Crochet class - Lesson 1

Activity: Crochet class
Date: March - April
Time:2 hours per lesson (4 lessons)
Type: Individual
Organization: 編愛毛 (The Heart Knitting Company Tel. 2811 2287)

Hours:  8 hours - Creative

I am going to write this up like I did with the golf or the newspaper club one, with a page or two talking about what I did, and a reflections page at the end, since there is a lot to say. 

Also many of the photos were taken at home since it would be really disrespectful and awkward to keep pulling out my phone to take photos!

Lesson 1 - March
This was the first time I have ever crocheted before, so this was a brand new experience for me.
First of all,  I learned how to correctly hold the crochet hook and yarn:

I learned how to 3 different types of crochet stitches:

- "braid" stitch ~ 編織 (chain stitch in English)
- "short needle"~ 短針 (single crochet or double crochet, depends on which system is used)
- "long needle" ~ 長針 (double crochet or triple crochet (same as above, it depends))

Using these stitches, I was able to start practicing using some scrap yarn. During this time, I learned how to figure out where to put the hook to start a new row (each stitch forms a "v" shape and the hook has to go beneath BOTH of them, which is challenging when your stitches aren't very neat), how to count and increase the number of stitches in a row, how to start a new row using a different number of chain stitches at the start etc... (there was a lot to learn since I was a complete novice!)

I continued to do one row of single crochet stitches followed by one row of double crochet
stitches. As you can see, the stitches become much neater the more I practiced!

Eventually, I went on to crocheting with a pattern! This is the base for a small bag that I would be making! Since I was using a Japanese pattern, it had symbols that corresponded to different types of stitches, rather than a written out pattern, which meant learning which symbols meant what ( it was made much easier with the "cheat sheet" I had :P)

Each of the X represents a single crochet, circle in a chain stitch etc

Once I was done making the base, the lesson was over, and I was given the task of practicing my single and double crochet stitches. 

Will post more later! 
-Rebecca