I did a lot of craft hobbies prior to entering the Blythe community. Before Blythe, I mostly designed jewellery and crocheted. Since Blythe, I’ve sewn a lot more (out of motivation to have new clothes for my dolls without breaking the bank) and knitted more as well (small sweaters, scarves and even dresses).

There’s a lot of things I like about crochet. All I need is a hook and some yarn (or just various types of string) and it’s easy to get started. There are a lot of online and offline resources for those wanting to learn how to crochet. I recommend going to your local public library for some books. This may sound silly, but I always recommend that people get the books written for children. Why? They generally have great illustrations and simply written out directions for those learning how to crochet. Projects designed for beginners will be roughly the same for both books written for children and adults, but it’s really the value in the foundations of learning how to crochet that differ quite a bit.

How do you get started with crochet without burning a hole in your wallet?

• Borrow books from the public library
• Find a free pattern (online or in a library book)
• Choose a project with yarn that’s not too ‘fancy’ (simple yarn is best! no black or very dark colours!)
• Buy a crochet hook that corresponds with the pattern and the yarn that you have chosen to buy (you can always buy more crochet hooks later or find some at a thrift store)

I suggest starting to crochet by finding a project geared towards beginners. The pattern will tell you the hook size and the yarn weight and all other things you need to get started. Good patterns will also tell you what the abbreviations stand for and also if they are using US or UK crochet terms (this also makes a huge difference what stitches you use).

Don’t try to bite off more than you can chew – once you understand the basic stitches (chain, single, half-double, double, triple) and some shaping techniques (increases, decreases), there’s a lot that you can do with crochet.

Here’s a free pattern available from Chelle-Chelle.com (one of my other websites) written for Blythe, the Blythe Monster Hat. You need to know how to do slip stitches, single crochet, triple crochet, how to increase and how to do the magic ring.