So what keeps me busy after work.

Of late, I have been hooked to the crochet hook, quite literally.

It started when my younger sister brought a tiny bundle 25g of cotton yarn and a #13 hook and started to do her experiments with crocheting. She asked me for help when she was stuck. It was great fun that in a short span of time you create a beautiful thing out of yarn. Together we tried making a mobile holder and a dishcloth using various stitches with 4-5 different colors. Nothing came out really nice.

Dishcloth#1:

Dishcloth#2:

Dishcloth#3:

Sachet Bag#1:

Then I thought, hey, why not make something useful like purse or a shawl or scarf. Thus, began my journey of crocheting.

First challenge was supplies. In my area, there were no shops where I could buy yarn. I asked my brother to ask his friends if they know any such shop. A colleague of his was kind enough to buy it for him. 2 hanks of 50g each in maroon color. I started making a ripple shawl using this as an inspiration. The pattern was beautiful, complex and time consuming. It took me about ~3 weeks, to finish off the yarn. I made a LOT of mistakes in reading pattern, counting stitches and the portion of shawl that I could complete came out very uneven.

So, I bought too little. What next? My brother bought 2 hanks of yarn – different colored and different textured. He started crocheting a scarf for himself and after one row, he gave up. Boys!

I “stole” that yarn and decided to do a two-color shawl. It started to come along very nicely, and then I ran out of yarn again. My first lesson – BUY ENOUGH YARN.

After finishing over all the yarn. I started making a granny stitch purse in two colors. I made some mistakes in here as well, but not as many and the finished project was not half bad.

I also tried making a beanie which remained flat with and without increases. So i decided to abondon this project as well.

I went on to read a lot of tutorials and blogs, so many that I can’t even site the references This ends Phase 1 of my crochet journey.

Will share more of my experiences as I learn.