Five Stitches Crochet

Hello, guest! Welcome to the Five Stitches Crochet blog, where I share free patterns, reviews, tips, tutorials, and crochet stories.

I have been crocheting since I was a child and have lived in several countries, picking up new techniques, stitches, and ideas along the way. When I was probably between five and eight years old (four decades ago!!!), my great grandmother, grandmothers, mother, and aunts started to teach me stitches. I have foggy memories of creating chain after chain that I would turn into necklaces and bracelets. Then I learned rows: single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet. Eventually, I learned to do a granny square and it felt like unlocking a new level.

It means a lot to me to carry on with a craft that has been passed down for at least five generations of my family (my nieces now crochet too!). But you don’t need to have a family tradition to learn to crochet. In fact, at one point, when I was still young, we reached our limit and I wanted to learn more.

When I bought Leisure Arts’ An Heirloom Afghan (Leaflet 2146) in 1991 — while still in high school — six dollars felt like a lot of money. But most people didn’t have computers in their homes or own cell phones back then and the internet was so young that most of us hadn’t even heard of it yet.

This booklet is more than just a pattern; it includes illustrated stitch descriptions that taught me to read patterns and presented me with the challenge and opportunity to learn 63 new stitches and designs. I completed the blanket and took a couple of photos to remember it by — photos, on film, developed at a pharmacy.

I don’t know where this blanket is now. I gave it to someone. Maybe they still have it or maybe it made its way to a thrift shop or garage sale. A gift should be given freely, without the expectation that the receiver keep it forever. But I still keep the photos and, despite trimming my belongings to just the essential multiple times as I moved from one country to another, I’ve kept this pattern for 33 years.

Now, we have the internet and with it Ravelry as a pattern database, YouTube tutorials, Instagram crochet influencers, online Hobbii Bingo, and numerous crochet blogs. This intensity of opportunity can be overwhelming. I, for one, still prefer a well-written pattern on paper and simple, traditional methods (I can get behind a good invisible join though!).

For me, the beauty of crochet lies in simplicity, not making a pattern more complicated than it needs to be, using basic stitches to make a beautiful item, and accepting crochet for what it is.

When I tried to come up with a name for my website and shop, my daughter insisted it have the number five in it, because she was five at the time. I realized that it was perfect because with just five basic stitches (and some minor variations of them), you can make nearly anything in crochet: slip stitch/chain (which are basically the same movement), single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet, and triple crochet (in US terms). Forget the hype. Learn those five stitches and you can make something beautiful.

My approach to crochet embraces its simple beauty and also makes it easier to learn. So join me. Let’s keep this simple together.

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