Broadening my horizons - crochet

I am loathe to admit it but I never learned to knit or crochet.  Yes, I am afraid it is true.   My mother knits some gorgeous scarves and I admit I have several of hers but I never took the time to learn myself.  Now that I am on Pinterest however, I keep seeing the most amazing crochet pieces.  But when I saw these, I realized I could not put it off any longer, I MUST learn to crochet:

Crochet Yoda, Crochet Moose Hat, and Crochet Game of Thrones Characters

That's what brought me to the yarn wall of my local craft store.  My awesome Mom had two random crochet hooks (sizes J & K) so she sent them to me along with an old "learn to crochet" booklet.   The book advised me to selected a medium 4 which I did - in a deep purple naturally.  My intent was to learn the basic stitches starting with the chain and slip stitches.  Between a youtube video (Naztazia - free video ) and my trusty booklet I learned the basic chain stitch and whipped up this:

I intend to make it into a wine cozy or mug warmer with a cute button and some embellishments.  I think I can whip up several of these and use them with complimentary fabrics to make some adorable - and handy - decorative pieces for gifts.  

I am on to new stitches and more complex options and I'll update as I go.  I'm hoping to teach myself a new stitch or trick each week or two and I will update as I go.

In the meantime, here are some handy little info pieces I found to be quite helpful.

Info on yarn weights

Crochet hook sizes

UPDATE!

Finished it up, perfect little wine cozy!!