I like crochet, but I don’t do it as often as I’d like. Partly that’s because fewer crochet patterns appeal to me than knitting patterns. I’ve realised lately that while I don’t like most current crochet designs, I don’t mind vintage designs, particularly the rustic ones.
I’m not as used to following crochet directions as I am with knitting directions, too. In the past I’ve made things up as I went, and they weren’t projects that had to fit a body. The extra effort to translate US patterns is a huge put-off for me, especially because you can’t just drop a few stitches down to fix mistakes. Trying to crochet two of the projects in The Happy Hooker was such a disaster, what with the extra effort translating of terms and the errata that added even more errors, that I gave up on crocheting from patterns. But I keep buying books and magazines…
I bought Cool Crochet last year because I liked a lot of the patterns in it, but still haven’t crocheted anything from it. Why? US directions.
I also bought Crochet Techniques, which uses UK/Aus terms, but haven’t made anything from that book, either. That’s mainly because the projects are huge and intimidating. The classic 36 stitch sampler rug (left) is in my queue, though.
So with my not-getting-around-to-making-anything habit with crochet books, I decided that I wasn’t going to buy any more unless they had a) UK/Aus directions, and b) at least three patterns I liked. I didn’t think there was much chance of finding anything, so I was surprised when Crochet in No Time qualified:
Flicking through, I wasn’t impressed at first as the first section of accessories was hardly inspiring, and there’s a very big section of children’s wear. But then the garments caught my eye. This one is silly, but strangely appealing. I mean, if you’re going to go with the granny square, why not go big?
And then this grabbed my eyeballs. And not just because it’s red:
Then finally there’s the coat. It’s in Noro Silk Garden, but I’m not going to hold that against it. There are plenty of other graduated yarns out there. I could even try dying my own.
So now I’ve decided to dump the one crochet project in my Rav queue that uses US terms. If I’m going to make the leap to crocheting garments there’s no point making it harder for myself, when I can learn with familiar terms. I may even stop buying US crochet magazines. If I’m not making anything in them, or liking the patterns, they’re a waste of money.
I just wish Ravelry included whether a pattern used US/UK-Aust terms, so I could include that info in a search.
The 3 pattern rule is what I always use when picking out a book or magazine. I had no idea that UK/AU and American terms were different. When I run across a stitch I don’t know I search it out on YouTube, you can see it made over and over as many times as you need. You can also learn new tap dancing steps too. That always comes in handy.
The trouble is the same terms are used for different stitches ie:
Aus = US
Double crochet = Single crochet
Treble crochet = Double Crochet
Double treble = triple treble
Trudi, the Lincraft “Teach yourself how to crochet” book has both terms included where there is a difference, if that would help.
Well that explains a lot… I’ve been crocheting in Australian all my life. As a small child learning, my mom told me to count the loops or strands over the hook and I’d know what stitch I was making. But nothing ever turned out right except pot holders. Maybe I’ll start crocheting more.