BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Crochet Halter top article, and questions

Hi Eva,
I am the literary fiction host and I subscribe to your newsletter. I clicked on the link for the halter top pattern and I was very impressed. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I just started to teach myself how to crochet a couple of months ago. So far, I have only made a headband and a belt. The headband was my first project and I kind of messed up on it and then lost it. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I absolutely love the belt, though, and I wear it as much as I can (it's white, because that's the color yarn I bought, and I don't wear a whole lot of white), and I am always proud to say I made it when someone compliments me on it.

I hope to learn a lot more about crochet when I have time, and I enjoy your site. I think it's so great that you can design and crochet your own clothes! That is my goal, and I hope to soon be able to make more than a belt. Thanks for your helpful article. I feel that the halter top is too advanced for me at this stage, because I get confused even about the different kinds of yarns and hooks. But I will save the link for when I have a better grasp on everything. I have plain yarn that is sold in department stores, and a plastic average sized-looking hook I bought in a starter crochet kit (which I never used, ha ha. I found it easier to check out a book from the library for kids about learning to crochet, which is how I learned the few stitches I know and where I got the headband and belt patterns from.) Do these materials sound okay or should I invest in others?

What would you suggest as a good project for an almost beginner such as myself?

Thanks again for the helpful link/article and I will be sure to check back at your site often!

Thank you so much for your kind words :rolleyes: Have you tried making a small purse or a hat ? I will go in search of some easy patterns. It is best to start small that way you also get your "pattern understanding" in without getting frustrated. Sometimes bigger projects are harder to understand. I would invest in the metal hooks, in my honest opinion worsted weight yarn is good to start with and as you gain experience you will be able to use any type of yarn. I am always ready to help so don't hesitate to ask.

I had tried to make a hat using a kit I bought, but I soon got frustrated and forgot about it. The kit was supposed to be for kids, so boy did I feel stupid! But luckily I moved on to the book (which was also aimed at kids, and was in the kids' section of the library <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> , and didn't totally give up. I guess I should try making a hat again, I didn't get very far on the first one because I didn't understand the way the instructions were trying to tell me to turn into a new row. The book made it much easier to understand.

I bought a metal hook the same day as the kit but I seem to have lost it, so I have been using the plastic hook the kit came with. The one time I did try to use the metal hook it was harder, but I think that was because I was already used to the plastic one.

Okay, so "worsted weight yarn"... if I go to a crafts store or department store, the yarn I want will just say that on the wrapping?

Excuse my stupid questions but I have one more. Everything I have made has been in one color. If I want to make more than one color, how do I end the first color and start the second one and join them together and such? If you have an article about this, just give me a link and I'll read it so you don't have to explain it all over again. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thanks.

http://www.bellaonline.com/subjects/350.asp and it is Lesson 18 but if you don't understand please let me know, I am glad to help. :love:

Hi Eva, thanks for the great link, it will be a valuable reference.

Okay, today I went to a craft store and I bought four colors of the same kind of yarn. It is German yarn, as I am in Germany, so I doubt its name would be helpful. It is relatively small, skinny yarn and the lady at the craft store showed me on the wrapping where it said to use a 3 to 3.5mm hook for it. So I also bought a 3.5mm/ 15cm hook. Do you happen to know of any relatively easy projects I could start out with, with these materials?

http://home.inreach.com/marthac/links.html take a look , I would suggest a hat, it won't take long to see your work. WOW you are in Germany ? My brother was stationed there about 10 years ago and when he sent me pictures it was so beautiful the flower gardens etc.

Thanks, I will try a hat. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I will let you know how the progress goes.

I am in Germany for the summer. My fiance's father is retired military and now a contracter for the Army base in Mannheim. We are visiting his parents and doing a lot of traveling. It is very pretty here, and an added bonus is that Germans are really into crafts. There are so many craft stores here, decently priced as well, as well as flea markets where I have picked up lots of needlework kits (some started a bit, lol, but others brand new) for only 1 Euro each! Their tapestries and canvases here are beautiful, and they also have a lot of crochet and knitting crafts in their stores and display beautiful sweaters and other articles made by crochet and knitwork. It is heaven for someone who is interested in crafts. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />