A few years ago, I picked up crochet again after a long break form it when I was in North Carolina with my sister. Mom gave us a stack of patterns, and one of them caught our fancy. We headed to the local Wal-Mart, got the thread and steel hooks and embarked on my first thread crochet making corner bookmarks. That was fun for quite a while.
Admittedly, I learned to knit this summer again when my sister, Julie, picked it up. I mean, I couldn’t let her know how both to crochet and to knit without me also knowing! I’d been studying up on it some, and knew of the different styles of knitting. Mom is a “thrower” — American style — and Julie is a “picker” — Continetnal Style. I was pretty sure I wanted to knit Continental — it makes more sense to the Crochet mind. And some claim it’s faster, but that’s irrelevant for a new knitter — nothing is fast!
Mom got me over the hump and got me going. I did a lot of YouTube searching and online instructions to complete the picture. I taught myself both throwing and picking, then settled on picking.
I also couldn’t bear the idea of having to bring yarn forward for a purl stitch, so I found a purl stitch called the Norweigian Purl where the yarn stays in back. That’s my purl stitch now. Works like a charm. Once in a while I have to translate a lace pattern’s instructions about yarn placement, but that’s not too hard.
I also had the benefit of instruction and coaching-on-demand from Verla at my local yarn store, the Unraveled Sheep, in Sandy, UT. I highly recommend getting to know a local yarn store that’s willing to coach and help. Most will do it free if you buy your yarn from them for your projects.
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