Help me crochet without getting a headache

September 15, 2007 10:36 AM

Crochet filter: I can read and follow symbol patterns, but not so much with the written instructions. I need advice or, better yet, symbol-centric websites and books.

I learned to crochet using the Crochet Stitch Bible, which uses international symbol charts as well as written instructions for each stitch. Now, when I try to follow written instructions, I end up with a headache: "1 ss, 3 ch, 4dctog..." It's too much for my sad little brain. I need a visual. So, I ask you, crocheting Hivers, what books/websites do you recommend that have crocheting charts so that I can increase my repertoire? Barring that, do you have any advice for me on reading instructions without getting a headache?

posted by dogmom to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

Non-English patterns are usually charted.

These Japanese cats have a charted pattern and English commentary here.

It helps to search in other languages. For example, "patrones gratis crochet" (Spanish) leads us to this blog full of charted patterns.
posted by heatherann at 1:06 PM on September 15, 2007

I was going to suggest Japanese pattern books as well. Your profile doesn't say where you're located, but the woman who teaches my shop's crochet classes here in Sydney gets a lot of her pattern books from Kunokuniya. (She can't read a word of Japanese; she just follows the international symbols.) The added bonus is that the Japanese crochet scene is light-years ahead of anything we have locally, so you can actually find stuff that's cute and fashionable.
posted by web-goddess at 3:12 PM on September 15, 2007

Not a chart, but this site has some good short little videos of varous stitches that may help.
http://www.nexstitch.com/Tutorials.html
posted by BoscosMom at 1:56 AM on September 16, 2007