Crochet: are some people just not able to do it?

[sparepantsandtoothbrush]

I want to crochet! I'm so desperate and have tried so many times over the last 5 or so years. Books for beginners, YouTube videos, someone trying to show me and I just can't figure it out (beyond a chain!).

Is there any hope for me or should I just accept its never going to happen for me ☹️

Funnily enough me and my 7yo have just been learning to crochet this last six months or so. I have tried in the past as I love embroidery (and am quite good at it) but have never mastered crochet despite trying several times in the past. This time I've finally nailed it and I realise it's just practice! I clearly never fully persevered before because about three weeks in- when I thought "this is bullshit, I just can't do this"- something suddenly clicked! It's a very particular movement of the hands and once I got that it was plain sailing from then on, but I was literally practicing every single day for 22 days before I cracked it. Also, YouTube videos are no good for me, I just don't seem to be able to retain information that way, but picture step-by-step guides (loads free online) work well for me and we're finally what cracked me mastering the more complicated stitches. Keep going, you can do it! I couldn't even do a simple chain stitch to start with and now I've crocheted whole blankets and a few other trickier pieces.

Add me to the "can't crochet" list. I am a proficient knitter, and cross stitcher, and embroiderer and needlepointer - happy to have a bash at pretty much anything. But crochet is a total mystery, I have tried several times and had people teach me what to do, and just don't get it. I think it's a combination of being left-handed and not learning when I was very small.

I'm left handed and have to crochet backwards. I taught myself using YouTube and a library book (can't remember what it's called)

Many yarn shops have a weekly sit and stitch session. Just go along and ask if there's a volunteer who could help you.

I also learned how to crochet with Bella Coco. I just took my time and kept redoing things until it clicked. I also use stitch markers on every row and to mark every stitch change, which helps keep things lined up properly. The first thing I made was the eastern jewels blanket which looks really complicated but is just lots of repetition.

Sometimes you need an actual person one-to-one to help you, I think! I was a knitter first, and found crochet a bit tricky to start with. Crocheting in the round is easier than in rows, so I'd definitely start with basic granny squares.

I'm a secondary school teacher and run a lunchtime knitting and crochet club, popular with total beginners who have now all learned the basics, including one 11yo who said she'd tried and tried before, but couldn't get the hang of it. I used a Bella Coco video to show most of them, but she needed individual teaching.

Crocheting into the foundation chain is definitely the hardest bit for me. As a confident beginner, the next thing I'll be learning is how to do foundation stitches, so I don't have to bother with it ever again!

Anyone else diagnosed with Dyspraxia who has managed to master crochet? I can barely hang my washing out.