I also crochet, I have been doing it about 40 years, There are so many things you can make that are simple. My grandmother taught me the stitches, but also told me to get a book to learn how to read patterns and do other stitches.
She could make about anything, but never knew how to read a pattern. She just looked at a project or even a picture and could make it. I still have many things she made. She died 35 years ago and I love her things. She also quilted, but I never was interested while she was alive to teach me that.