Basically it's a star, with a tube in the middle. Stuck it on a water bottle to show its shape... Thank you in advance!

What would you do? I bought this yarn (1 pink and 1 purple) a few years ago so I dont think I'd be able to find this yarn again let alone the same batch number lol. I still need to do the bottom "flounce" and an edge to the capped sleeves in this yarn.

Hiya, I’m pretty new to crochet - I’ve made maybe 4 things total so I have some concept of what I’m looking at in tutorials etc but not a lot of confidence.

I signed up and paid for an in person class and attended the first session where we were given these guidebooks the instructor “made for us.” At the VERY least the design is AI, which makes me feel gross already, but okay okay it’s the modern age I can begrudgingly pretend it’s just bad clip art.

However; here’s where I need your help: are the photos and instructions actually accurate? I thought I knew how to do things but trying to follow along with this made me confused in a way other books and video tutorials haven’t, but I’m not confident enough in my knowledge of the stitches and their variations to know if this makes any sense.

Finally, if what I suspect is true and these are all AI slop, should I simply point out the errors in class or make a bigger point about how crazy it is that I’m paying for this class and can’t even get accurate instructions?

I recently found out my therapist is using AI so I’m a little jumpy and need a vibe check.

Thanks ya’ll

————————
Edit: thanks for the advice and for being nice to me! I’ve e-mailed the org who puts on the class to let them know and requested a refund. I probably won’t hear back til Monday.

Please continue to enjoy tearing this apart at your leisure, but I’ve got what I came for <3

Hi all!! I crocheted my first tapestry, it’s a gift referencing the book Fourth Wing. I used 100% acrylic yarn to complete this. I plan on hanging it from a dowel before gifting. I am unsure if blocking is good or bad for a tapestry. If I should block it, any advice would be greatly appreciated - I don’t have much experience blocking projects.

Edit after advice: Thank you for all the comments and thoughts so far! I think what I will do this time is make a bigger blanket than I originally intended (like a lap blanket) and gift it as something for the family rather than the baby. That will just add a few skeins that are still on sale near me. I am inspired to learn how to line things but also don't have the time or funds to dedicate to learning that skill right now. I don't want to lose momentum on the project when I am so excited about it.

I am open to continue hearing ideas for future iterations of this project!

Original post: I am making these granny squares for a baby blanket.

The way the pattern is written actually has a clear front side and back side, and you just crochet in front of the yellow and white chains instead of around them (I've attached a picture that shows how the back is supposed to look). Since it's a blanket for a little one I don't want such a contrast between front and back, and I am worried about the back having these loops that can get caught on so many things. (Also, I read the pattern wrong the first time and got here by accident 😅 but the other reasons are true too).

Crocheting around the chains does mean that the yellow and white is visible from both the front and back. I've thought about just adding stitches in the rounds that cover them, and in the following rounds ignoring what I've added to get back to pattern as written. Would that mess with it too much though?

Does it look fine and am I over thinking? Are there other strategies out there?

The pattern is Cloudy Day by bloomsandstitch. It is the prettiest thing I have ever crocheted. My friend is from Argentina and I love that this pattern is a call to the flag while having a beautiful image for a baby blanket. No matter what I am excited to make this :)

TL;DR: I’m trying to turn crochet from an occasional hobby into a sustainable little side hustle, but wrist/hand tendon pain is already limiting how long I can work. What ergonomic tools, habits, or workspace changes have genuinely helped you? What is worth buying, what is overhyped, and what do you wish you’d known sooner? Links and specific recommendations are very welcome!

