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How To Begin Crocheting

Crocheting is easily my favorite craft.

I have logged dozens of crochet creations on this blog. I mean it has it’s own tab and everything. I always have at least one project in the works. (Other Half, I am making progress on Baby Bowen’s blanket. Maybe it will be a half birthday present, which does seem appropriate.)

Over the years, I have had many of you ask, “How do I start crocheting?”

Well today, I am going to share some of my tips and some YouTube videos to help you out.

Here are my basic tips when beginning:

1. Choose your first needle or hook wisely. A lot of people first use a small needle starting out. DO NOT DO THIS. As you are learning, start with a big hook. The bigger the better as you are getting a feel for the weaving.

2. Along the same accord, choose a thicker weight of yarn. If you use a small weight yarn, it is easy to have to small of loops which makes it very hard to progress as a newbie. It just gets frustrating when you can’t see your loops! Also don’t do any of that fancy yarn with the fuzziness or extra frills. This is my personal favorite to have someone start on. Simple is better.

IMG_2696You can find this at Walmart or any craft store for like $2.50 a skein (roll of yarn). So the investment in my opinion is better when you are learning.

3. Just do a simple single stitch first starting out. It can be tricky to learn the mechanics, so you need to start with the basics.

4. Don’t expect your first project to be gift worthy. This is a craft that you have to practice because there is a certain finesse to it to make sure each stitch or loop is the same size. It can be frustrating to be learning and feel the pressure to complete this perfect project. My first blanket looked straight with a couple of wavy blobs in places because my stitches were uneven. It was horrendous. The nice thing about crochet mistakes is that you can easily rip them out and start over.

5. Have your first project be either a scarf or pot holder. Both of these are small projects that you can do fairly quickly, but gives you the time to learn the way.

6. Watch videos. For me this has been the best way to learn when I don’t have a teacher in person. I still watch videos and I have been doing this a long time.

From the time that I was 7 (when I learned to crochet) to 24, I just did a single or double crochet because that was all that my dad had taught me. I had been gifted several crochet books, but I had a really hard time understanding the symbol tutorials. When I started watching videos I was able to really learn a lot of new and unique stitches. It helps for me to actually see it being done.

So here are a few videos with the basics for beginners where crochet is concerned.

How to start a chain:

How to do a single chain:

How to do a double crochet:

Crochet Geek is the only channel I have booked in my favorites, and everything else is searchable. Crochet Geek has a learning video series for beginners. I highly recommend this channel! It is easily my favorite. She is really good at explaining things and showing you how each step should look in your hands.

Pinterest and ravelry.com are a good place to find new patterns and techniques. I find a lot of inspiration through these platforms and then use YouTube to show me how.

Just be patient with your first couple projects. If you do it enough, you will find a good rhythm, and it will become natural for you. I can do all the basic stitches now without looking, but I have also been doing it for over 20 years. So don’t get discouraged!

You too can someday make things like this!

IMG_4159Granny Square Blanket

IMG_2755Basket Weave

IMG_2701Clam Shell

IMG_9930Wavy or Ripple

Even I am still learning. It has taken me 23 years to attempt hats, so I am by no means perfect at crochet. That stupid magic circle eluded me for years.

So there you have it, my quick tips to help you get started on crocheting.

Have you tried crocheting? Do you have other beginner questions? If you are experience, do you have any other tips?

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Fit for Me 22/52

What I did last week:

Thursday-I thought I could squeeze in a quick walk with the dogs during the brief pause of torrential rain we were having that day. I saw a break in the clouds so Grace, Crosby, and I went speed walking. I was determined to get at least a mile in. I didn’t want to run because the ground was a little slippery with the all day rain. And running on slippery concrete with two silly dogs sounds like a recipe for disaster. So we attempted to speed walk this mile. As my luck would have it, on the half mile marker, it started sprinkling. And then wham-buckets of rain commenced. This is also the time that Grace decided to declare the end of the run and protest being in the rain. She just plopped right down on the sidewalk refusing to walk in the downpour. I spent a good 5 minutes coaxing her and letting her know her diva paws could be dry if she just started running with me. We ran that last little bit as fast and carefully as we could. Needless to say, we were sopping wet when we got home. We got a mile in at least. Crosby thought it was the best day ever!

