If every time you see a crocheted garment you see it as something impossible to do, I tell you, QUIET! EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE. At first there seem to be a lot of things to take into account, the tension, how to grasp the crochet hook, the thread, how to take measurements, remember how each stitch is made, but in reality it is just a matter of practice and a lot of patience! As an old saying goes: Practice makes perfect!
Here are my recommendations for when you get down to work to learn how to crochet!
As I already mentioned, patience and practice come first. It is normal that at the beginning you have to unweave, you do not remember at what point to puncture, it is difficult for you to grasp the thread or the needle, they are super normal things, it happens to all of us and it happens to us when we want to learn a new technique. Something that helped me a lot to learn is to observe each stitch that I am doing so that I can recognize each stitch that I make and say, this is a chain, this is a half point, here I have to click to knit the next stitch and even identify which are the spaces that look like points but are not.
Counting well the stitches you are making on each lap is a good practice to avoid skipping or adding stitches that don't go. Over time this comes out alone, counting will not be so necessary but by looking at the fabric you will realize where the error is. In any case, it is worth clarifying that unweaving is always part of the creation process of any project, even if you have been weaving for a long time for some reason, you always have to unweave :)
I fear tension, it is what generally costs the most, again, a lot of practice and patience. When I learned to weave, I knit very loosely, then very tight, until I found the ideal stitch in which I liked to knit. As you feel more confident you will find your way around to feel super comfortable in the process and very happy with the results.
Samples When designing each project, it is important that you test the point you have chosen, the needle, the thread and how they go with your tension. In this way you can try different threads and crochets to achieve the expected result. Once the sample is as you want, you are ready to get to work!
Materials: There are many types of needles and yarns, at the beginning I always recommend starting with thick threads, of light color and their appropriate needle size so that it is easier to see the stitches we are making. Cotton is the material that I like the most in general, due to its softness and texture, and certain acrylic wools. It is always good to try different types of threads and needles so that we can later choose which materials we feel most comfortable working with. If you want to read more about this topic, I leave you a link to this post "¿What yarn to use for my crochet work?" where, according to my experience, I recommend the materials to use for each type of project you want to do.
I hope these tips will help you and will encourage you to travel this beautiful path that is crocheted, which is undoubtedly a one way route :) It is super addictive and is one of the reasons why it helps us to clear our head, because while we weave time flies, our head also, and we relax 100%.
By the way I tell you that I teach courses online for all levels of experience. If you are interested, you can contact me here or on instagram so that we can chat and organize ourselves to start knitting together.
A big hug.
Bere.
