In search of the perfect roundel

When I started crocheting I told myself it would be an AGE before I actually MADE anything. It was a psychological trick that, for me, paid off. It took the pressure off, you see, and I just doodled around with the hook and the yarns, producing a basket full of messy little shapes and patterns, ends sticking out everywhere.

My first successful project was the popcorn square cushion cover I gave my mum. I followed the pattern to the letter - which was an excellent exercise in itself, and I only made a 'front'. It was a huge effort to make 9 whole squares the same and a real challenge to join them. I stitched the finished 9 to an existing plain cushion cover. I was pleased and my mum was delighted. But thereal effort had been in the COMPLETION of something of sufficient quality to be able to give it away.

HOWEVER, It was suggested to me as a prospective teacher of crochet that a lot of people, unlike me would prefer to be able to produce a finished object at the earliest stage of their learning. So with that in mind I have been thinking about things you can make with the most basic of crochet skills, and there are zillions of course! This comes with a warning though! If you don't know many stitches you are obliged to repeat and repeat the ones you do, which some might find rather tedious until they are faster at it. I know I would have. Impatient and petulant by nature, the thing I enjoy most of all is trying out NEW stitches, NOT going over the same ones! So if you are grown up you are probably more than happy to continue to work at perfecting your existing repertoire before moving onto the more complex stitches and will be more than happy to plug away until you have produced a half decent OBJECT.

ANYWAY, lately I've returned to the most basic of crochet stitches - the double crochet (or single crochet if you're in the US) and have been trying to make FINISHED, USEFUL, DESIRABLE objects using only that stitch and the chain, with no sewing and very little weaving in of ends. This has lead to an excellent exercise in focussing on the finer details. I've finally taken the time to MASTER the crocheting of a flat disk with no frilling or curling (ok, minimal then - and nothing a bit of blocking can't iron out at the end!) mostly by re-reading instructions and advice already at my disposal. I've also solved the problem of joining each row neatly and producing a straight and (almost) invisible line of joins as the disk grows.

.

Finally, I've developed my own technique for stiffening the bowls and pots I've created after getting the hang of these niceties of crocheting in the round.