{ Let's crochet! }

I can't tell you how much I missed my craft basket. These past two weeks of being sick and having everyone else in the household sick too, meant that my crochet and knitting had to be set aside for more pressing matters, things like cleaning runny noses and cooking up big batches of chicken noodle soup.

But now....oh now....we're back in business. Everyone is finally over the cold and things are back to normal which means, I get to dive back into those things I absolutely love doing. Like crochet.

If you've been one of my readers for a while, you will know that I couldn't crochet to save my life, I mean honestly if my life depended on me making a crochet chain to swing across an abyss...well let's just say I wouldn't be here *snicker*
But seeing that crochet has always been one of those crafts that I adore and wanted to learn, I set about teaching myself the art. I'm by no means an expert, I'm a baby at most, slowly trotting along and learning new tricks as I go.

A couple of you have shown interests in learning to crochet too and I said I would do a tutorial. I wish I hadn't because I'm more of a *show you* kinda gal, than a *write it down and explain in detail* kinda gal. I tend to confuse myself and others....but I did say I would help you all get started and that's what I'm doing today.

So go on, grab that ball of yarn you've been wanting to use and some crochet hooks, let's not worry about size and all that stuff, that's something for future use, right now we're just wanting to cast one, make a chain and join it in a little circle. *don't you just love my descriptions? I feel for you all trying to understand what I'm about to do* LOL

Casting on....there are so many different ways to do this, but this is how I do it and it's easy for me. Start by making a little loop

Pull the thread through the hole

Tighten and insert the crochet hook

How easy was that? Now you're ready to start making your chain

Making the chain: Yarn over the hook

Pull it through

Repeat until you have 4 chains

Joining the chains into a circle:

Insert the hook into the first chain, yarn over and pull through BOTH loops.

Now chain 2 just like I showed you above

Then you're going to make 9 single crochets into the hole in the middle. If you find it hard to locate it just insert your finger and wiggle it a bit so you can see it.

Insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch (two loops on hook), yarn over and pull through both loops on hook.

Repeat 9 times.

When you're done, join with a slip stitch (insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch, then through the loop on your hook.)...which means....insert the hook into the second chain of the first chain 2 you did, yarn over and pull through both. You'll end up with just one loop on the hook.

Fasten off. (Cut the yarn about 6" from the last stitch. Yarn over and use your hook to pull it through the loop on the hook.) Cinch the strand to secure it. Weave the loose end into the fabric with a tapestry needle.

Now go on and try it and then come back and show me how you did. Next time we'll start the actual petals of the flower and just you wait and see how easy they are.

And once we've made one or two flowers, we'll make some leaves too.

There are tons of crochet flower patterns out there, so easy to make.

Flower Power
Crochet Flower
Four Leaf Clover
Carnation (I'm making this one right now, can't wait to see how it looks)

EDIT: Pat aka Posh, thank you so much for letting me know about the typo. I fixed it and it now says SINGLE CROCHET instead of double. :)