I’m new to crochet and by new I mean I picked up the stuff for it yesterday for something new (I figured it would be easier to crochet toys than to knit them)
I’m self taught and can’t seem to find the instructions I need. Sadly, I am horrible at learning without videos and the only ones I find seem to be for individual stitches. The instructions I have don’t give any pictures so I don’t know if I’m doing it right.
Does anyone know of a sister site to KnittingHelp? If you taught yourself, what did you use to learn? Know any good videos?
Anyone willing to make a video if I give you the pattern (at least the beginning rounds anyway)?
Need help; new to crochet
I used a booklet to learn, same as I learned knitting, that was years before the internet existed. You might check on Youtube for videos. Crocheting is composed of putting the individual stitches together, same way for knitting. What are you having a problem with? It may be that you’re just not sure how to interpret the pattern. If you want to type out a few rows that you don’t understand (not the whole pattern please) we may be able to help you get started.
You might want to look at the website for the Crochet Guild of America. There are good illustrations of the stitches, and dropdowns for almost anything you can think of.
For videos, I’d suggest Crochetville. The purpose of C’ville is mostly the development and sustaining of a crochet community, but there are also sectors, like here, where people can find videos and other learning material for free.
C’ville offers occasional on-line classes in aspects of crochet, but I think that beginners are much better off with in-person help. I learned from a friend in college who showed me one-to-one how to crochet. No videos then, and not nearly as many books or access to them as now, esp. since I was in school full-time and working my way through college. But these days, I can recommend your local library; many of them have good holdings in crochet, and some even have books written for kids/teens to learn. (It was a “teen” learn-to-knit book that helped me break through into knitting recently, so don’t feel silly about checking out a “juvenile” book.)
See if any of your friends already know how to crochet. If not, do what you can to find a yarn store that offers classes. Joann’s also offers occasional classes in learning to knit or crochet; if there’s no helpful yarn store, give Joann’s a call and find out when the next crochet class is.
Starting right off by making toys might be more than you want to deal with (IMHO). You’ll need to work in rounds rather than rows, and make a decision as to whether you’re doing separate rounds or spiraling out. You’ll also need to work on increases and decreases right away rather than building the basic skills of the stitches themselves first and then adding the increase/decrease skills. But if you’re an experienced knitter, then the idea of increase/decrease isn’t new, and maybe learning how to do it in crochet won’t be so strange to you.
Best wishes! 
DCM
Thank you both for replying so soon. I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you, I’ve been busy helping take care of my 2 yr old nephew and have been too tired to do much else.
@SuzeeQ - I’m not too good with learning by just words and images, but I think I got it figured out between the 2 beginner booklets I got and using Youtube. Thank you for offering to help, though.
@DogCatMom - I would have loved to have somebody to teach me but nobody I know does any of it. As I told Suzee, I’m no good with just books, so the library doesn’t really work. As for classes, I’m currently working on anxiety and prefer working at my own pace (I’m also moody like a young child when I get frustrated) so that’s a no go.
The reason I wanted to start working on toys with crochet is because the only thing I ever made with knitting is scarves and only very basic ones at that. Crochet seemed an easier way of working in rounds.
I actually finished one of the toys I’ve been working on if you’d like to see it and give your opinion.
Sorry if this seems all over the place and/or redundant. It’s been a busy day.
Chubby Kitten, I love your name! Nothing cuter than a chubby kitten!
I have done videos on request many times, so if you run across something that you just can’t ‘get’, please email me and I’ll see about working up a video for you.
Here are a few of the videos I posted for readers:
Knitting the loop on the self-tying neck scarf
Tunisian Short Row Dishcloth
Dish Scrubbie - crocheted
Single Crochet Shells
Half Granny Shawl
Slippers Part 1 and Part 2
Mitered Square baby blanket
Hope this helps!
MGM
oh thank you! I’ll keep that in mind and I’ll have to check out the videos later (if I ever get the time XD )
don’t forget LionBrand has videos and free patterns. :woohoo:
YouTube- boat loads of info, lots of nice people out there. 
I love MGM’s videos! They helped me a lot when I first started crocheting.
And my other favorite source for learning was the “Crochet Made Easy” cd I checked out from the library. I just popped it into my computer, and it started automatically. No need to install. It’s like watching a movie, and you can pause or move on to the next section as you please. Videos for all the basics in crochet.
Crochet CD Practice by Shandeh, on Flickr
Art of Crochet by Teresa was very helpful for me in learning how to do no chain foundation, baby beanie and baby cocoons. she also has lots of youtube videos. very good ones. I’m also a beginner and the simple instructions paired with the video tutorials helped a lot. check out my diaper cover pattern. my first one. It probably has some mistakes but it’s very simple. any mistakes you find please tell me.
Good luck on your crocheting!