So, I decided to try my hand at crochet about a month ago and found that I really enjoy it. I tend to have a bit of a problem of trying to run before I can walk, so bought a few toy kits and had a go at making them. Reading patterns is a bit tricky and I found I was having to start and restart over again because of those blasted ‘magic loops’. I persevered and after posting a photo of the finished project on Facebook, an old friend of mine asked if I would make a giraffe for his daughter. Never one to shy away from a challenge I agreed. I found a great kit from hobbycraft, that had everything I needed to complete the little fella.
I started the kit and followed the instructions as best I could, but it soon became apparent that something wasn’t quite right. I’d ended up with a sort of spiral effect in the completed rows:
I sought the advice of some professional crocheters on Ravelry (a website for knitters and crocheters) and came to the conclusion that it had something to do with skipping the ch1 stitch. It also became apparent that I’d done the whole thing wrong as I was only inserting my hook into one loop of the ‘V’ instead of both. Whoops. A whole evening’s work. Never mind, I put it down to experience and tried again. The second attempt worked out much better, though I am still having a lot of trouble joining the ends of rounds as evidenced by this picture:
The next stage was to make the horns. This was extremely tricky. I must have restarted them at least 8 times. I really seem to struggle with the the magic ring and counting stitches. Nevertheless, I decided that he was going to have two totally mismatched horns and that it would make him unique… Here are the finished horns:
Next up, it was time to make the face. Yet again I restarted it about 10 times before I was happy with it. Now I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but with every new round I seem to be gaining stitches. I have absolutely no idea how its happening, I’m certain I’m not stitching into the same space twice, but I generally with er dc2tog or skip a stitch, which I’m not entirely sure is the best thing to do, but hey, I’m just making this up as I go along! I’ve decided to have another go at the odd looking one before I finish the whole project, see if I can make it look a bit better.
So, next up was the face, again I have had a problem with joining rounds and gaining stitches, but when I’ve found this was happening I either dc2tog or skipped one. Here’s how the finished item looks:
Next were the ears, which don’t look too dissimilar from each other:
They were a bit tricky to do, but I think they look okay!
Next it’s on to the arms. Now these really are quite tricky. Mainly to do with the fact they are primarily made up of a round of 12 stitches which can be quite tricky to stitch and yes, you’ve guessed I gained stitches many, many times! You can see that the stitches seem to spiral around, which I’m certain is not supposed to happen. I’m kind of hoping that one day I will have a light bulb moment and realise where I am going wrong.
As the arms have to be stuffed halfway, it’s also given me an awkward bend where the stuffing doesn’t meet properly.
I will just keep repeating my mantra: ‘I am a beginner, I am a beginner’.
Update to follow……………
Katie-Lou Makes Stuff 