Saturday-I did the 5k race with George.

Monday-20 minute ab workout.

Tuesday-20 minute leg workout.

Impressed by:

I am impressed that I am now keeping up with my push-up and plank challenge. Yesterday was Day 9, which is 60 second plank and 19 push-ups.

Struggled with:

The rain needs to go away. I need to do better at doing inside workouts when the rain foils my outside plans. We do have a gym membership with childcare….but that requires getting in the car and leaving the pups at home. Grown-up decisions…

Did I meet my goal from last week?

I did two real push-ups. Two.

What is my goal for next week?

To go to a group class.

Fitness Thoughts:

Last Friday, I realized that I was wearing the same outfit that I did a lot of my maternity bump posts in. (Funny enough neither the shirt or pants were maternity, and I owned them long before I was pregnant. I will let you in on a secret, for the last half of my pregnancy the pants were not buttoned for any of the photos. I just kept wearing them for consistency sake.) It was kind of jarring to think that George has been out of my belly now longer than he was in my belly. I made Tom take a picture of me that night so I could really see how far I have come since George made his appearance. George now weighs about how much I gained during the pregnancy too. So weird how the same weight can feel (and look) so different. Thankfully, I have lost all that weight, and now I am even a little under where I was when I began.

George in belly at almost 37 weeks vs. George out of belly at 40 weeks.

pregnancy weight loss

Self High Five.

Can you do real push-ups? Do you take before and after weight loss photos?

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We Be Strollin’

So this weekend, I ran (and a fair amount of walking) a 5k pushing George in a stroller.

When I signed up for this race, I thought Tom would be free to be on George duty, but alas the many schedule changes of May stepped in again. And then all of my family babysitters went out of town to a wedding together.

So either I didn’t run to stay home with George, or I just took him along for the ride.

Literally.

IMG_20150530_080119

Luckily this was a race that did not prohibit me from taking a stroller, which until this race I was not aware that races did that.

So tip #1 if you decide to take your little one with you: Make sure that your race allows strollers.

At first I thought about carrying him because I wasn’t too confident running with the stroller. I hadn’t really done much running with it. Plus we had just transferred him to the front of the stroller where there is less coverage and there was a potential for rain.

But as I stood waiting for the race to start, I was already dripping sweat from the humidity, and I knew that George was not going to be comfortable for another 45 minutes with my boob sweat close to his face.

Last minute, I decided to run to the car and assemble the stroller together. Luckily I had the forethought to have the infant seat in my car just in case I decided to use the stroller so I could look at George throughout the race.

We were the last ones to cross the starting line, but we made it back on the course just in time! Fortunately the parking situation was amazing for this race. The easiest in and out parking I have had experienced!

As we were going along the course, the terrain changed from pavement to start, switching from gravel to wooden bridges through the middle, and back to pavement at the end.

Pushing a stroller through muddy gravel is very different than pushing it on pavement.

Tip #2:  Look at the terrain on the course information page.

I may have reconsidered carrying him if I had known most of the course was muddy gravel. The stroller and myself were covered in mud by the end from the wheels spinning.

Also I felt like a beast afterwards because pushing a stroller period can be brutal, let alone through that grit and grime. I am also pretty sure that I had a death grip on the stroller the entire time not to lose control of it on the slippery bridges.

I don’t remember the course info saying anything about the terrain, but then again I wasn’t really looking for it. So look for it! It makes a huge difference in the pushing resistance.

Tip #3:  Don’t run through ground changes.

I may have tried to run through a gravel to pavement change, and it may have dipped/caught the stroller harder than I wanted it to. I think it scared me more than it did anything to George. But I should have been a little more cautious on this terrain change.

Tip #4:  Take a break to shake out your hands and arms.

Maybe this is just me, but my hands and arms started hurting a lot because I had constant hold (death grip) on the stroller as I was running. So I had to take a few shake breaks so I could release some of that tension from holding on to the stroller. Because you are holding on the whole time it does change your stride a little so just be aware of how your body reacts to that. There were parts that I felt like I was going to trip because my momentum did not match the stroller.

