re: Crocheting Mums.

Quoting Janice Rider-Lehtovaara:" If your doing just straight rows, don't forget to count. Your ends will end up all uneven if you are ... [snip!] ... fairly easy. Soon enough you will be able to crochet and keep count without even looking at what your doing. Happy crocheting!"

This! Your rows will look wonky if you don't do the same amount on each row. I can watch TV and crochet now. I don't even have to look. lol

Quoting Due w/ a little boy!:" I soooo know what you mean!! I definitely wish the same thing. I wanted something to kill time and asked ... [snip!] ... done, but I know it's definitely a skill worth having  . And awesome idea about the mice blankets   that is extremely cute!"

I've been wanting to learn for years, but never really had the opportunity to. On Friday I was put on bed rest and with us having only one tablet and no cable, just antenna, I needed something to do while my husband plays his games on the tablet, haha. Plus you can only watch so much daytime tv and do so much on the net  

Thank you!
I'm constantly throwing shredded toilet paper in their tanks for their nests and figured all the little practice squares I was making would be nice for their nests. My little guy Rascal has two blankets now and as soon as I threw the new one in he drug it into his house. My girls Peanut and Buttercup are snuggled in their blanket right now  

Quoting Janice Rider-Lehtovaara:" If your doing just straight rows, don't forget to count. Your ends will end up all uneven if you are ... [snip!] ... fairly easy. Soon enough you will be able to crochet and keep count without even looking at what your doing. Happy crocheting!"

Yeah I finally figured out how important counting is this morning. They're still coming out wrong tonight, but it's mostly because my husband keeps talking to me while I'm crocheting and I lose count  

Try keeping a piece of paper and pencil handy. That way if he starts talking to you,you can stop and write down what stitch your on then start back up again without having to go back and count every stitch.
As for your hubby talking to you and interrupting just ask him to wait until you have finished your row so you don't loose count. That's what I did and now when he sees a crochet hook in my hand he just keeps on walking LOL Because He knows that when I crochet It's my quite time and I do not want to be interrupted. Just like when he plays his video games.

Try making your chain looser to start then you normally make your stitches, if you have a hard time doing that then use the next size up hook for the chain and go back to the right hook when you start the first row. I noticed this in the beginning when I first learned and it was because I would make my chain too tight so the first couple of rows would "wave"

- Ive been crocheting for 5 years and learned from someone whose been crocheting for 35.

Quoting Preggo ✖ Status:" Try making your chain looser to start then you normally make your stitches, if you have a hard time doing ... [snip!] ... the first couple of rows would "wave" - Ive been crocheting for 5 years and learned from someone whose been crocheting for 35."

I have this piece I've been practicing on for a few days and it's crazy that you can see how wonky everything was 2 days ago. The rows I did last night are all nice and straight, haha. I wish I had someone to sit down with me and teach me. My Aunt and Uncle are gonna come visit in a couple of months and I'm hoping my Aunt can sit down wth me and teach me some new stuff. I'm a kinesthetic learner. It's very difficult for me to fully grasp the videos and patterns, haha.

I did find using a bigger hook has been easier. I'm using an I right now and I was having issues with the H all the tutorials suggested. The bigger hook feels more solid in my awkward hands.

Quoting Rabbit™:" I have this piece I've been practicing on for a few days and it's crazy that you can see how wonky ... [snip!] ... right now and I was having issues with the H all the tutorials suggested. The bigger hook feels more solid in my awkward hands."

H is my "go to" hook size, its like the standard "medium" in the crochet world, if im corcheting without using a pattern I usually use an H hook, its just what is comfortable, if I'm using a bigger hook I tend to favor the K hook.. anything bigger than a K and I noticed I drop stitched alot and it annoys the hell out of me. you'll also find that some people are rows people some are rounds and some are both. I learned by crocheting rows (like for blankets) but actually excel and understand patterns better in rounds (like hats and dolls)