(Note: This post was written by Laurel Regan and originally published in a separate blog called “Fibre Yarns”, which was later merged with Alphabet Salad.)
Adapted from LiveJournal entry originally posted October 10th, 2004:
(It’s actually a sort of dusty blue colour, not mauvey purplish as my scanner would lead you to believe!)
What I learned (or need to learn):
- I dropped stitches… started with 24, and ended up with 22. *sheepish grin* Learned that I need to count stitches regularly so I can nip the mistake in the bud.
- Learned that I crochet quite tightly at the moment (which I hear is fairly common for new crocheters), and have trouble with tension on the first and last stitches of each row. The potholder was supposed to be 7″ x 7″, and I’m around 1/2″ short all the way around (give or take a couple of dropped stitches *another sheepish grin*). Gauge is something I’m going to have to get friends to help me learn at our Meetup, ’cause right now it’s rather mystifying to me.
- I’m not entirely sure I tied the ends off correctly… there weren’t any instructions in the book, and I didn’t really find the instructions for the slip stitch to be overly clear, so I just guessed/improvised. I’m totally afraid it’s going to fall apart now (not that it was something I wanted to save!), so for future projects I’ll have to figure out how to do it right.
I’m so glad I started crocheting, and I’m really happy to have my first project under my belt. Now I have to decide whether to make another potholder, in order to try and learn from my mistakes, or move on to something else. I’m thinking I need more practice, and a second potholder might be a good idea!
