Crocheted Cowl

Hi, there - welcome back!

So having dipped my toe into the world of crochet, I've been itching for a new project - something still at the easy/beginner level but with a bit more spectacular result than the mug cosy (cute as they are).  Scarves are always a pretty safe project but I found something that took the boring scarf up a notch: the cowl.

During my quilt guild's exhibition, I bought some beautiful blue and turquoise wool from one of the vendors and decided it was destined to become a lovely autumn cowl.  Paired with a chunky hot pink button I'd picked up at my mum's quilt shop before she retired, I sat one Sunday, armed with a 10mm crochet hook and made this:

Squee!

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't as easy as I'd thought - well, the pattern was but the wool was not.  What I hadn't realised when I bought the wool was that it was the type at varies in thickness from chunky strand to thread-like width and back again.  That lack of uniform strand consistency definitely challenged my budding crochet skills but I persevered through and it all worked out in the end.

I went with the hot pink button to pick up the pops of pink scattered throughout the dye process.  It works really well with the natural holes created in the crochet.

Interested in making your own gorgeous autumn cowl?  Check out Fibre Flux's Margaret Button Cowl pattern.  As I said, it's a very easy pattern - you just need to learn two rows of stitches and you're set.  I also loved that she posted a YouTube tutorial at the bottom of the page to show the process; as a beginner and a visual learner, it was just what I needed.

Hooked on Crochet!

I'm so excited!

Around New Years this year, my friend Ingrid and I decided that we wanted to learn to crochet.  Our plan was to learn from her mum, Birgitta.  Well, it's now September and neither of us had really done much about learning to crochet.  A couple of weeks ago, Ingrid had her mum show her the basics, then while out in the shops, we came across some cheap crochet hooks and I picked up one and a ball of yarn.  There is sat for about the last two weeks.

Well, I finally picked up hook and yarn and with the help of YouTube (seriously, what can't you learn on YouTube these days?!), I taught myself to crochet in a few hours and I've been obsessed ever since!  That first night I crocheted to midnight before I convinced myself to put it down and get some sleep.  Then the next morning, realising I'd dropped some stitches along the rows, I ripped most of it out and started again (and again and again until I got it right).

My first crochet square!

Feeling confident in my budding skills, I quickly decided to move on to the double crochet stitch and I did up a second square using just that stitch.

Double crochet square.

These are the YouTube videos I used to learn the basic stitches - they were very easy to follow with clear instructions and close-up images.

Crochet for Beginners - Part 1: Chain Stitch & Single Crochet Stitch
Crochet for Beginners - Part 2: Double Crochet Stitch, Half Double Crochet Stitch, Triple Crochet Stitch and Slip Stitch
Beginner Crochet #9: Double Crochet Stitch (this was good to learn how to start the second DC row)
Beginner Crochet #12: Slip Stitch

Finally, I was feeling ready to start a small project and learn to read a crochet pattern.  I found the perfect choice: a mug cosy!  It always irritates me when I go out to restaurants and they serve tea in a glass instead of a mug, which results in uncomfortably hot fingers or wrapping an insecure napkin around the glass.  So this little project is going into my handbag for just such occasions.

Mug Cosy

Very simple to make, it used the chain stitch, single crochet stitch and slip stitch and I learnt how to crochet a button hole, decrease and of course added the button.  So pleased with myself!

If you'd like to make your own mug cosy, the free pattern is available here.  Note: I skipped the final step of crocheting around the edges, since I was running low on yarn.