As an advanced beginner with the ol' hooks and yarn, I think I am in quite a good place to review some of the crochet projects I have found online. Sometimes I will.click through to an 'easy' pattern on Ravelry or Pinterest (you can find my Easter crochet board here) and go cross-eyed, either from the amount of complicated stitch changes, or from the lack of detail to really help the novice crocheter.
Pattern: Amiguri Bunnies by Happyberry Crochet
Available as: YouTube tutorial and as PDF download
Difficulty Level: Advanced beginner
Terminology: US
Stitches needed: Chain, Slip Stitch, Single Crochet, Single Crochet two stitches Together.
Time needed: 3-4 hours per bunny
Notes: For complete beginners, the YouTube tutorial is your best bet, as you are carefully shown each stitch, and the pace is reasonable, with good places where you can pause, without fiddling around. Lots of extra details on stuffing and helpful pointers are included, in a friendly, clear way. The written pattern is also clear, if you already know how to crochet into 3D shapes and are familiar with the stitch shorthand. If you don't then this wouldn't be my recommended starting point. My bunnies were also slightly bigger as I had chunkier wool and a bigger hook. I needed more wool as a result, so it wasn't just made with yarn scraps, like in the tutorial. This wasn't a deal-breaker for me, however, clearly, as I actually ended up making three!
Available as: YouTube tutorial and as PDF download
Difficulty Level: Advanced beginner
Terminology: US
Stitches needed: Chain, Slip Stitch, Single Crochet, Single Crochet two stitches Together.
Time needed: 3-4 hours per bunny
Notes: For complete beginners, the YouTube tutorial is your best bet, as you are carefully shown each stitch, and the pace is reasonable, with good places where you can pause, without fiddling around. Lots of extra details on stuffing and helpful pointers are included, in a friendly, clear way. The written pattern is also clear, if you already know how to crochet into 3D shapes and are familiar with the stitch shorthand. If you don't then this wouldn't be my recommended starting point. My bunnies were also slightly bigger as I had chunkier wool and a bigger hook. I needed more wool as a result, so it wasn't just made with yarn scraps, like in the tutorial. This wasn't a deal-breaker for me, however, clearly, as I actually ended up making three!
Pattern: Small Easter Egg by Lacy Crochet
Available as: written tutorial
Difficulty level: Beginner with basic knowledge of stitches.
Terminology: US (although not obviously so at first)
Stitches needed: Chain, Slip stitch, Double Crochet, Treble Crochet.
Time needed: 10 minutes
Notes: Although very easy, a couple of points on the pattern need to be clarified. Firstly, when they say to stitch into the ring, they mean literally into the middle hole, and not into the chains on the ring you created. Secondly, these eggs are very small. I had hopes of a glorious Easter garland, but to do that, I would need to add a second or third round, which I could probably do with an hour to spare. I might make more for Easter cards, but for me, I need to find other garland options.
Available as: written tutorial
Difficulty level: Beginner with basic knowledge of stitches.
Terminology: US (although not obviously so at first)
Stitches needed: Chain, Slip stitch, Double Crochet, Treble Crochet.
Time needed: 10 minutes
Notes: Although very easy, a couple of points on the pattern need to be clarified. Firstly, when they say to stitch into the ring, they mean literally into the middle hole, and not into the chains on the ring you created. Secondly, these eggs are very small. I had hopes of a glorious Easter garland, but to do that, I would need to add a second or third round, which I could probably do with an hour to spare. I might make more for Easter cards, but for me, I need to find other garland options.
Pattern: Bunny Lovey by Stichin' Mommy
Available as: written tutorial
Difficulty Level: beginner with knowledge of stitches
Terminology: US with some explanation over UK terms
Stitches needed: magic circle, slip stitch, chain stitch, skip stitches, double crochet, single crochet, increase and decrease stitches, yarn colour changes.
Time needed: 4-5 hours (a bit less if you already a whizz at granny squares)
Notes: In the pattern, I would have just liked a little more explanation on how you initially find your sides in the granny square, perhaps with a photo to explain where the pattern changes as it gets bigger. For people very new to crochet, I would probably learn how to granny square first, and with a You Tube tutorial, but apart from that, it was just a joy to make.
My daughter's christening and first birthday party is coming up in the next 6 weeks, and I have done painfully little preparation for it - except for inviting over 30 people who are now all coming. I am going to have to ask hubby to hide my wool stash, or at least my hooks so that I am motivated to do the bit of decoration that I wanted to - and so I can find out, what a bunch of small children (aged 9 months upwards), might actually want to play with, while the adults all stuff their faces, with the yet-to-be-ordered-or-planned party food. Until I have sorted this out, I don't expect there will be much crochet happening - but if you enjoyed this post, and found it useful, then I would be really happy to do similar posts for you all in the future. Let me know with a comment below, or a tweet and I will start going through my pins, and seeing what I can make next (who am I kidding - I know exactly what I want to make next *blushes*). In the meantime, if any of you have any top posts or tips on organising first birthday parties and christenings very quickly, I would be VERY interested to hear from you! Take care of yourselves - and happy crocheting.
Available as: written tutorial
Difficulty Level: beginner with knowledge of stitches
Terminology: US with some explanation over UK terms
Stitches needed: magic circle, slip stitch, chain stitch, skip stitches, double crochet, single crochet, increase and decrease stitches, yarn colour changes.
Time needed: 4-5 hours (a bit less if you already a whizz at granny squares)
Notes: In the pattern, I would have just liked a little more explanation on how you initially find your sides in the granny square, perhaps with a photo to explain where the pattern changes as it gets bigger. For people very new to crochet, I would probably learn how to granny square first, and with a You Tube tutorial, but apart from that, it was just a joy to make.
My daughter's christening and first birthday party is coming up in the next 6 weeks, and I have done painfully little preparation for it - except for inviting over 30 people who are now all coming. I am going to have to ask hubby to hide my wool stash, or at least my hooks so that I am motivated to do the bit of decoration that I wanted to - and so I can find out, what a bunch of small children (aged 9 months upwards), might actually want to play with, while the adults all stuff their faces, with the yet-to-be-ordered-or-planned party food. Until I have sorted this out, I don't expect there will be much crochet happening - but if you enjoyed this post, and found it useful, then I would be really happy to do similar posts for you all in the future. Let me know with a comment below, or a tweet and I will start going through my pins, and seeing what I can make next (who am I kidding - I know exactly what I want to make next *blushes*). In the meantime, if any of you have any top posts or tips on organising first birthday parties and christenings very quickly, I would be VERY interested to hear from you! Take care of yourselves - and happy crocheting.
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