Weaving Wonders: A Deep Dive into Expanding My Crochet Repertoire

Welcome back to my blog, everyone; I figured since I have been sharing so much progress on my big blanket project the past couple of weeks, I would take a break from that content and share some other crochet content I have been researching and learning. Starting with something called the magic ring. Now for some insight on the magic ring. When I was first researching crochet and scrolling for inspiration and tutorials on TikTok, I quickly learned that magic rings are not everyone’s favourite thing. Many find them difficult to learn at first, and while researching how to make a magic ring, I noticed right away that there are a couple of different ways to start a magic ring. This came with pros and cons for me because the first tutorial I watched I thought would be the one for me; however, I quickly learned I was getting frustrated and felt like I couldn’t get the magic ring right no matter how hard I tried because I was still new to learning stitches and was making minor mistakes. After struggling with the first video, I switched to following this video tutorial and found it to be a lot easier for a beginner. I watched quite a few videos until I found one that was easy to follow visually. 

Another thing I just recently started researching is how to read a crochet chart. I would like to mention a couple of different variations for the name, but I will be using the phrase crochet chart. If you’ve ever looked at a crochet chart without knowledge, you would be confused because that is exactly how I felt. I will admit this is something I think will take me a little while to learn, but with practice and patience, I hope I will be able to grasp the ability to read crochet charts one day effortlessly. For those of you reading my blog who do not understand the difficulty of reading a crochet chart, what makes it challenging is that each little symbol you see represents a different kind of stitch. So, to be able to read a crochet chart for a pattern, you need to understand what stitch each symbol is and how to do that stitch. As I have mentioned in previous posts this semester, there is a large variety of crochet stitches. This website nicely shows the symbol and what stitch it represents. I found this quite helpful; however, looking at one symbol at a time versus looking at a whole pattern chart is completely different, and the charts are still overwhelming. Although I have been crocheting for a couple of months now, I will admit I still only know these basic stitches. Still, occasionally, being the forgetful person I am, I have to remind myself on the spot by reviewing a video to refresh my memory. 

This week, I hope to share some new skills I have been researching and learning alongside working on my blanket. I’m hoping these skills will help expand my confidence and skills in crochet so that I can start moving on to more challenging projects. Reflecting on my current progress compared to others in the class who chose to crochet, I feel as though I haven’t ventured as far as them. However, I like to remind myself that learning is not linear and everyone learns and explores at different paces. I am so proud of the progress I have made because the Kylee who chose crocheting for the learning project in January is not the same Kylee I am today when it comes to crocheting. With that being said, I hope you enjoyed reading my blog post, and I am beyond excited to share an update on my blanket next week and see what other skills I will learn throughout the week. Until then, I’ll snip the yarn and tie off this round!