Crochet love

It's funny how  one thing can lead to another and before you know it everything seems to snowball and grow into a project that you had no intention of embarking on at the begining.

And so it was with my purchase of this lovely teatowel from a craft market a few months ago.

Image 1: Purchased from craft markets

 I purchased this teatowel in the hopes of being able to copy the crochet pattern at the top in some of my own work. Previously I have used Youtube or a written pattern to create teatowel toppers. This would be the first time I felt confident enough to copy from a finished product. I am a self-taught crocheter who started to learn crochet BECAUSE I needed a supply of these teatowels in my kitchen and I had run out. My first attempts were basic at best but some of my most satisfying because I had conquered a craft challenge that had previously stumped me...3 times!

First atttempt at crochet...EVER

So off I went- as is my usual style - hoping that it would just make sense to me as I went along. Image 3. is the result of my first attempt to reproduce  the aqua and white pattern in image 1. It may be difficult to see, but I wasn't confident on how to reproduce the side shell pattern or the long tab section, so I adapted it and did something that I knew how to do (Trb stitch).

pattern attempt #1

Then I stumbled across a written pattern that had been given to me nearly 3 years ago when I first started on my crochet journey and how to make teatowel toppers. At the time I had looked at the pattern and I think my comment was Pfft! yeah right! I couldn't READ a pettern back then, let along construct a design this intricate. But now I looked at the pattern and decided it was in my realm of possibilities. Image 4. is the result of this pattern.

Image 4: Fillet and shells pattern

I would love to attribute this pattern correctly, but such is the way with these patterns that it came from a friend who has a photocopy of a crochet booklet item (It may have been called Top Teatowels) without details of the original work.

Image5: second attempt at aqua&white design

I still wasn't happy that the aqua and white pattern had me stumped and with a fresh supply of teatowels and the summer holidays ahead of me I enlisted the help of a friend to decipher the pattern more correctly and write a symbol diagram for my second attempt at making it work. Well all this reflection and discussion has definitely paid off, as I can now boast a successful second attempt  that I am quite chuffed to have produced.




So where to from here? Not to rest on my laurels, I looked through some of the other patterns that I had filed away for this type of project and came across some basic instructions to create this green pattern top (Image 6). Again I was quite pleased to be able to say I followed a basic hand drawn diagram and minimal notes to produce this lovely addition to my teatowel collection. The final point of amazement for this story is that all this was produced in the space of 4 days. It's amazing what a person can produce when they are focussed and excited to learn new things!

Image 6:Green Varigated in 5x triangle pattern

Many thanks to my lovely friend Jodie and her expertise and advice.


Whatever your hobby is this holidays...ENJOY!...and may your activities bring you as much satisfaction and enjoyment and mine do.