Oh the horror! I have a deep, dark, ugly little secret. It is so despicable
that I can hardly bear to think of it. Yet, the time has come for me to come
clean. My very sanity requires that I share with you this insidious mark on
my soul. OK. I’m ready. Please make sure you are securely seated. Here goes.
I HATE THE HDC. There. It’s done. I can breathe again. Now you all know and I
can now explain. Because of the way I hold my hook and my particular
tension, I cannot complete the stitch in one motion. Rather than pulling
through all three loops, I must pull through two, adjust my hook, then pull
through the remaining loop. I like to crochet swiftly and seamlessly but the
hdc frustrates my movement. I tell you! When I find a pattern to which I am
otherwise attracted, if there are hdcs contained within, I move on. Really!
But wouldn’t you know that only this morning, to adjust a 12″ square pattern
to gauge, I had to employ a round of hdc? I broke out in a sweat. Would I
survive the ordeal? I gritted my teeth and looked askance at this
unfortunate project. But it is done. NEVER AGAIN!
I hope you all will not hold this pecadillo against me. I beg your
understanding and ask your forgiveness. I know have erred.
I HATE THE HALF DOUBLE CROCHET STITCH.
Your humble servant,
Peter Franzi
Clarification: I actually wrote the above over 3 years ago, before I began my designing career. I have since negotiated a truce with the hdc and use it extensively in my work. BUT I STILL HATE IT!!! 😡
Crackers in Bed 
LOL
Really? I love hdc. But I hafta see how you must be holding your hook!!
Although I’ve become addicted to hdc (especially to do simulated knitting “camel” crochet), I have a good idea of what you’re talking about. I’ve been trying to learn afghan/tunisian crochet. I get the concept, but the execution is giving me fits. I just can’t fly through any of the stitches, like I can in standard crochet. My hook seems to have a mind of it’s own, gets caught in the stitches (either I’m pulling through too many, or too few loops), and my hands ache like the dickens from the unfamiliar activity.
Maybe being a left has something to do with it, or it’s just “newbee” syndrome. I vaguelly remember (geez, I think it may have been before I started kindergarten – eons ago) my mother and grandmother teaching me to crochet (both lefties). I mastered the chain fairly quickly (at least that’s the way I remember it), but once I got bored with making shoe laces and hair ties, I begged them to teach me more. I remember having to use my fingers to pull one loop over another to make a sc, and even at 5 or 6, I knew my tension (though I didn’t know that term) was way off. Tight stitches interspersed with loos stitches – everything I made was a trapezoid.
Everytime I have difficulty with a new stitch, I’m five again, sitting on the floor crosslegged with a plastic hook (only in my mind, if I got down on the floor, I’d never be able to get back up again).
Well, if it’s any consolation, I’ve been at it almost 40 years and I STILL have trouble with the HDC … and bullions, too.