Coasters

Coasters were my second project. I picked up hemp twine in Takaka, NZ. I thought coasters would be a good project to try the twine out on. I was right. While, it was a little tight to work with, they ended up making durable mug holders. And they even fit my huge NZ mug.

The coasters use the working in the round.

Dishclothes

My first project is the dishcloth. Crochet or knit dishclothes are so nice to use and a good way to learn the basic stiches and make something square. You need to start with 100% cotton yarn. Why? You need an plant based material and cotton is the best to choose.

Start with the chain stitch (ch). Ch 35-45. (make 35-45 chain stitches depending on the weight of the yarn - the weight is the thickness)

Row 1. Turn. Ch1. Skip the first chain. Single crochet (sc) 34-44 across.

Row 2. Ch1. Skip the first chain. Sc 34-44 across.

Continue each row until you have a square. Don't fasten off.

Create a border by sc 3 in the same sc in the corner. Basically, you are putting three single crochet stitches in the same spot. This is to create a square corner. sc around the edge of your square putting 3 sc in each corner.

Fasten off and weave the ends in.

Remember it is 100% cotton. You can put it in the wash but hang dry.

Try different stitches to learn the different ones.

Buying yarn at Walmart and Michael's

If you know exactly what you are looking for, you know exactly where to look on the shelves and it's in stock, I would tell you to buy at Walmart and Michael's. But if you don't have all of the above, I would not suggest a beginner crochetter to go there!

From my experience, the people who work in the stores don't know much about their products and cannot help you finding what you need.

At Michael's, I had two workers picking up balls of wool and reading the label going downt the shelves trying to find Lion Brand Lion Cotton - a 100% cotton, worsted weight yarn. I had already did that myself looking for the wool when I asked someone to help. She gathered her forces to look. I guess it's better to not know in groups? I wasted half an hour looking and left without the yarn I was looking for.

After the Michael's experience, I decided ring up Walmart before heading over. I was looking for 100% cotton yarn in black and red. I was put through to the fabric and yarn department. I asked the lady if they had 100% cotton yarn in black and red worsted weight. She said she did. I asked if it was in red and black for sure. She said yes. I went to the store to find that the black and red yarn that was beside the 100% cotton was 50% cotton, 50% acrylic. It's not the same thing.

While you can get yarn cheap at Michael's and Walmart, it's not worth your time to go. Go to a real yarn store such as Romni on Queen St W or I've been told about Mary's Yarn in Unionville. I've even found Lens Mills (at least the one in London, ON on Exter Rd) to have knowledgable staff. Better quality wool and knowledgable staff makes up for the price and these places do have sales!