Crochet: Journey so far and pattern reviews

Shortly after starting uni, I was challenged to crochet a wizard in exchange for a hand knitted jumper by my now boyfriend for Christmas - bit random I know but we both loved hand made woollen items. Before this I had only ever crocheted a classic granny square so this was quite a tall order. Nonetheless I succeeded and have gone on to create a multitude of wonderful crocheted things and hope to make more soon! 

Background

Knitted snood

When I was younger, I really enjoyed making those cross-stitch patterns that I then made into cards -I was always way too attached to these to actually give away... this seems to be a recurrent theme to the present. I also used to knit simple scarves and snoods however never put the time in to learn new stitches and just generally didn't get along with knitting. One day I will give knitting another go ... but for now,  I have fallen in love with crochet.
To get going with crochet, I ordered myself a simple kit from amazon that included so many different crochet hook sizes, stitch markers, stitch counters, embroidery needles and a tape measure- i.e. everything you need! Without any knowledge of what wool I actually needed, I then ordered a big pack of 50g yarn balls in many different colours that would hopefully cover any pattern I desired.

Projects

My first pattern I tried was a granny square for which I followed a youtube tutorial- there are so many available! I personally used a video by Bella Coco entitled 'CROCHET: How to crochet a granny square for beginners | Bella Coco' because the method description was very well explained. 

I probably should have done a little more practice, however, I decided to jump into the deep end and make a wizard! Considering this was my first project I am so proud of how it looks- he has been named Wilfred the Wizard and I ended up loving him too much to give away. A huge thank you to Sharon Ojala for posting a 12 part series on how to create this beautiful amigurumi project- this was perfect for me as a beginner as she went through the instructions so clearly and simplified everything so that even I could complete it! The whole project is documented and so easy to follow.

I next purchased  Hooked kit for 'Reindeer Rue' from John Lewis. The instructions were very easy to follow and I love the final product, however, the yarn supplied for the ears, antlers and hooves was not nearly as brown as the one advertised on the front cover. It turned out to be a lot less contrasting to the body giving the final product a very sophisticated reindeer appearance. The yarn supplied is partially recycled which I absolutely love! It is quite a dense yarn so not very soft but it looks very smart. I love the final look so much - welcome to the family Rue!

Here was the advertised photo- as you can see the colours are not the same as the ones actually supplied in the kit.

Project before eyes added

Lenard the Llama was my next project and new pride and joy. The pattern is by 'The Knitty Critters Collection' from the creative world of crafts. I again bought this kit from John Lewis and absolutely loved it! The wool supplied is baby blanket wool and is the softest thing I've ever felt!! I found it quite hard to start the rounds using this wool as it was so fluffy and hard to see the stitches but it was so worth it for the end product!! If you also struggle with this, use a stitch marker and attach it to the start of the round so you know where the first stitch is. I also ended up with some left over wool and so made some extra tassels for the poncho. LOVE

Next up is the iPad case I made for my wonderful boyfriend♥ Initially, I was following a pattern in crochet book of his mothers, however, I ended up adding a flap at the top of the case with a button closing it and changing all the colours involved- mostly because I didn't want to buy any more yarn! If I was to repeat the pattern I think I wouldn't include the flap and instead have a button and thread just holding the iPad inside it. The main pattern is alternating green rows and different pastel coloured rows, each containing spike stitches. I think this whole pattern is very cute and cosy and he was very pleased with it so thumbs up all round!

I followed a pattern in 'Susie Johns book of Crocheted Cushions' to make this highly textured bobbly cushion! I was very excited to do this project as it involved a stitch I'd never done before called a 'bobble stitch' -nice and easy to remember! The design had the reverse side as bobbles (i.e. the same as the front) however I decided to redesign it to have two pieces that overlap and are buttoned together - we shall see if I ever actually sew on the buttons... I think it looks absolutely gorgeous and I am loving the colour- the design was in a gorgeous burgundy which I would have 100% normally chosen however I am trying to create a blue colour theme in my room thus lilac-blue it is ♥ 

I have loved crocheting so far- I find it so relaxing and also allows me to feel productive while watching TV. There are so many projects I still want to try- next one is a big grey soft cushion!

Why not give some crochet a go

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