crochet basics

[sev]

I'm sure there's a community out there I can post this to -- heck, since I'm looking into edging my knitting, I can probably post to knitting. But the fiber artists who read my journal give great advice, and I'm currently not exactly sure what *question* I'm asking, yet.

What I want is, I think, to crochet an edge onto a scarf I'm knitting. I can do the uber-basic single-crochet as trim, and I find that pretty easy. (or, at least, it was perfectly acceptible with the very-forgiving, very-fuzzy yarn I was using.) So, what next?

The instructions I see for crocheting even the most simple of the more interesting edges (say, "three dc shell stitch") confuse me; I just don't know enough of the terminology. I've only barely begun to figure out how to do a double crochet stitch and I'm fuzzy on how to take what little I know and string it together to actually, say, *do* something. And, I only currently own one crochet hook (my tiny one got left at my mom's; I will be retreiving it next month). I have no idea whether the hook I've got (5.5mm) is appropriate for the approximately double-knit weight yarn I'm currently playing with.

So, can anyone recommend a good resource for: crochet-for-knitters? coming up to speed on crochet enough to read patterns? other things to do to the edge of my knit scarf? better questions to ask, given what I'm trying to do?

Comments

my pocket change

[firecat]

i learned crochet before learning knitting, so not sure if this will be helpful but --

http://community.livejournal.com/crochet/profile
has a bunch of links, including one to a community called basic_crochet

there's a decent book called The Encyclopedia of Crochet by Donna Kooler but it might be more than you want.

a three dc shell stitch is doing three double crochet stitches into the same stitch. oh, i see that the web site mentions that. not sure how to explain it differently.

if the hook fits into the stitches and hooks the yarn, it's good enough. if it feels like a struggle to do either of those things, it's the wrong size. i think 5.5 would probably work ok for double-knit yarn unless you knit very tightly.

[redandfiery.livejournal.com]

A 5.5mm hook is perfect for double-knitting yarn.

I learnt to crochet via http://www.crochetcabana.com/, which has lovely clear how-to pages with lots of photos.

If you're looking to take up crochet, my favourite crochet book so far is Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet : The Happy Hooker, which has an extensive and very clearly explained tutorial section at the front, and lots of cute modern patterns at the back (ranging from complete beginner to really rather advanced). I got bought it for my birthday, and I've made six items from it so far. I need a rehab-for-handicraft-addicts...

[gazebo-tree.livejournal.com]

Two books, not crochet, but about making interesting edges with knit:
Knitting On The Edge (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1931543402/sr=1-1/qid=1155673678)
Knitting Over The Edge (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1931543755/sr=1-1/qid=1155673537)
Knitting Beyond The Edge (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933027010/sr=1-3/qid=1155673678)

:)

[gazebo-tree.livejournal.com]

And also From Needles To Hook (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157367124X/sr=1-2/qid=1155673967)

[sev]

hee-hee. The last of those three went on my amazon wishlist less than 24 hours before you posted this. :)

Though after sitting and paging through "On the Edge" and "Over the Edge" at weaving works today, I think I may need one of those...for all that people kvetch about the edge-swatches-with-no-context, that's actually what I'm looking for. And the edgings are *pretty*!

What I ended up buying, though, was 300 Crochet Stitches because it covered the steps between "I can do an incredibly basic things like single-crochet and chain" and "I can read directions on how to assemble different stitches into one piece of work, and understand what they mean."

And I am now too impatient to actually put edging on the scarf I was workingf on. So instead I'm blocking the scarf so I can declare it "done", leaving me with only one current project on the needles so I can play with the crochet hook...and knit something with the pretty yarn I just bought. (bringing me right back up to 3 live projects. Oops.)