Being a novice...

Today it happened again: I was starting a new crochet project, I read the instructions and was thinking "Huh??". I decided not to be unsure about it and start anyway. The pattern was stated as "easy" so come on! I started. Doing exactly what the instructions said. Thinking "How can this be right?", but still crocheting further until the AHA!-moment came.
When reading the pattern before I actually start I'm sort of "pre-crocheting" the pattern in my mind . It puzzles me a lot, being a novice with not too much crochet experience, and makes me think about what other project to start when this one doesn't work for me... Until I see the light and understand what was meant in the instructions.

For some time that took more confidence from me than I had. I started to crochet last summer and I immediately liked it a lot. I had quite a lot of help and a Dutch crochet pattern. I was scared off by a lot of English patterns with US crochet terms. Just a couple of weeks ago my Mum bought me a great crochet book by Jan Eaton, translated in Dutch and I became a more active member on Ravelry! No idea what did it, but I finally gained the confidence to start a project in US crochet terms and without the help of a dear friend who really knows about crochet (in Dutch that is). It was a success and I gained confidence.
I know that I just have to start and do exactly as described in the patterns. When I get more experienced I might be able to "pre-crochet" in my mind when reading the pattern, but not now!

In the meantime since my last blog I wasn't doing completely nothing. I made another pair of the openwork handwarmers and I crocheted a beaded scrunchie. Both projects added to my knowledge of and insight in crochet, gave me even more confidence and were a lot of fun!
Some pics can be found here:
Bambou Beaded Scrunchie
Mermaid Openwork Handwarmers
Mermaid Openwork Handwarmers other side

I still had to weave in the ends, but that's also done now.
Time to go on with my new and secret project! (it's a surprise for a friend ;-))

Novice crocheteer trying the Crochet Openwork Handwarmer...

Okay… that didn’t go very well! Let me rush to say that that’s got nothing to do with the pattern, but then again: I’m a novice crocheteer, I have to translate the crochet stitches into Dutch and this yarn wasn’t the best yarn for this project.
You can find the lovely beginner-friendly pattern here:
Creativeyarn: Crochet Openwork Handwarmers

I’m a loose crocheteer and still being a novice I tend to start tight and end up much more loose in the stitches. Knowing that I already took a smaller hook, but I’m not happy with the upper end of the one glove I made. Still, I had lots of fun and this is the first somewhat bigger project in American English crochet so the learning part in dealing with all of this made it worth while! The beginner-friendly pattern made me not give up. Giving up would just have meant that I wouldn't have tried this on my own anymore. Instead I would have seen my local crochet guru and she would have worked it out, even though her English isn't great when it comes to crafts. Having had this experience I now feel quite confident: I did it all by myself! Okay, not quite according to the pattern....
One of the things I learned in the end is that I’ve been doing half double crochet all over the pattern instead of double crochet as I should have been doing. Imagine… it’s sloppy already… If I’d used double crochet this would have been one giant glove!

Tomorrow I’ll give it another try with different yarn and let’s see what will happen then :-)