Beginner's Crochet Experience

Tanya Adiong
Mar 12, 2017
2 min read

On the 3rd day of March, I signed up for a 3-hour crochet workshop under an organization in the university. Initially however, I signed up for the paper quilling workshop but not enough people signed up for it thus it was cancelled. The event head then gave me the choice to sign up for crochet or to get a refund. I didn't want to sign up for crochet thinking it was hard like sewing but I gave it a shot anyway. Fast forward now, I was able to make a headband crochet!

During the workshop, the instructor Ida taught us the 3 basic stitches - single stick, half-double stitch, and double stitch. I struggled to make the basic stitches. I even struggled making a simple knot! Why? I have no idea. I finally got to make the knot with ease when I just thought of doing it and that I wasn't crocheting.

1- single stick; 2 - half-double stitch; 3-double stitch & attempt to change colors

We were supposed to make a pokemon-inspired square but due to time constraints wasn't able to. So when I got home after the workshop, I practiced the stitches. I failed multiple times confusing one chain from the other. The white yarn which I used to practice also kept on splitting making it harder for me. After 3 hours and hundred strands of yarn, I decided to use the red yarn. The red yarn was way easier to manage and control compared to the white yarn. It didn't split at all and for some reason it was easier to distinguish each chain from the other. With that lucky yarn, I was finally able to make a square. It isn't the perfect square but I consider it still a success being a beginner.

After making my first square, I wanted to challenge myself and make something useful, meaning something I can use. I asked my friend who crochets which is the easiest to make, she told me a cellphone case and so I tried. It failed terribly for 2 reasons - 1) it was too small, I didn't measure well, and 2) I tried to do white and black and when I got to the black yarn, it was hard to distinguish the chains. With that failure, I searched on the internet what other things I can crochet. I came across the blog post at All About Ami on how to make a knotted headband. It seemed easy so I tried it. Although I had to change some parts of the headband to make it more fitted for me, the general structure was based of from the instructional blog post.

I planned to make this a week project however I was able to finish in less than two days. I started Monday night and finished it around Tuesday afternoon (with breaks).

I was really impressed by how the knotted headband turned out! The initial plan was to sew both ends together however it was too small so I opted to make a single chain for both ends so I can tie them instead. It looked pretty okay for a beginner so I'm very proud of myself.

Here is me wearing the knotted headband I made!