Tip #5:  Don’t care about the time.

This was the first time in a long time that I have haven’t had a stop watch on a race or on a run period. And this race did not have clocks along the way, so I really had no clue how fast or slow we were going. It made me appreciate the run/walk a little more. This was a beautiful trail because part of it was the Katy Trail. Some of the bridges we went over made me feel like I was in a scene of Anne of Greene Gables. I could just enjoy the process instead of worrying about a PR or envying those without strollers. (And just to toot my own horn, my official time they sent was faster than my first 5K time when I did run the whole time.)

My only goal was not to be the last person over the finish line, and I smashed that. I even was able to pass some other strollers, so that was enough progress for me.

It was a little surprising to me to watch the reactions to the stroller. Most people were nice and encouraged us pushing through it. But oddly enough there were a handful of haters that would either yell at me when I couldn’t move fast enough through the narrow parts or when I tried to pass them they would scoff at me. I tried to be mindful of groups around me and get out of the way when I could or stopped to let people pass. Weaving a stroller through a group of running people is not easy so I tried to stay to the sides. But there were times when I needed to move past people myself, and it is not always easy to get through those patches by myself let alone with this huge plastic rolling extension of myself. I guess I was even more surprised at these people with gross attitudes because this was an all women’s run (besides George). So you would think that they would feel more empowerment as fellow mothers and women-sisterhood stuff you know. Anyway most participants weren’t nasty about the stroller, but again I was surprised at some of the comments and looks thrown my way.

It was really fun to run with George in the stroller. I am glad that I decided to do the stroller instead of carrying him. We were both more comfortable, even though the stroller is caked in dirt still.

Have you run with a stroller? Are you doing any races this summer?

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Book Review-Never Say No

When you become parents, you secretly (or openly) wish that there was some sort of operation manual on your child.

Unfortunately there is no such thing because children are people with needs and feelings that change. Every minute.

But if I were to recommend a parenting manual of sorts, this book would be it!

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Mark and Jan Foreman are parents to Jon and Tim of Switchfoot. This book documents their parenting journey and things they learned along the way.

One of the sentiments they learned is to “Never Say No.”

Now if you are like me, when you first read this title, you probably scoffed and thought, “There is no way you can parent without saying no.” If you didn’t take it literally, then you are a better/more evolved person than I am.

The phrase is meant to be a slogan for parenting instead of a hard fast rule. Obviously no will need to be said at some point, because you know safety is important. Otherwise, George would have eaten his poopy diaper this morning…

One thing I have definitely learned in my very short time being a parent, is that no two journeys of raising children are the same. There are different factors that influence decisions-mainly being that each child does their own thing. Even under the same roof, two parents in the same family may not make the same decisions.

It’s because we are human beings. We react to our surroundings and make decisions based on the information we have been provided at that time.

The idea of “never saying no” though encourages us to really embrace each moment for what it is. It pushes us to be present in each moment and help develop creativity in our kids. I think we can all agree in the fast paced world we live in, it is easy to say, “Hold on a sec.” or “We can play tomorrow.”

But you are not guaranteed that the moment will still be there later. You have a wonderful opportunity to be there for your kids and teach them how to be good people, but we often spend a lot of that time complaining or distracted because we are busy with other things.

I enjoyed this book for a few reasons:

1. I liked the focus on enjoying your kids. I think so often kids are seen as a burden, and I don’t want to ever feel that way or show that to my kids. It was a great reminder to do things that are fun and making the most of the time we have together. I want to make that time count as a parent.

2. It’s not judgmental or preachy. Jan and Mark are very open about their own struggles, and show you that you won’t always be the best. They explain over and over again about the importance of love and making the best decision you can. Their transparency and honesty throughout this book shows you a realness to parenting that makes you know that you aren’t alone. They also show that EVERYONE will parent differently, but that the bottom line their should be love. The do emphasize that their way isn’t necessarily the right way, but give you some foundational things to consider. They wouldn’t consider this a manual, but I like it as a guidebook!

