Shannon Mullett-Bowlsby - Complete Crochet Course: The Ultimate Crochet Guide

The authors would like to dedicate this book to all the women and men who continue to pick up hooks, learn new techniques, and make beautiful objects for themselves and the world around them.

To Anoree Kay Bowlsby, aka Mom.

Four words from you launched this wonderful journey weve been on the past several years. Thank you for all the conversations about the craft, fit, style, and teaching. And most of all, thank you for always believing in us. We know you would have been proud of this book.

As teachers, we love to ask our students when and why they became interested in learning crochet. What weve learned is that some of us come by crochet naturally as a result of being around family who wielded hooks to make afghans, cozy sweaters, and toys. Others are spurred to pick up the hook by the birth of a baby or upon seeing the latest crochet garments walk down the runway at Fashion Week. Still others come to crochet as a therapeutic way to keep their hands active and their minds calm. Whatever your reason, or however far along the path you are, we are thrilled that your crochet journey has led you here to our book.

Crochet is this wonderfully intriguing and often mesmerizing activity in which we use a hook to pull loops of yarn, string, wire (or any other material we can grab with that hook) through other loops. This simple repetition of pulling loops through loops results in the creation of beautiful fabrics and holds limitless possibilities for expressions both artistic and practical.

Historically, crochet has largely been a skill passed along through oral tradition: one craftsperson passing along their knowledge of the craft to the next through generations of family members and friends. As with all crafts passed along orally, we have been witness to regional and even family-specific terminology and techniques that are not always accessible universally. While this leads to a rich sense of heritage, it also lends itself to many problems, since we have transitioned within the last century to more formally written patterns and increasingly complex projects, requiring a universal language across the entire craft of crochet. This means that if we want to recreate a pattern from a magazine and have it look identical to the item photographed, then we all must speak the same language!

Designers must be able to tell you in written language where to put your hook and how to pull up loops so you can recreate the designs I have made here in my studio. You must be able to understand that written language exactly as intended so you can reproduce the results. No longer can you just assume that what your grandma called a shell stitch is the same thing your uncle calls a shell stitch. Odds are high that they are two very different things that will produce dramatically different fabrics.

In addition to teaching you new techniques and improving upon your existing crochet skills, one of the purposes of this book is to solidify that universal language, and to give greater definition to our existing language. Using a clear and consistent crochet language ensures that we have a uniform way of passing on the skills of our craft. Those skills can be embellished upon with time and practice.

Jason and I have put all of our passion for teaching and the art of crochet into the book you are now holding in your hands. We fervently hope you will digest the information we give you, use the step-by-step instructions, photos, and illustrations to make the practice swatches and projects in this book, and learn how to create FAB crochet fabric for yourself.

Whether you come to the Complete Crochet Course as an absolute beginner or as an experienced crocheter looking to upgrade your hooking skills, we hope you take away a passion for crochet that is all your own, which you can share with your family, friends, and the fiber arts community.

STITCH ON!

S&J

The joy derived from the act of grabbing yarn with your hook and pulling that yarn through loops to make a new loop and thus creating fabric; this is, in the purest sense, the essence of crochet.

This book was created not only for new crocheters but also as the go-to reference book for crocheters who have more experience with a hook. We have organized Complete Crochet Course so you can start at the beginning and work your way through to the end, gaining more knowledge and developing your skills as you go, or you can look up a specific page or section to see a technique or stitch you are curious about.

Both of us are, by nature, teachers, which means we want you to succeed at learning to crochet and at upping your crochet skills! To that end, the crochet stitches and techniques within Complete Crochet Course are organized as if you were taking a live class from us, and the layout of each section is designed to optimize your learning experience.

We start with the basic skills needed to make stitches with a hook and yarn, then progress to the next layer of stitches and skills based on your knowledge of those basics. We continue in this manner, building each new skill upon the last, until you are making more complex stitches and stitch patterns, and are then ready to apply them to the projects we have created for you.

Here are some of the special features youll find throughout Complete Crochet Course.

This section is full of all the information you need to know even before you pick up a hook and yarn. We start off by introducing you to the larger focus of this book, which is making fabric. Then, we describe the tools you will use to crochetincluding a quick primer on the makeup of yarnsbefore we get down to the nitty-gritty of picking up your hook and yarn. Next, we describe the parts of a crochet stitch and walk you through how to make stitches by inserting your hook into different parts of a stitch. Finally, we dive into pattern reading, ensuring you can understand the instructions in this book for the tutorials and projects. You will also find information about swatching, blocking, and how to tension your yarn to achieve proper gauge.