The Happy Hooker

So, coming full circle, I have taught myself how to crochet. I remember as a little girl my grandmother crocheted a ton, and even had me making chains and crocheting as well, but I of course saw no point in mastering the skill, and I never kept with it. Funny how now I'd kill for a few of those lessons now!
One of my new maternal "cravings" is to make homemade things for my baby. A blanket to come home in, a few hats, booties, sweaters, who knows. Easier said than done! Last Christmas I tried to teach myself to knit. It was a disaster. My sudden drive to learn crochet, I figured, was destined to meet the same fate of giant messes of yarn that wouldn't pass for crochet, let alone something wearable. I decided to get some "fine" literature (instead of a "learn it quick" guide, which probably, in retrospect, aided the knitting fiasco). These are the two books I tried:
The Happy Hooker was the first book I picked up, and I learned quite a bit, but I was still having difficulty mastering all the random stitches. So then I picked up the Teach Yourself Visually Crocheting book, which has great explanations and pictures. In retrospect, I was probably more drawn to the former because of the cute baby item patterns in the back--not really considering I couldn't do THOSE until I actually learned HOW to crochet. After a lot of "teaching squares" I decided to try my hand at a few hats, but the patterns all still looked too daunting. I scoured the internet and found a really simple pattern from this website: http://susan.kraus.net/pages/pattern5.html
I made the hat in the regular size, and although it was large, it definitely passed for a hat. She might not be able to wear it right out of the hospital (and honestly, I'm going for a natural birth, so let's all say a quick prayer that in fact, this hat is WAY too big for her hopefully VERY little head). However, they also have a "take me home" adjustment to make a smaller infant cap. These are the two hats I made from that pattern; the green hat is the very first thing I made:
Then I got bold and broke out The Happy Hooker and tried the cute hat patterns that had first drawn me to the book. They had two versions--one very girly with a frill, one more of a cap. Of course, at this point I knew I was having a girl (or had a good idea which was soon confirmed) so I tried the frill first. Turned out so cute, I made three--including the purple and white cap, which is my favorite.
And I decided to make the regular cap (in pink) but I plan on doing something ELSE to it, to make it even more girly. It's very small, so I think it'll be the cap she comes home in. I'm thinking of either making a flower to go on it, or breaking out my ribbon for a bow. I've got to see if I can crochet a flower before I make my final decision.
Knowing me I'll probably also buy more white yarn (I ran out of what I'd had, amazing, for how long I've been holding on to it) and make a few pink and white frilly hats too--I'm not much of a pink person, but it's killing me how cute it is.
So, then it was suggested to me I should try making something else. I'm afraid to make clothes with crochet because of the really long patterns. I know if I actually sat down and tried, I'd probably be fine. However, right now it seems like a big undertaking. So, I decided to try baby booties. I don't have any patterns for them, so I hit up the same website from the hats and found these: http://susan.kraus.net/pages/pattern6.html
The booties looked hard, but I figured I should just try. What's the worst that could happen? So, today I tackled booties. And I ended up mastering them! I'm impressed what I've learned, even though the pattern now seems really simple. It just SEEMED complicated in the beginning. I mean, have you ever looked at socks? There is a lot going on there. And these are small feet!
They turned out pretty cute! This pattern also has a "take me home" size, so I plan on trying those as well. Probably in a different color first, then I might remake another pink pair. The only thing that is annoying with booties is you have to make two. So, when you finish the first, unlike the hat where you can marvel at your amazingness, you actually have to make another one before people are impressed--no one would think it was so amazing with only ONE booty for the baby!
So, I guess now I can say with affirmation that I officially know how to crochet. I'm pretty excited about it. I feel a great connection to my late grandmother, because I'm sure she'd be super happy that I'd taken on one of her hobbies. Of course, I'm sure if she were here, she'd also point out all the mistakes I'm making on these (and there are many). But hey, Baby Claire won't notice--and if people are nice to a new mommy, they won't notice either. For those of you who see me trying to make my child wear my hand-crafted goods, that was a subtle warning. :)