3. I felt connected. There were parts that I felt that I could write. I like a book that I can relate to. They talked about triumphs and feelings of inadequacy, so it was just good as a parent to see someone else (who I would presumably see as a parent mentor) has the same feelings.

4. Define success for ourselves and not every other family. (I needed this reminder even this early on as I wonder if he is behind because he is not crawling just yet.)

5. It’s funny. I laughed out loud so much. Like when she explained leaving the hospital for the first time with the baby-“These were tears of joy mixed with holy fear.” Yes…and it made me remember my ridiculous meltdown from the hospital afraid we were going to kill our tiny baby in the carseat.

6. It gave me permission to have a messy house. Sometimes we need those permissions from others not to live a Pinterest worthy life.

7. Each chapter has a question page. I LOVED this piece because it helps you process what you read a little further. They can also be discussion questions to have with your partner. The reality is Tom and I came from two very different backgrounds and parenting styles. Somehow we have to meld our experiences into a family for George. And that can be tricky, especially when you are about as opposite as possible. These “study guides” of sorts really helped us have some conversations and move forward with our family. It’s all about creating a new “map” together.

Coming from a divorced family, I have grown up wondering how I would parent since I was able to witness several different styles. Sometimes it is hard to conceptualize how exactly I want to parent because of my past. I want to take pieces from all of them, but how do I make that work for me? This book talks about embracing your past and understanding that at the root is the relationship that is built. We have a gift to help guide who our children will become but also letting them choose their own paths along the way. We are instruments of God to help build up our kids, and Jan and Mark talk about it in a beautiful manner.

Just as God enjoys us, we should enjoy our children. I loved that this was a Christ centered book. I want George to grow up knowing and having a relationship with God, and I know that starts with us as his parents. We are the example, and we can encourage that fully through the relationship we build with our kids.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is “If you say no too often, they’ll stop asking.”

I think that sums up the book quite nicely.

I highly recommend this for any couple to read as they start deciding how they want to raise a family and creating their own map or even seasoned parents who need to refocus or just a reminder. It was really great timing for us since we are still really new and parenting really consists just of making sure he is clean and fed at this point. That’s how it is until they are 5 and have homework in Kindergarten right? (I am really in need of a kid manual…)

Most of the time, I feel like I am making this parenting thing up. It is nice to see what other parents are doing like in this book. It makes you stop and think of what things you want to emulate. You will probably still make a lot of things up as you go, but maybe you will be a little more fun with it!

You can purchase this book here! I really only have good things to say about it. It’s all about creating a meaningful relationship with your kid instead of just trying to manage them. Oddly enough the premise is that if you have that creative and meaningful relationship, their growth as good human beings will follow instead of demanding it through our society standards. That sounds more fun too doesn’t it?

I did receive this book complimentary from Litfuse Publicity Group for my review. These thoughts are my own.

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Fit for Me 21/52

I feel like I am in a really good place with my body. This has definitely kept me more accountable to being more active. And we are at the midpoint of the year!

What I did last week:

Thursday-I did a 2.5 mile walk/run with just the dogs.

Monday-I went to BodyPump for an hour. It was nice to get back into a class. I got through every track except shoulders.

Tuesday-I did a 2 mile walk/run with the dogs.

Impressed by:

I am impressed that even after a month out of BodyPump, I was able to get through almost every track. Shoulder track I always struggle with, so that was no suprise.

Struggled with:

I really failed to keep up with my plank and push-up challenge. I just kept forgetting. I finally printed them off so I can have them on my nightstand. I have done it the last three days consistently.

Did I meet my goal from last week?

I did meet my goal to work out at the gym. I missed BodyPump!

What is my goal for next week?

To do some real full-on push-ups during this challenge. I have never really been able to do them up on my toes. I am hoping to work up my push-up stamina so I don’t have to stay on my knees.

Fitness Thoughts:

We are in the sweet spot temperature wise where it is not too muggy or hot, but still fairly cool. It makes it so much easier to want to go workout when you aren’t feeling like you are walking into a cloud when you step outside. Although it has been raining a lot here, which is why I missed Saturday and Sunday workouts. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it in the house.

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