Should I Dare Move on to More Complex Projects!?!

 

After crocheting quite a few blankets and gaining the ability to read written instructions, I pondered the idea of more complex projects. Once again, I thought of my pregnant coworkers, at this point in time, I worked with four pregnant women. Three of them were having boys and one was having a girl, so I planned on crocheting some booties, beanies, and several headbands. To my surprise all of these items came out super adorable! Whether or not they fit or ever fit was beyond me. 

I then decided to make Christmas ornaments to send to my family and friends as holiday gifts. These were fun to make and for the most part they came out cute. I did notice that each one came out a little different, which was odd considering I was following the same pattern for each one. I guess my ability to follow written instructions wasn’t as up to par as I thought. 

Then came the more creative and risky crocheting. I tested my skills by trying my hand at stuffed animals. I decided I would sacrifice my nephew as the recipient of my first attempt at a crocheted stuffed dinosaur. To say it came out unique was an understatement. This dinosaur looked like the aftermath of a meteorite crashing into Earth. Like a dinosaur whose spikes had given up on spiking. He looked pathetic but my nephew loved him and that’s all that matters, my nephew was also one years old when I gifted the dinosaur to him so I’m sure that had a lot to do with his infatuation with it. 

When reading instructions, the thing that gets me is determining whether or not I’m reading US or UK instructions and if the pattern specifically identifies which one to use, I’m still at a lost. There is a difference in size of stitch or gauge with each one of these, but the terminology is very similar, at least to me. For this particular dinosaur I think the instructions were written for UK crochet stitches, but I read them as US stitches. So, basically the entire dinosaur should have been single crochets, but UK instructions refer to a single crochet as a double crochet, so that’s what I did, I double crocheted the entire dinosaur, which caused it to come out bigger than it was meant to be. Also, the stuffing was more visible with the double crochet stitches. I’m still confusing myself by trying to explain the differences between the two. I did eventually crochet another dinosaur that came out much better! 

I went on to crochet more stuffed animals: teddy bears, unicorns, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Baby Yoda, and more. It is frustrating when a project doesn’t come out the way you had envisioned it to, but with each project comes more experience and mistakes to learn from. Each time you pick up a hook and some yarn is a learning opportunity and a chance to expand your skill set. Your project may come out unique, but you made it and you spent your time to crochet a gift for another person and handmade gifts are the best gifts to receive. 

Happy crocheting my friends!