Trying...

I first became obsessed by crochet four years ago while I was pregnant with my second daughter. I really wanted a granny square blanket for her but couldn't find any to buy. I was living in Spain at the time and only knew a few English people none of whom knew how to crochet. I couldn't ask any of our Spanish friends because that would have been far too difficult as my my Spanish is not very good. I ended up compromising and bought a pink crocheted blanket but the longing didn't go away.

When we returned to the UK I decided to bite the bullet and tried to learn. Again I could find nobody to teach me, my Mum knits but doesn't crochet. I turned to Youtube where I found a fantastic little video with a lovely American lady who showed, step by step, how to make a granny square. After a few failed attempts I finally grasped the concept and now I am hooked (pardon the pun). Unfortunately I can't find the link so I can't give the lovely lady the thanks that she deserves.

Up until now I had never bought a pattern or a book. All of the patterns came from the internet and from the many generous bloggers who put their patterns on the net. Until today, that is, when a marvellous and oh so lovely book entitled Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts! Lacy Crochet arrived. I spent a while drooling over the pictures and then panicking at the look of the diagrams. I have only ever followed patterns that are in words and so looking at the diagrams was more than a little daunting. The above image is what I finally decided to do. It is a pot holder but I have decided to only do the front so that it will hopefully be a doily.

I hope that it works out because I am still not sure about exactly what all of those symbols mean. I'll let you know how I get on......