Crochet Bootcamp Part 1–knotting and ch stitch

Yay, a cute name! And button, button, who wants a button?! I am groaning inwardly at the fact that I’m going to generate some code for that button in a moment in case anyone feels like linking up. The things you do for love. I am quite capable but, like the spreadsheets I was coding for my husband earlier, I really hate doing it and thusly feel the need to demand praise and recognition.

<a href="http://www.onthelaundryline.com/search/label/crochet%20bootcamp"><img title="crochetbootcamp" border="0" alt="crochetbootcamp" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLQuiuRmR4aT1SEzZ0In15RRPiw2afbcSRS_dwfSxmbKnGRhOstKRdosVAwvw1XWIW-t9Q-YY757ctRLpEypmIgET94Y7aaq5aJpz2dZgd2ZS0gh_ExvO8OMvDcfpfKfqSBb6rVjmwK5s/s1600/crochetbootcamp%5B6%5D.jpg" /></a>

Copy and paste that into an html form to put this button on your site, the Crochet Bootcamp posts will be the ones that show up when you click the link. Shiny! (And yes, my chin is something to be feared and respected.)

I found a nice little post online about reading your yarn labels, so I won’t rehash but will simply direct you here. Bear in mind that I use the metric system, if you are American you’re going to have to ignore me if I use measurements like 4.5. That link, however, does not appear to be tainted by metricisms.

To start with, your best bets for yarns are a cotton or an acrylic with a satin feel. You don’t want anything with varying thickness – varying color is just fine. In my experience, cotton will be easier to work with, the satin acrylic will be easier to pull out your mistakes.

Now, I find that if I’m doing a lot of crochet (or knitting), I would rather be working with a natural yarn than an acrylic one. I find when I work with acrylic yarns, I will get almost a ‘burn’ of sorts from the yarn rubbing my hands much faster with acrylic than anything else. Now, bear in mind, I’m talking about after logging in hours and hours over the course of a few days. Don’t get alarmed or anything.

Just like sewing, you also want to watch your yarn labels for washing instructions, especially if you’re dealing with something meant for babies/children. As a general statement, it’s safer to lay crochet or knit garments flat to dry rather than put them in the dryer, but some yarns do handle dryers better than others. Wool will felt, so don’t do it unless you’re aiming for that.

I did two takes of this video. One of them had my safeway card in it, the other one I called the knot a noose and Nicole started screeching. So, Safeway card it is. Yay!

The first stitch we’re learning is the chain stitch. In a pattern, it will be noted as ch. For example, when a pattern says “ch 9” they mean to make your knot and then chain nine stitches. Reads much faster when you write it as ch 9, eh? (translation for non-Canadians: “Reads much faster when you write it as ch 9, doesn’t it?)