Crochet Tutorial: Double Crochet

Hiya, all! Hope you had a lovely day! I was at lectures all day, and I can tell you, when you've been out of the studying mode for a long time, you kinda feel overwhelmed... I kept telling myself today that it's not an insurmountable task...in the famous words of Dory..."Just keep swimming..." I am sure all will fall into place at some point... :)

Above is a pic of me and my oldest (when she was youngest!), taken in the Cathedral Peak area of the Drakensberg. What an awesome area the Drakensberg is! Stunning scenery, amazing hikes and above all, unspoiled nature! I will try to post pics from around the country, to show some of the places worth visiting...

Onto other things! I have finished the second part of the crochet tutorial, ie the Double Crochet stitch! I have followed on from the pics of the previous post, so it all looks nice and followable (is that even a word?). Right off we go!

Step 1. I have completed the row of sc from the previous post, and each turquoise arrow shows one sc stitch. The row is completed, when you have crocheted a sc into the last chain of the row. The next step is pretty much personal preference, but this is how I like to do it. We are going to start with doing a dc (the abbreviation for double crochet), into the top loop of the sc stitches already formed. But remember, you need to first do some chain stitches, so that when you start doing the first dc stitch , you already have some height at the beginning of the row. (Remember the sc needed ONE stitch in height, ie one chain stitch and the sc into the yop loop NEXT TO the chain stitch...if you are not sure, look at the previous post!). Ok, so for dc, generally TWO chain stitches are enough. You can either do them now, before turning your work, or after...either way is OK, I do them before...just my preference :)

Step 2. Ok, so the two chain stitches have been ,made, and I am now ready to turn my crochet around. Have a look at the pic above to see exactly how your crochet should look before you turn it...

Step 3. Ok, this is what it should look like from the other side, after you have turned your work around. Turning around places your working yarn at the right hand side, again ready for using to start the first dc.

Step 4. Wrap the yarn around the hook...you should be getting used to this ;) there's quite a lot of this in crochet...

Step 5. Insert the hook through the top loop of the next sc stitch in line, basically exactly as before, all you have done differently to the sc from the earlier post, is that you wrapped the yarn around the hook before you put it through the top loop.

Step 6. Wrap the yarn around the hook again, and pull the yarn through the loop.

You will end up with 3 stitches on your hook.

3 Stitches on the hook.

Step 7. Wrap the yarn around the hook again, and draw the yarn through TWO of the three stitches on the hook.

Step 8. You have two stitches left on the hook.

Step 9. Wrap your yarn around the hook again, and this time draw it through BOTH of the remaining stitches on the hook.

Step 10. Voila! You have one stitch left on the hook!

Step 11. I have made two more dc , in addition to the one from the pic above, and you can see the TWO chain stitches (for height), at the far right of the work.

Step 12. And so on, continue exactly as above, until the end of the row...

On another note: when you insert the crochet hook into the top loop of the stitch below, you have two options,

1. You can insert the hook into BOTH top loops,

2. You can insert the hook into just one of the top loops, generally speaking, into the loop closest to your thumb (although that is not absolutely cast in stone!)

Either way is fine...

And there you go! One row of dc completed! Well done :)

I will post a couple more tutorials on crochet, before starting the Mystery Project... so that you have enough knowledge to make something nice :)

Onto other things...

Cruising the web, I came across some interesting things once again! This made me wonder about what people enjoy reading to relax, and this made me wonder if perhaps Neanderthal wasn't a bit brighter than we are today...I mean ! are they serious????? We are indeed an interesting species.... Others of a different species, made me smile... isn't she ADORABLE????

Word of the Day

potlatch:

A noun, meaning " a party or get-together"

And now it's time to say goodbye...have a wonderful evening!

Lots of Love,

Heidi :)