The Art of Crochet

I've been trying to learn crochet for a few months now.  I am in the middle of crocheting a blanket, which I'm really pleased with. 

I used the pattern for Summer Garden Granny Squares that Attic24 has posted on her blog.  I found these very easy to follow, although I'm not very good at making the squares all the same size!!!  Of course, practice will make perfect (hopefully!) but for the time being I've just kind of "gone with it" for this blanket.

Despite the fact that it will ultimately cost quite a lot of money over the next couple of years, I decided to subscribe to the new magazine that was advertised on the TV - The Art of Crochet. 

I wanted to try and learn how to crochet properly.  However, after sitting down for about an hour last night trying to learn from the start, I've found that perhaps this isn't going to be as easy as I thought!  I spent the best part of an hour trying to get the hang of holding the yarn properly, to ensure that the tension stays even.  I tried to do the foundation chain and a row of slip-stitch (about 10 times) but only really succeeded in cutting the circulation off in the left forefinger, getting cramp in the left ring finger, getting a blister on the right forefinger and giving myself "rope-burn" on my left-hand before getting frustrated and declaring "time for bed!" 

Now, the magazine does say that the best way to learn is to keep starting again in order to practice getting the stitches the same size, but I think that I may be too cack-handed because I really struggled!  Any tips or advice would be gratefully received!!