I guess when the colonists left Great Britain and decided they needed to change things, it went all the way down to crochet terminology. Who knew?! It seems that all of the familiar stitch names - single crochet, double crochet, etc. - all mean something different in the UK. Or, they're called something else altogether. What's an American girl to do?
I troll the magazine shelves of my favorite Barnes & Noble, specifically the crafts section, on a regular basis. The last time I was there I found a new magazine called "Inside Crochet". (Even the magazine is the wrong size - those silly Europeans!) I instantly fell in love with the projects and special feature articles. I've already nearly completed a scarf, the likes of which I've never seen before. The Europeans just seem to have a flare for style and now I've discovered what they can do with crochet.
Crochet, in my estimation, used to be the ugly stepsister of knitting. Only grannies did it (well, I guess that fits me now) and all you could really do was make granny squares. An oversimplification to be sure but with knitting one could make all manner of creative and beautiful pieces. That is so not the case anymore. Designers have figured out the crochet possibilities and what can be done with all of the beautiful yarns available. I think knitting is still the go-to hand craft for a majority of folk, but crocheting is catching up fast. I couldn't be happier!
So, back to the British. Trying to read the pattern for this scarf was a challenge at first. I had to write in the names of the stitches so I wouldn't mix up their double crochet with my half crochet. And then I realized that the pattern reads in a slightly different way. How American patterns are worded is slightly different from the British version so I had to be careful not to make a mistake, especially at the ends of rows and when turning. Expert crocheters know that turning and making an even edge is one of the hardest things to do in crocheting. It didn't take me long, though, and I am well on my way to completing my beautiful scarf.
If you love crochet like I do and you'd like to broaden your horizons a bit, I highly recommend looking at "Inside Crochet". I plan to make it one of my favorites.
Happy British crocheting!
