What I Crocheted in Six Months
(estimated reading time: 5 min)
Here’s a recap of what I’ve learned to crochet over the past six months, after starting from zero experience and spending about 240 hours crocheting / $500 on yarns and tools. Most of this work, together with the patterns used, can also be found on my art instagram account.
Table of Contents
- How I started: Amigurumi
- Month 1: Coasters
- Month 2-3: Coaster, but Better
- Month 4: Placemats
- Month 5-6: Accessories
- (Very General) Advice for Beginners
- 2024 Crochet Goals
How I started: Amigurumi
I started by purchasing two beginners’ kits for Amigurumi (crocheted or knitted stuffed toy), and finished both within a weekend (12 hours).
The end results were surprisingly nice, except for some small mistakes due to inserting the hook in the wrong place. This is a common problem for beginners starting with fluffy yarns, since it’s hard to see the shape of the stitches.
![a chunky pink penguin and a yellow cockatiel](/assets/crochet-recap/01.jpeg)
I made a few more stuffed toys the following week, but struggled a fair amount with (1) dealing with color changes and (2) sewing pieces together without screwing up their shapes.
![a long white and pink kitty and a small grey-blue cuddle fish](/assets/crochet-recap/02.jpeg)
![two white and pink kawaii kitty](/assets/crochet-recap/03.jpeg)
Month 1: Coasters
I was meeting a lot of old and new friends throughout the summer, so decided to bring everyone I met a small, crocheted gift. Making a stuffed toy for everyone seemed impossible at the time, so I started making small coasters.
I didn’t yet know how to adjust the pattern based on yarn weight to make sure things stay nice and flat, nor had I discovered the concept of blocking. As a result, most coasters I made weren’t perfectly shaped, as evidenced by the photos below.
![an assortment of crochet coasters, in various style and color](/assets/crochet-recap/04.jpeg)
Having nothing better to do during my post-graduation summer, I spent an average of 30+ hours a week crocheting—which caused lot of hand pain—and handed out dozens of gifts over a couple weeks. I was crocheting very slowly: for example, the filet dinosaur below (25cm/10in wide) took me maybe 15 hours.
![a 10in by 10in red filet dinosaur](/assets/crochet-recap/05.jpeg)
Month 2-3: Coasters, but Better
I slowly got better at understanding and adjusting patterns to suit my needs, and started making more complicated coasters/placemats, or nicer simple ones.
![a set of large beige and brown placemats, and an assortment of smaller coasters](/assets/crochet-recap/06.jpeg)
I also found a flower coaster pattern, which became my go-to choice for making quick (~2hrs each) gifts for friends. I made at least a dozen of these during this time (and even more later).
![flower coasters in purple and pink](/assets/crochet-recap/07.jpeg)
Busy with other aspects of my life (e.g. having started working full-time), I didn’t make much aside of the above.
Month 4: Placemats
I decided I now had enough experience to make some nice sets of gifts. I used the same flower pattern, but adapted it to multiple sizes. Below is the result after 30 hours of work (the large placemats are 35cm/14in in diameter):
![a set of rose-colored flower placemats](/assets/crochet-recap/08.jpeg)
And of course, I made more smaller coasters on the side, a subset of which are shown below. I really like the jasmine stitch coasters on the left, but making them was quite demanding for my hands due to how dense the stitches are.
![an assortment of smaller coasters, including four variations of jasmine stitch coasters](/assets/crochet-recap/09.jpeg)
Month 5-6: Accessories
After dozens of coasters and placemats, I finally wanted to try something new. Over the next two months, I made two shoulder bags, a jewelry box, a scarf, and another more complicated set of flower coasters. They all turned out well—I considered them aesthetic enough to post on my instagram.
![on the left: a beige alpine stitch shoulder bag with a sakura bag charm; on the right: a pink tulip stitch shoulder bag](/assets/crochet-recap/10.jpeg)
![on the left: a heart-shaped cake box and a light grey scraf; on the right: a different set of flower coasters in pink and red](/assets/crochet-recap/11.jpeg)
I spent an estimated 50-60 hours on everything above (20 of which goes to the scarf). Considering that I was also working on other craft projects, I was pretty satisfied with my output.
(Very General) Advice for Beginners
- Choose a good first project:
- Start with something small and fun so you are more likely to finish it.
- Avoid thick, fluffy, or black yarns, because it’s much harder to see the stitches and learn where to insert your hook.
- Take regular breaks and do stretches, unless you want to collect hand, wrist, arm, shoulder, neck, and back problems like pokemon.
- Use stitch markers generously—they make it much easier to see if you are making the right number of stitches in the right places.
- Ergonomic crochet hooks are absolutely worth it if you are going to keep crocheting (I use Prym and love it).
2024 Crochet Goals
Next year, I plan on crocheting mainly apparel, and I have at least two large pieces I’m looking to finish.
For one, I want to make nice and durable clothes for myself (and have fun during the process). Additionally, I want to limit myself to only one large project at a time, so I have more time and energy to explore some other hobbies on my list.
I will be posting all my projects—crochet or others—regularly on my art account, and a recap blog post every now and then. Stay tuned!
Special thanks to TheNumbat for editing.