Crochet tips much appreciated :)?

As far as the best place to buy yarn, it depends. If you want middle of the road acrylic yarn, then probably WalMart is about as good as it gets. If you want spun wool, then you will have to find a specialty wool store near you, or a sheep farm that spins and sells the sheep wool. As far as patterns, there are all kinds of free patterns from a number of different website. There is patterncentral.com, lionbrand.com, interweave.com, or even the store where you purchase your yarn will often supply free patterns to go with the yarn you are purchasing. I also found Ebay had a wealth of patterns at various prices of course. Crochet is made up of chains, single, double, triple and slip stitches. Your patterns are made up of any combination of these. Most patterns will explain the stitch. If you become very adept you will learn what the stitches are in various names, such as a cluster, love knot, basketweave, but these are usually explained step by step in the pattern, so you don't need to worry about it. If you are as enthusiastic as I am, you will have a variety of materials on hand. I get a lot of requests, so I have crochet cotton in gauges 10, 20, 30, some metallic elastic (for more advanced projects), wool, and acrylic and spun beaver fur. At your stage, I would suggest you keep just a small quantity of acrylic yarn...it is the most versatile until you start to specialize. You should find yourself a full range of sizes in crochet hooks, crochet stitch markers (split rings) and scissors. That is pretty much it. I have crocheted for many, many, many years, both as a hobby and commercially for a fashion designer....that's where my small stash of beaver fur comes in....but you probably will never need it as it requires special patterns. Another pointer, always try to complete a project before starting a new one. It is very difficult to go back to ones that were placed on the back burner and pick up where you left off, plus the enthusiasm for that project will have probably worn off.