Have you ever been lucky enough to receive crocheted gifts?
I was...
Read my Crochet Story
You can read my story below, or you can click here to get started making your own gifts with some crochet basics.
(Links to all other crochet pages are at the bottom of this page. Click here to skip my story.)
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My Grandma Faye Crocheting My Son's Blanket
My grandmother has made a crocheted blanket for every one of her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and even her great, great grandchildren. Each and every blanket she makes is filled with her love. And we all feel it. I don’t know of one person in my family that doesn’t cherish those amazing blankets. Even as her sight fails, she continues to crochet blankets for all of the new additions to our family. She calls them her Coat of Many Colors blankets. (She can no longer see well enough to match up colors, and only uses the shell stitch and a shell stitch edging.) Anyone lucky enough to get one of those crocheted gifts, can truly feel Grandma's love for them and her love for crochet.
(She's definitely making lemonade out of her lemons!!)
I remember getting other crocheted gifts from my grandma, as a child, too. When I was about 8, my dad built me my very own bedroom. It was awesome!! No more sharing with my bratty little brothers! (YES!!) I was allowed to decorate and design it. I was going through my purple phase, so the wallpaper and all the accents in the room were in purples. (Only really brave parents allow an 8 year-old to pick out room colors.) I remember Grandma coming up to see it for the first time and surprising me with a new room warming gift. It was the cutest little crocheted octopus. She had a cute little bonnet and a ribbon on all 8 of her tentacles. And guess what? She was purple!! It was my favorite decoration. I would even make my bed so I could sit her in the middle of my pillow with all of her purple tentacles splayed out. I still have her in a box somewhere.
I have received many crocheted gifts from my grandma over the years. Cowboy hats, dolls, hot pot holders, note pad holders, blankets... and I remember how much I loved each one. (And still do!) Getting a crocheted gift is awesome. You can almost feel the love wrapped into each individual stitch. At least I always could.
When I became a mother, I decided it was time for me to continue Grandma Faye’s tradition. I started making and giving crocheted gifts of my own. It’s so gratifying to create something so simple, that brings someone else so much happiness. I now understand why she does it.
I want to share this amazing ability with you. Even though the final products can look incredibly difficult, the actual process is very simple.
Since I’m a “bite off a BIG chunk” kind of gal, I like to jump in with both feet. My first adventure into the world of crochet was a doozy!
My First Ever Crochet Project
Told you!! Every time I look at that afghan I laugh at myself. I had figured that since I knew some of the crochet basics from grandma’s lessons, it would be ok to start with something a little more advanced. WRONG!! I discovered very quickly that the basics I knew barely even applied! It’s a good thing crocheting is so easy, or I’m pretty sure I would be bald right now!
Believe it, or not. Once you break down the stitches in that afghan, it actually becomes very simple. All it consists of is increases and decreases, double crochet, front and back loop crochet, crossed stitches, popcorns, clusters, and spike double treble stitches. Each stitch actually very simple on its own. The hard part came from trying to learn how to read a pattern, how to follow the instructions and learning how to do new stitches all at once. It was quite a mouthful!
It was definitely a little involved for a first project. I really don’t recommend something that ambitious for your first project. (But if you’re stubborn, like me, and think both you and your hair will survive it, go for it. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you!!) I think I spent more time unraveling than I did crocheting!! I made thousands of mistakes and spend hundreds of hours on it. The only reason it, and I, survived is because I refused to be bested by a stupid blanket!!
By the time I finished that project, I knew I could do just about anything!! I had learned how to read crochet patterns, follow instructions, and do some basic stitches. I was off and running, and I haven’t stopped yet!! I make crocheted gifts anytime I can. They’re fairly inexpensive and simple to make, and everyone loves them. All it takes is a little time, and a lot of love.
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Crochet Page Links
Your journey of creating your own crocheted gifts begins here. Click on any link to be taken to a page full of information, simple tricks and tips, pictures and videos to help you on your way to becoming a crochet master.
Crochet Basics and Beginner Crochet gives you the absolute basics of learning to crochet. Including some of the more basic stitches like the slip stitch and the single crochet.
Crochet Hook Sizes offers lots of information on different types and sizes of hooks. You can also compare your favorite hooks with mine.
Crochet Stitches and More Crochet Stitches describes how to do stitches in detail. They also define ways to do stitches such as front or back loops only and raised stitches.
Filet Crochet walks you through the art of learning how to filet crochet.
Graphing describes how to make graph patterns for creating your own personalized crochet patterns. Use graphs to design patterns for any stitch.
Crochet Circles and Freeform Crochet shows you how to get really creative with your crochet. Everything from simple circles and ovals to animals and non-shapes.
Crochet Edging and Finishing shows you how to finalize any crochet project. From giving you simple edging stitches and patterns to showing you all the different seaming methods.
Free Crochet Patterns, Double Crochet Patterns, Crochet Shrug and the Crochet Shawl Pattern page are where the free patterns are. They are my gift to you, and may be used in any way you would like. I only ask that you do not sell or share the patterns themselves. If you really like them and want to share, please send your friends to my site.
Crochet Books is where you can find books with all sorts of tips, tricks techniques and patterns.
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If there is something you would like to know about crochet that you can not find in here, please contact me. I will be glad to add it to the site, or help you directly.
Here are just a few of my, more recent, crochet projects.
Every stitch and technique used to make these projects is within the crochet pages of this site. Before long, you'll be making beautiful gifts like these, too.
I hope you enjoy making and giving your own crocheted gifts as much as I do.
