Barb, I can't answer your questions specifically, but if you join Crochetville (free) there is abundant help there and it is a very active forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Crochetville

Thanks for answering my post. I am always leery of joining anything because there always ends up a catch somewhere, but this sounds interesting. I went to your crochetville and don't quite understand how I go about it, but maybe you can enlighten me. I believe we have a local group that get together often working on projects and they get help right there, but will have to check into it further. They disband in the winter because most of the teachers go to Florida. I will check into it also. I have a lot of arthritis in my fingers and maybe that is why I have trouble controlling the tension of the thread. My Mother crocheted and did not knit. Thanks again and I will be checking. Barb

Barb - Sorry, I'm just getting back here. Click on the link I gave you, then "About" to get a good overview of the site. Then "Help, How Do I?" for instructions on how to register, etc. There is no catch and no fee, just a great group of all ages and circumstances. Enjoy :-)