decide what to make, we have marked all the projects with one, two, or three smiley faces to show how easy or difficult they are. Projects marked with one smiley face are the easiest, two smiley faces mean the project is slightly harder, and those with three smiley faces are the ones to tackle once youve had a bit of practice. Theres a list of all the crochet stitches and techniques you will use at the start of each project, and the pages where you can find the stitch and technique instructions if you need them. There is also a list of everything you will need for each project, including the yarns and colors used in the projects.

If you want to, you can choose your own colors and even a different brand of yarn as long as you use a similar type of yarn (such as worsted or Aran) and the same size hook, the pattern will still work. Some projects need buttons, felt, and scraps of fabric or ribbons, so its good to put together a sewing box that contains the basicsthen youll be ready to create anything! You need just two items to start crocheting: a hook and some yarn. However, there are a few other bits and pieces that youll need to make some of the projects in this bookbut none of them are expensive and youll probably have some of them at home already. Crochet hook Hooks come in different materials and sizes. Each pattern tells you the size youll need to make the project. Beads These are great for adding extra decoration or sparkle to a project.

Just sew them on when the crochet is complete or crochet them into the pattern. Stitch marker Markers are used, especially in rounds, where you need to keep track of the beginning of a row or a certain point in your crochet. You can use a piece of thread in a bright color or a store-bought marker that looks like a safety pin. Buttons Another way of adding color and decoration, buttons are especially good as eyes for toys. Scissors Always cut your yarn with scissors, dont break it, even when the pattern says break yarn. Sewing needle and thread Youll need these to sew decorations and felt additions to your projects.

Scraps of fabric Keep a sewing basket with scraps of fabric, felt, ribbons and trimmings close by you to help finish some of the projects and add your own personal touch. Yarns You can crochet with all the same yarns that are used for knitting, including some metallic yarns and even string or twine. The projects give you the brand and type of yarn used but if you cant find an exact match you will still be able to crochet using a similar type of yarn. For example, if the pattern uses an Aran weight yarn, any type of Aran yarn can be substituted. You can find details of the type of yarn on the ball label, together with suggestions for hook sizes. Getting started Holding the hook There are two ways of holding the hook in crochet, and you can choose whichever of these feels most natural for you.

Pick up your hook in your right hand if you are right-handed, or left if you are left-handed, as though you were picking up a pen or pencil, or as if you were picking up a knife, if that feels more comfortable.