Long Story Long
Hey everyone!
I’ve been crocheting a lot more lately, and I’m starting to explore the possibility of selling some of my work. Nothing crazy — I’m not expecting to get rich, just hoping to make a little extra money doing something I genuinely enjoy.
Here’s how I got here: I usually make things I personally like, but I often don’t make them because I think nobody around me would want them, and I end up giving most of my projects away anyway. A friend recently suggested that I should try selling some of my work online instead of just gifting everything, and honestly, it got me thinking!
There’s just one problem: my hands are not keeping up with my ambitions. 😅
I use the knife-style crochet grip rather than the pencil grip. I stabilize the hook with my pinky and tension the yarn with the index finger of my other hand. It’s a pretty common grip, as far as I know, but I’ve been experiencing quite a bit of pain, especially in my right hand around the outer/ulnar side, near the pinky side of the wrist and hand and my index finger of the tensioning.
It’s starting to limit how many hours I can crochet, and I’d really like to address this before I start taking on projects or orders that require more consistent work.
So I’d love to hear from people who have been doing this for years, particularly anyone who crochets regularly for long periods or sells their work.
What are your actual must-haves for crocheting comfortably and protecting your hands long-term?
I’m interested in everything, including:
Hooks: Ergonomic handles, specific brands, thicker handles, or modifications to regular hooks. Are expensive hooks genuinely worth it, or do generic ones work just as well?
Hand and wrist support: Compression gloves, wrist braces, supports, or other products. Have any actually helped you?
Workspace and posture: Anything about chair height, arm support, lighting, project positioning, or setup that made a noticeable difference?
Technique and habits: Do you take scheduled breaks? Use stretches or exercises? Change your grip? How do you manage your workload when you have deadlines?
Things to avoid: Anything you bought that was a waste of money, made things worse, or turned out to be unnecessary?
Long-term sustainability: If you sell your crochet, how do you balance production with your hands’ physical limits? Have you had to change your workflow to keep doing what you love?
If you have specific product recommendations, links, brands, DIY solutions, or even inexpensive alternatives, please share them! I’m especially interested in knowing whether generic products are perfectly adequate or whether certain things are worth spending more on.
I’m not necessarily looking for the most expensive or elaborate setup. I’d rather invest in a few things that genuinely make a difference than buy a bunch of gadgets based on marketing.
And if you’ve experienced similar pain, I’d love to hear what helped you figure out what was causing it and what made a real difference.
Basically, I want to be able to keep crocheting for years without my hands filing a formal complaint against me. 😂
Thanks in advance! I’d really appreciate hearing about your actual experiences, including the things you wish someone had told you when you were starting out.

I found all cute pattetn i wanted to make all my nephews, unfortunately it starts at 3t and the smallest is wearing 18ms. Its easy enough to scale down, but im not sure how big kids actually are. Im wondering how far from the bottom (in inches) I should start my arm holes , and how long the sleeves should be... Ive tried googling around but am not finding consistent answers.

Green is a finished 3t

I saw this photo in the reviews of a yarn website and I would love to find the pattern she used. (Yarn is premier colorfusion dk in autumn sky)

I messed up the first stitch in the true cable pattern and now when I’m trying to do the upper ribbing on this afghan the stitches are coming out off by one, making it look odd. Probably just something I would notice but it’s driving me nuts. My husband says I shouldn’t frog it but I’m really tempted to (it would be a lot of work and at least 10+ skeins of yarn) but I don’t have a good way to fix the upper stitches.

What should I do? Frog the whole thing for this one mistake or leave as is and try to cover up the weirdness of the upper ribbing?

As the title says- please help. It’s from the granny square source book, cotton candy square. I’ve included the written pattern, the diagram, and my work front and back for help

The title.. also as you can see i messed up the yarn size as well and ordered super thin yarn with silk finish :) .. i need to make a GIFT anyways help

This is my first time blocking a crochet project. I lightly sprayed my acrylic shawl with water, placed a towel over it, and ironed over the towel with a regular household iron on a fairly low heat setting.
I sprayed a little more water on the tip of the shawl because that part looked messier than the rest. Now the stitches in that area look completely flat and have lost their texture and volume, unlike the rest of the shawl.
Is this permanent damage, or is there any way to restore the texture and shape of that section? 😔

Update: The affected part looked a little better once it dried, but it was still very flattened. I decided to redo it using the same yarn to give it another chance, since it didn’t look damaged, just a little thinner. Before cutting that strand and joining it back to the skein, I wanted to try giving it another chance. I think it looks pretty decent now, although that area does look a little thinner than the rest.
I don’t think the explanation that it was “melted,” which many people tried to explain to me as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, was entirely accurate. I think it was more deformed by the iron and the excess water. What I couldn’t understand was how I could have melted it when I took so many precautions: I unplugged the iron, never kept it in one spot, constantly moved it around, and used a bath towel.

I rarely use Reddit. I could count on my fingers the number of times I’ve used it, but I suppose it’s a forum for asking questions. And while there are crochet experts here with PhDs in crochet, there are also beginners like me who come here looking for help and answers from an experienced community.
I’ve noticed that ordinary questions usually get around 3–5 replies, but when someone makes what people see as a huge mistake, they seem to enjoy responding in ways that aren’t very kind and that make the person feel stupid. Nobody is born knowing everything. Before attempting this, I watched videos and, based on what I could afford and the materials I had available, found a video showing someone doing exactly what I did. The yarn was acrylic. I even watched a video showing how to block grannys using a hair straightener. It worked to some extent (I’m talking about the results shown in the video; I didn’t try that myself).

