Crochet Lessons 2 & 3

After three crochet lessons I am definitely hooked ...  ha...

Not ready to start a real project yet, but here's what I can do so far:

Single crochet.  This results in a nice, tight weave.  I want to use this stitch to make a big basket or tote bag.  Now where can I buy a big spool of leather for not too expensive a price?
   

Double crochet.  I like this stitch too.  It grows faster than the single crochet but still a has a nice weight to it.

Triple crochet.  I suppose this one is good if you're short on time and need to finish a project quickly.  But I'm not wild about the airy look of it.  It reminds me of vests from the '70's and makes me think about tasseled cords and moccasins.

I learned these 3 stitches and one more, the half double crochet, in the 2 session beginner crochet class at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio (15th Street between 5th and 6th avenue).

By the way, I really like the Lion Brand Yarn Studio.  Bright.  Spacious.  Comfortable.  Lots of inspiring displays.  Super friendly and helpful staff.  And folks are welcome to sit in the store and work on their knitting/crochet projects.  I think the only caveat is that everyone needs to be working with Lion Brand yarn (Correction!  Just found out we are welcome to work with any type of yarn and on any project in the store and can also ask for help.  This is fabulous!)

My class was held in a room upstairs from the main studio.  Most of the yarn stores I've been in around the city are a little cramped, so the separate classroom space is a real luxury.  The instructor, Edita, was super.  Organized.  Clear.  Patient.  The only frustrating part was I had to share her with 7 other students.  Instead of signing up for the next level class, I decided to switch to private sessions with Edita.

So many questions for Edita during the first private lesson.  What is a slip stitch?  How do I increase and decrease?  Can we practice reading some of patterns?  What is that popcorn stitch?  Will you show me how to make a flower?

As Edita demonstrated stitches and techniques for me to follow, I had a complete crochet epiphany:  I can sculpt as I crochet!  Amazing!  Edita then tells me lots of other people have figured this out too and it's called free-form crochet.  Who knew?

At home, I started experimenting by combining the different stitches.  I wanted to make a flower and I wanted to figure out how to work in the round.  Edita showed me how to make petals, but somehow, my efforts look more like coral or maybe seashells than flowers... Still, I rather like the look of them and there's a liberating feeling to adding stitches as I please.

I think next week I'll get a little more serious about reading crochet patterns (not so fun) and starting a real project.  But for now, I'm having a good time free-form crocheting.