Photo credit: © Yaya La Arañita @ Ravelry
Crochet saved me when I quit smoking on November 26, 2016. You see, your fingers search something to hold, when you quit smoking, so I started crocheting. I had never done it before, but I soon became addicted to it. It seems that I have moved from one addiction to another… (This is also called replacement therapy apparently, how should I know?) At least, it had no effect on my health except for a few bruised fingertips. And as a bonus I had many colorful, unique and handmade crochet hats, for every seasons, summer hats, winter hats, and of course special hats for role playing… 😉
Before anything else you should get familiarize on the terms of crocheting, the abbreviations most of all. I learned the the terms from the internet, YouTube channels and various web sites, mostly US references. US terms vs. UK terms on crocheting are like VHS and BETA video tapes of the 80s. Both are valid and both have wide audience so better learn both of them, just in case.
Weirdly enough I hold the hook and the yard like no one else, I don’t know how or why, but I do. My mother told me that my grandmother (my father’s mother) was very good at crocheting, although I spent very little time with her when I was a baby, I might have followed her and picked up a style from her. She was great at embroidery crochets, but I, I love making crochet hats.
About Crochet Hats, there are various models for hats, with various methods to begin with, bottom or top. I like to begin at the top, with a magic ring. My favorite stitch is half double crochet (hdc, US), and I love the back loop only (blo) stitch working the rows, that stitch would look like a line crossing the hats.
Basic techniques and terms are needed to read and understand other peoples and your own crochet patterns. You can find all the answers on this website of Sarah Maker, for it’s a great start for beginners. Also crochet charts symbols and diagrams are very specific and not so easy to understand. I could not understand for a long time what they meant that’s why I’m not even trying to explain myself, there are others that do this better than me. This website has all the basic information that you’ll need about them: Learning Crochet Symbols…
I had found many diagrams and written patterns online, and most of the time I could not understand whatever they said so I’d just improvise, somehow it would work. In time I got use to the symbols and abbreviations and could follow more easily. Then I started to just let go, whatever my fingers would like to do with the hook and the yarns and this is why I could never repeat the same pattern again. That’s why my hats were unique, even if I wanted them not to be. Today, I mostly forget what I did before, but I had crocheted enough hats, for a life time.
Crochet Hats Inspirations
from when I search for crochet hats…
These are the pictures of some of beautiful hats that I wish I had done… These are inspirations for me, most of them are the pictures that Google offered me while I’m searching patterns, some of them are available as patterns for sale, you may search for them. But me, I will just admire them for now, I have no intentions to make them, not yet anyways… Comes the next season, who knows, I may change my mind!…