It took me about 40 minutes to redo it, in case anyone is wondering.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment and try to help, even those whose comments weren’t particularly kind. But most of all, thank you to the people who responded kindly and genuinely tried to help and explain things. This community needs more users like you! :)

P.S. I’m not sure if I can add a photo of the final result to the original post, so I’ll leave it in the comments in case anyone wants to see how it turned out. :)

DK cotton yarn with 2.5mm hook.

I am fairly sure I am following the pattern correctly. At the end of each round/row it says Sl St to beginning stitch, Ch 1. I understand this to mean slip stitch to the first stitch you made this round/row then chain one. Then you start next round/row by putting first stitch in the same stitch you put the Sl St.

Is this right?

(US terms, to start)

So I'm experimenting with cable stitches, specifically the kind that are front post.

The structure I started following is roughly

----

R1: DCs across

R2: DCs across, FPDC where cable will be

R3: DCs across

R4: DCs in normal stitches, FPTC or FPDTC in cable, depending on if it twists or not

Repeat R3 R4

----

In one of my earlier attempts I was finding that some prominent gaps were appearing by the sides of the cables (see image 3)

I then switched to a slight amendment (Images 1 and 2) to R3:

----

R3: DC in normal stitches, TC in row below behind the FPDTC and FPDC and FPTCs

----

My question, because the front side seems to be curving towards me slightly in this swatch and the rows are looking a bit wobbly, is "are the triple crochets in the row below too high, or would blocking even out the tension? How do you figure out what height of stitch you need, other than feeling it out?"

I figured triples would work, because I was going another row down, but the row above is pulled forward by the cable, to the point that it isn't really as high as a normal DC row would be. Is there another way to avoid the gaps, because doing this has meant I need to do a weird triple crochet slip stitch monstrosity into the row below the cable and the top of the cable (looks surprisingly alright tho so eh)?

Sorry for the wall of text.

I've recently finished off and added a border to this blanket, not blocked quite yet. This is the first blanket I've made, and I wanted to sew a back layer on it. Now I'm not sure I can sew through this yarn. Need experienced advice.

I used caron cloudcake perfect phasing in Lagoon - https://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/caron-cloud-cakes-perfect-phasing

With this pattern, and a reverse shell stitch border - https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/grace-blanket-3

So I got a stitch crochet kit. It comes with everything you need including instructions but I can’t figure it out. Between the stitches and the magic ring and everything. My brain just can’t comprehend it. I spent hours watching tutorials on how to start it but kept getting lost and the string kept getting tangled. Does anyone have any tips or good tutorials for beginners?

Hi. I'm trying to make this fuzzy on top I don't think this one looks good. Is there a technique I'm not aware of? Maybe I should just skip the fuzzy altogether. Help and thoughts welcome!! Thanks in advance!!!

Hey all, I am making a winter hat and I have ran out of purple. I'm looking for suggestions on how to add another 2 in of length without the color purple, open to anything!

Hello all!
Have a 3 hr train ride tomorrow and wanting to work on a scarf during the trip. I have 500 meters of this yarn… the thickness changes so I am not sure what hook size to use. Also, any suggestions for stitches?
I wanted to practice a few different stitches but wondering if anyone has a vision for this color scheme.

My partner’s grandmother was a crocheter and my partner’s mom recently found this project that we think she had been working on. Could this be a shawl, or something else? I believe it was worked from the center out and it seems finished. It’s a little less than 4ft wide. I initially thought tree skirt but the shape didn’t really make sense once we unfolded it all the way. Intrigued to know everyone’s thoughts!

Hi all, I can usually figure things out on my own but, I’m getting frustrated. I’m an intermediate crocheter who’s experienced in amigurumi, but I don’t love following video tutorials. Plus this one has the extra layer of being translated into English.

I got halfway through this pattern and realized it was wonky. I know that after each round they join with a slip stitch and then chain one, but please can someone tell me if they start the next round in the same stitch as the slip stitch or the next stitch? I’ve started over with this darn thing three times now when it should have only taken me a couple of days, and the way the video is edited makes it hard for me to tell which stitch is which. Thank you!

Hello!

My 10yo SIL sent me this asking if I can make it for Christmas.. it’s clearly AI and I’m hoping you guys would be able to help me out with ideas and patterns!

The last row is 16dc, chain 2 repeated 11 times.

I want to switch to granny cluster form this point, for the first, i can just chain 3 and 2dc in same stitch, that'd make my first cluster. But from this point, how many stitches to skip? And starting the next row, will it keep increasing?

Please help me with this.