whimsical wednesday!

whimsical wednesday had participants trying something new.  my efforts took many hours as trying to think of that something new occupied much of the morning.  after a few false starts i decided to learn new crochet stitches.  doing such usually isn't very pleasant for me as i find reading patterns and stitch directions difficult (that's why i typically make up my own!).  however, this was the something new i decided upon and i was going to see it through.  i fumbled with my attempts initially as i couldn't get myself situated with what to learn or how to learn it.  finally i decided to create a small crocheted piece that would be a sampler of the different new stitches i was going to learn.  and i began at the beginning of the "how to" of stitches in one my crochet books.

first came the row of chain stitches, the stitch that begins most crocheted pieces.  then a row of single crochet between each row of the rest of the stitches.  the first stitches, half double crochet (my favorite crochet stitch) and double crochet i already knew how to execute.  from those rows i learned how to crochet the triple crochet, any stitch (i used the half double crochet) around the front of the stitch post, then around the back of the stitch post as well as stitches in the top front loop and the back top loop.  the cluster crochet stitch, the popcorn crochet stitch and the puff crochet stitch finished the project.

when the last single crochet stitch was finished, i lifted the small sampler piece to examine and admire.  big grin!  collectively, i learned eight new stitches for my learn something new activity.  some i had to do over and over again until i crocheted them correctly.  i was quite pleased with my efforts and the results as my knowledge of crochet expanded today.  my mom would be pleased too!