I love to crochet, and to collaborate with others about it. To see what others have made and to show my own creations and tell what I learned along the way. Knitting groups have been around forever I think, and it seems likely to me that people have always shared ideas in this way. The Information Age has brought this to a new level, there are literally thousands of crochet sites with tips and even free patterns, contributed from around the world; its a shared language.

Except that it’s not!

American English

As I’m from England, I consider British English to be English, as its the original, and American English to be something completely different. The rest of the world doesn’t always share this view however and this can be frustrating at times.

Its exactly the same for the language of crochet. The needle sizes have the same names but applied to different sizes – everywhere uses metric these days but older patterns may not. The yarn weights are very different in what is available and also how it is referred to. Worst of all, the stitches have the same names on both sides of the Atlantic, but they are used to refer to different stitches!

Lost in Translation

There are plenty of free crochet patterns on the internet and if you see a pattern, looks easy enough and the stitch names sound familiar, then you would probably try it out. Unless it clearly states or you are paying a lot of attention, you might not even realise that there is something wrong.

I deal with this problem by referring to the trust conversion chart from the KCG or by looking at the instructions in the first chapter of a book that I know is either British or American. I’m not sure what is used in the rest of the world (the Southern Hemisphere, for example), I hope its one of the two systems I already know!

Have you had any bad experiences with this naming-the-same-thing-the-same-name-but-meaning-different-things phenomenon? Add your comments here, I know it isn’t just crochet stitches that has this problem.

In case anyone didn’t follow the conversation, my friend fairyJo has learned to crochet from some instructions in my baby blanket post. Wondering what she might do next, here are some ideas for the season:

How about a crochet snowflake ? Actually I might have to try one of these out myself!

Another easy Christmas gift is a scarf. Personally I have had good success with a lacy stitch on a big hook as it grows quite quickly and can be finished in time! I’ll see if I can find a good pattern link to post!

Its been a craft-tastic few weeks lately, I’ve another almost-finished item to post after this one! Here are the photos of the mohair scarf I recently made for my boyfriend’s mum’s birthday

And the closeup of the motifs (there were eleven daisy squares altogether):

This is the blanket I have just made for a new arrival in the extended family. Its losely based on this shell afghan pattern

You might think that I’ve been a bit quiet on the crochet front recently … and you’d be right. What’s actually happening is that I have been working on a surprise project for my sister’s birthday and didn’t want to post about it until I had given her the present¹!

So here goes. I made for my little sister’s 21st birthday last month a wrap. Its rectangular, the dimensions of one of those pashmina scarves. The stitch is a “lover’s knot” which is much easier than it looks. I had a hard time getting started with it but once you learn the stitch its quite easy. The hard part was easily keeping all the loopy stitches the same amount of “loopiness” so the grid stayed the same size. Here’s a closeup:

The pattern was originally for a triangular shawl, it starts from a point and grows out diagonally, but it worked perfectly well to put corners in and work it that way instead. The result is much more versatile too – here it is folded in half:

For the trimmings, some basic beads with tassels. I chose irregularly shaped and non-matching beads which worked really well. The wrap itself is cotton DK plus a fluffy 4ply mohair type yarn together and the slightly mismatched beads stop it from looking too tidy:

Any questions please just add a comment and I’ll reply as best I can.

I have recently moved to Leeds and am slowly starting to find my way around and build up some local knowledge. A very important ingredient in this process is my discovery that there is a great wool shop near where I live. Its so good in fact, that I have to recommend it to anyone who likes wool (or old-fashioned shops!).

The shop is at:

S & D Woodhead
Wool Shop, Wingate Junction, Tong Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS12 4NQ
Tel: 0113 263 8383

From the outside it looks quite big, however when you go in the shop part is really small. You have to have a chat with the lady behind the counter about what you want and she will disappear off and come back with some suggestions. There are big sacks of discounted wool, often just a couple of balls, and everyone is welcome to rummage (but be warned that you will get filthy in the process!)

I wasn’t sure what I was looking for and got some good advice while I was there as well as some very patient service. I discovered that they don’t take cards and I didn’t have a lot of cash on me (I’m 25, my generation lives by plastic!), I was sold enough material to start the project and the rest has been put aside with my name of for me to collect when I need it – and by that time I’ll have a good idea of how much of each type of yarn I’ll need as well.

I’ve knitted a scarf! This is news because I although I like crochet and learned to knit as a child, I’m really not a very good knitter. This pattern was hardly knitting though. Its made with silly wool (Sirdar Frizz) and knitted on broom handles! OK so actually they were 20mm knitting needles, but broom handles would have done just as well.

Each row is thirty stitches and its all “knit”. It is so quick to knit up, because the stitches are so big! Its a multipurpose garmet which can be worn as a scarf or as a wrap, I’ve tried to photograph it a few different ways but you still don’t get a real sense of how drapey and soft it is!

The idea came from a pattern in the Simply Knitting magazine, although I didn’t use the suggested yarn. Mine had bigger “bits” hanging off it and as a result of that or my tension, I needed three balls of Fizz to make the scarf. The final result measures 68 inches on scarf setting and about 29 inches by 46 in wrap mode.

I have a new crochet book! My mum had an “I saw this and thought of you” moment, and bought me this:

200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans

Its a good book with a variety of different blocks (although some of the 200 are the same pattern but with stripes, but I suppose they had to get them from somewhere). The best thing about the book is that in the contents page where it lists the blocks with their names and page numbers, there is also a little picture of the block itself, so you can see what it looks like and easily find one you are looking for.

So far I’ve managed four blocks to make a cushion cover when they are sewn together:

All the blocks are made in double-knitting wool with a 5mm hook. Mine came out at 8 inches each but the books says 6. At least they are all the same size, but as you can see from the pictures, they’re not all wonderfully square! Still I think they’ll be OK once they are all sewn together and backed … will post a photo of the finished project when it is finished.

Well, just hooks actually! I’ve been wondering for a while where those photos of beautiful crochet hooks come from in the front of all the crochet books … they’re colourful and I want some.

After a bit of hunting around I discovered that these are Susan Bates hooks, and they are widely available in North America. I’m in the UK and couldn’t find anyone who would ship the hooks to Europe. To cut a long story short, ebay came up trumps and I found a store that would ship two sets of hooks to me for $7 after I emailed them and explained the situation – so thanks to Corona Quilts as I now have beautiful colourful hooks :) Here they are