[ellied]

A friend "taught" me a few stitches of crochet the other night and left me a hook and a ball of "string" to practise with..

I have to say the "lesson" was hysterical and my first piece won't win any prizes but I was proud of it anyway and after a wee round and rather strange looking thing I started doing an up and down one - problem is I didn't practise after she left (Thursday night this was) and already I've forgotten what I was doing right, only the mistakes I was making and I would love to make colourful things with bright wool but have no idea what crochet could do at my level other than dishcloths and doilies neither of which I use

My inspiration was a blanket my mum gave me - she'd started crocheting a cot blanket in cream for me as a baby and by the time she gave it to me she'd added a bit more in white - it had grown to double bed size   I am absolutely in awe of her skills and commitment (she was a knitter primarily) but between an ugly wobbly wine coaster and a double bed throw seems a bit of a divide so can I have some ideas please?

And can anyone re-explain the double and treble stitches - what I wrote down is for double pick up 2, go over and through.. for treble wrap wool first then pick up 2, go through 2, go through 2, and go twice into each stitch of the previous row for variation..

And I can't remember shells at all

The hook is 5mm - if using real wool would that be ok for double knitting, 4 ply or chunkier wools?  Probably the thicker I can get the better but I don't want to lose the hook

[Mel Rice]

If you remember how to do doubles, trebbles and chains...you CAN crochet! A shell is only a load of stitches starting at the same place! If you want to make it shaped then ...
decide where the base of the "shape" will be and make a basic single into it.
now start at the same place and put in a double
then a treble into the same base
back to a double,then single
theres a shape.
I usually do a circle of chains joined every other stitch to make a "loopy" circle then go round with the "shapes"
GOOD LUCK...have fun!

[Hermit]

I make Irish Crochet and Lace crochet. I have just made a beaded bowl cover with an irish rose centre for a friend and it is mainly simple stitches in different groups. Good on you for learning, you tube is where I learnt and you will soon be doing complicated patterns dont worry. If you get a pattern book with template patterns you can follow those along with the written pattern to see how an object is formed. Good luck , you will soon be addicted. Crochet pattern central directory on the internet has lots of simple patterns for small objects to learn on.