Hooked on a feeling?

So, about four years ago, I begged my Mum to teach me to crochet. Being a lefty, I didn't think I would be able to manage it. Well, with the patience of a saint, Mum managed to teach me a granny square..... not that she had much choice, I refused to let her leave until I had mastered it. So, after the granny square, came the granny square blanket, one for almost every member of the family, whether they wanted one or not.
After a while I wanted to try my hand at something a bit harder. So, I phoned Mum " can you teach me how to make something else?" I begged her.
"sorry Lil, I cant follow a pattern" hmmmm, well, that was me stumped.
Sadly, six months later, Mum died.... life moved in a different direction, and granny squares fell by the wayside.
Until this year. Being a determined wee beastie, I decided that, lefty or not, I was going to learn to follow a crochet pattern, by hook (I know) or by crook, I was going to master it. A friend suggested the truly brilliant Attic24 Blog (http://attic24.typepad.com/). Thanks to Lucy and her incredible instructions, I was soon crocheting along like I knew what I was doing! My personal favourite being the triple layer flowers.
Hot on the heels of this new found skill, I once again reverted to granny squares, making a start on a blanket for our bed.
Then I was chatting to Jen, a friend of mine. She mentioned a "granny square swap group", well, I was up for that idea. Then I logged onto the group. WOW!, so many beautiful designs.... I had the feeling that my humble granny square wasn't quite going to cut the mustard (what does that actually mean?). So, the plan for the weekend is riffling through the "Granny Square Book" in the vain hope of finding something I can make. Something that wont let the side down.
Of course the book is in American crochet terms, so I have to translate that as well..... ahh well, easy is no fun, right?