Last week I tried very hard to freehand crochet a chess piece, specifically a rook (aka castle). At first I thought of making a pawn, but I wanted to make something less simple. The knight (the horse piece) and the bishop seemed like they would take more effort than I wanted, so I decided to attempt a rook.
The rook I made was certainly more complicated than a pawn, but in spite of my efforts it looked more like a mushroom than a rook. I didn’t take any pictures because it’s not something I want to show off.
I did send it to the intended recipient anyway. Perhaps it was too ugly to send, but it’s too late now. Even if it gets thrown away, I hope it will bring a smile (or at least a chuckle at how un-rook-like it is) before meeting its end.
What I really should have done is looked up a pattern instead of trying to freehand a crochet chess piece! A quick search on Ravelry returned a pattern for large chess pieces and a pattern for a chess set with a board that doubles as a drawstring bag for holding the chess pieces. And there are plenty of others!
I did have fun working on the rook, but since I wanted it to look good, I probably should have used someone else’s expertise. There was no need for me to reinvent the wheel, but I do enjoy freehanding crochet projects (it feels like doodling with yarn). I guess there’s usually an easier way or a pattern, and I should just check, mate!
