Beginners are a necessity for our beloved art of crochet! Without newbies, this yarn work would die out in only a few years. Enthusiastic beginners bring new life into crochet, redefining how we look at yarns and shapes, how we reexamine stitches, and how we love to inspire one another to new heights in design and stitchery skills. Tutorials aimed at beginners are essential. When a seasoned crocheter makes such tutorials a priority, we all benefit. Even those of us with intermediate or advanced crochet skills can often learn something new or be reminded of earlier skills by paying attention to beginner tutorials.
Tonya over at craftymummy.com has several tutorials on her blog that will assist beginners in learning and improving their crochet skills. I noticed the heart pattern (and tutorial) because I am a huge fan of the heart shape. This one is especially attractive to me because it has a lot of dimension – unusual for a beginner pattern. Tonya creates that visual dimension with a very simple, easy to learn technique. You can get the pattern and tutorial right here.
Even more basic is Tonya’s great tutorial for a beginner striped afghan. Excellent stitch photos and attention to changing colors make this tutorial (which she calls a crochet-along) even more valuable to the beginner. While the blanket can, of course, be completed in a single color, this tutorial gives you a good excuse to use up partial skeins to practice the techniques needed to change color every few rows.
Tonya has a few other nice beginner projects on her blog. Worth a look-see! She’s also added some special information about what to do if your blanket is curling. You can read her thoughts here.
Unique way of doing hearts… Love the bright colored afghan! Thanks, Jd! S. *¿*
You are so right, JD! Beginners are the lifeblood of our hobby! We need to do everything we can to encourage them! That is why in the past year I’ve devoted a lot of new designs to “easy” or “confident beginner” level.
Striped single crochet scrap afghans are lying on two of my living room chairs right now! They are “mindless crochet” which sometimes feels just right, and I love the look!