Crochet techniques to learn

New techniques (or new to me)

Russian join -- Check! Called "long splice" by my Navy veteran father.
Magic ring -- have done one successful one from the video at Planet June. OK, now have done two.
Making a solid circle based on a magic ring --
Making a hemisphere --
Standing dc --
Chainless turning dc -- Hm. Not so successful.
No-chain starting row, sc and dc -- Check! with referring back every so often to instructions
Mattress join for square motifs -- Check!

In making lengths of the wide Irish edging, I have learned how to make neat picots, picot trefoils, and 3-tr clusters.

In making the bargello hanging, I learned to count, count, count every element, and to do long dc -- reach down to second row below. It is also used in the kitty-cat pattern.

Bargello

Kitty-cats

Meta bargello

Don't learn in black

I just learned the excellent mattress stitch (q.G.). However, I learned it using black yarn to unite black motifs. Don't do this. Make a few motifs in a light color and use a medium or dark color for the joining. Really. The stitch worked great for me, but as I made them, the stitches disappeared instantly into the deep-space-like darkness of the motifs. So when I had to undo a stitch or so, I had to peer at it using bright light. Learning anything with a dark yarn is a bad idea because you can't see the 3-D effects of shadows.