In which I am finally introduced to the concept of textile crafts

I seem to have randomly picked up crocheting this past week? A babysitter taught me how to chain stitch when I was a kid, but I'd never figured out how to do any more than that. And anyway I'd been looking around for something to do with my hands during Zoom meetings that would let me still pay attention to the meetings without being bored out of my skull (I've been doing chain maille, which fills that niche, but was looking for another potential activity) and then I saw these cute amigurumi kits which a) I really wanted to make one, because they're so cute b) they had all these tag lines like "total beginners who've never crocheted before can do this!" and I was like... hey, total beginner who has never crocheted before, that's me! I could... maybe... do that?

So I bought a set of crochet hooks, got out the yarn in the kids' craft bin (I am rather amused that the two super cheap spools of yarn I bought when E was a toddler as basically play toys for her have lasted through almost ten years and two kids, though we're down to assorted medium-to-small balls of it now), and watched some videos. I hate watching videos, but I must reluctantly concede that for this kind of thing it is six thousand times better than pictures (yes, yes, this is cahn getting with the digital world, decades after everyone else did) as my ability and motivation are not large enough to figure out how to do it from pictures, but I was able to pretty easily via video. Some large number of ripped-out stitches later, I now know how to single crochet and double crochet, and courtesy of not just meetings but also the kids having outside karate and E and I watching She-Ra, I have a small half-washcloth-sized single-crocheted piece of material that E has already earmarked as a blanket for her (small) stuffed animal, at which point A commissioned a similar blanket for his small stuffed animal, which I finished double crocheting today during back-to-back meetings.

(It's soooo good for meetings, better than chain maille; it's just the right combo of repetitive but requiring a bit of visual attention and also hypnotic that I can actually concentrate better on someone else talking while crocheting than I can if I'm not doing anything with my hands.)

Something that's weird to me is how much more physically compelling I find crocheting than knitting. A friend taught me how to knit many years ago and I knitted a washcloth and then quit because I didn't find the act of knitting particularly interesting, whereas I actually enjoy crocheting and find it very soothing and kind of addictive. (Not gonna lie, part of this is that ripping out stitches, which I've been doing a lot, is extremely satisfying :) ) I assume there are others who feel exactly opposite (most of you? like... I think half the people on my DW list are huge knitters) and find knitting compelling and crocheting uninteresting. It's just fascinating to me though because I guess I'd always subconsiously assumed (yes, feel free to laugh at me) they were pretty much the same in terms of crafting appeal, they both involve creating cloth from yarn with one stick vs. two sticks, what's the difference? ;) (All this being said, I'm thinking that some of it probably also has to do with where I am in life, and maybe I should try knitting again. I do think I like the fabric that results from knitting more!)

The only thing is that it seems to tear up my neck and shoulders. I think this is because I don't have good back/shoulder posture while crocheting. (I'm pretty sure my hands themselves are in reasonably good ergonomic position, but it's certainly rather repetitive so I think I'd need to be careful there too.) It's about the time of year I usually have some problems with this anyway, so I'm trying to be better about stretches and we'll see.

I haven't bought a kit, and will try to make the chick by myself after I get yarn for it (I've been practicing magic circle), as I am pretty sure I can do it on my own. But I will probably get their fox kit and make that for E, as she adores foxes and I feel like I should support their business for inspiring me to do this, and also the fox looks more difficult and like a kit might be more fun than me trying to figure it out myself, whereas it was more fun for me to figure out the chick by myself :)

So anyway! Tell me about yarn you like! Ideally yarn that comes in pretty colors and is soft and easy to crochet. Cheap and durable is a plus, especially until I get better at this :P I don't have any opinions about artifical vs. natural fiber -- it's all good :)