Welcome to the wonderful world of crochet! If you’re looking to Learn Crochet, you’ve come to the right place. Crochet is an incredibly accessible and enjoyable craft. Once you grasp the basics, you’ll be amazed at the variety of items you can create. From cozy blankets to stylish accessories, the possibilities are endless. The initial steps are simple: getting comfortable with your hook and yarn, creating a slip knot, and mastering the crochet chain. With just these fundamental techniques, you’ll be well on your way to crocheting your first project! In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to learn crochet as an absolute beginner, starting with the very basics.
When I first started to learn crochet, I relied heavily on online video tutorials. Watching crochet techniques demonstrated visually was incredibly helpful in understanding the movements and ensuring I was doing things correctly. Like many beginners, I wanted my crochet to look perfect right away. However, I quickly learned that practice is key. Don’t be afraid to create practice swatches. These small squares are invaluable for getting a feel for holding your hook and yarn and understanding your yarn tension. And the best part? Even those practice squares can be turned into something beautiful later – like a patchwork blanket!
In this comprehensive tutorial, we will cover the essential techniques for anyone wanting to learn crochet. We’ll guide you through holding your crochet hook and yarn, making a slip knot, crocheting a chain, mastering the single crochet stitch, and finally, how to finish off your work and weave in the ends.
What You Will Need to Start:
The essential tools for learning to crochet are yarn, a crochet hook in the recommended size for your yarn, scissors, and a yarn needle.
To make your learning journey easier, I highly recommend starting with a thicker yarn and the crochet hook size suggested on the yarn label. Choosing the right yarn and hook is crucial for beginners as it makes it easier to see your stitches and handle the materials.
But how do you decipher yarn labels when you’re shopping for supplies? Yarn labels contain vital information, including the yarn weight, indicated by a number. For beginners, look for yarn labeled size 4 or larger.
The yarn label will also typically recommend a corresponding crochet hook size. For a size 4 yarn, a 5.5mm or I-9 hook is generally recommended. Using the recommended hook size will ensure your stitches are neither too tight nor too loose, making the learning process smoother.
How to Hold Your Hook:
There’s no single “right” way to hold a crochet hook; comfort and personal preference are key.
However, two common methods are widely used: the knife hold and the pencil hold. Experiment with both to discover which feels most natural and comfortable for you.
Knife Hold
Pencil Hold
Personally, I find the knife hold more comfortable and intuitive. However, the best way to hold your crochet hook is the way that feels most comfortable and allows you to crochet smoothly and consistently. Try both and see which grip helps you learn crochet most effectively.
How to Make a Slip Knot:
Before handling your yarn, you’ll need to create a slip knot and place it securely on your crochet hook.
The slip knot is the foundation of most crochet projects. It’s the starting loop on your hook from which all your stitches will originate. While most patterns assume you know how to make a slip knot, it’s a fundamental skill to learn crochet. For projects like amigurumi (crocheted toys), patterns may use a “magic circle” start, but for now, we’ll focus on the essential slip knot.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to making a slip knot:
- First, measure out about 3 inches of yarn tail. Hold the yarn with three fingers, extending your index finger outwards, mimicking a finger gun.
- Next, wrap the yarn around your index finger once, ensuring the short tail end is in front of your finger.
- Wrap the yarn around your finger a second time, creating two loops around your index finger.
- Secure both yarn ends – the short tail and the long tail (working yarn connected to the yarn ball) – between your thumb and middle finger.
- Take the back loop and pull it over the front loop, but don’t pull it completely off your finger yet.
- Now, remove both loops from your finger entirely and tighten the knot by pulling gently on both yarn ends. It’s important to keep the slip knot loose enough to slide easily on your hook.
Congratulations! You’ve made your first slip knot!
Insert your crochet hook into the slip knot loop. Tighten the loop on the hook by pulling the working yarn (long tail). Ensure the short tail end is facing towards the hook.
How to Hold Your Yarn:
With your hook grip and slip knot mastered, let’s move on to properly holding your yarn.
Getting comfortable holding your yarn is crucial as it directly impacts your tension, which is how tight or loose your stitches are. Whether you are right-handed or left-handed, the key is to keep your yarn hand relaxed. Avoid holding the yarn too tightly or too loosely; you want a balanced tension for even stitches.
Again, yarn holding is a matter of personal preference, but here’s how I typically hold my yarn as a starting point:
- With the slip knot on your hook and the hook held in your dominant hand, position the yarn in your non-dominant hand. Place the yarn between your middle and index finger.
- Wrap the yarn around your pinky finger, guiding it back up to the front of your index finger. Then, wrap it around to the back of your index finger again.
Experiment with different ways of wrapping the yarn around your fingers to find what allows the yarn to flow smoothly and consistently as you crochet. Comfort and consistent tension are the goals.
How to Make a Chain:
You’ve made excellent progress! Creating your first crochet chain might feel a bit awkward initially, but with practice, it will become second nature.
With your slip knot on your hook, hold the slip knot in place with your thumb and middle finger of your non-dominant hand, close to the hook. This provides stability as you form your chain stitches.
- To make a chain stitch, bring the yarn over your hook from back to front (this is called “yarn over” or YO). Catch the yarn with your hook.
- Pull the hooked yarn through the slip knot loop already on your hook.
That’s your first chain stitch! Yay! Repeat this “yarn over and pull through” step until you have made 21 chains. Remember, the loop currently on your hook does not count as a chain stitch. Your chain should look something like this:
When learning to crochet a chain, keep in mind that practice is essential for achieving even tension. Your chain stitches should be loose enough so you can easily see the loops that form each stitch. If your chain is too tight, you’ll find it difficult to work into the stitches in the next step. If you’re struggling with tight chains, try switching to a slightly larger hook size, which will naturally create looser stitches.
Let’s Take a Closer Look at Your Chain…
Understanding the anatomy of your chain stitch is important for the next step, working the single crochet. The image below illustrates how to count your chain stitches. You will be working into these stitches for the single crochet row.
The Single Crochet
Now it’s time to learn the single crochet stitch, one of the most fundamental crochet stitches!
Keep an eye on how you hold your chain with your middle finger and thumb as you work. As you progress down the chain, adjust your hold, moving your fingers down to maintain control and ease of stitching.
- To begin the single crochet row, skip the first chain stitch from the hook. Insert your hook into the center of the second chain stitch from your hook.
- Yarn over (YO), bringing the yarn over your hook from back to front, and pull the yarn through the chain stitch and up onto your hook. You should now have two loops on your hook.
- Yarn over again (YO) and pull the yarn through both loops on your hook. Only one loop should remain on your hook. You have just completed your first single crochet stitch!
- Continue to make single crochet stitches in each of the remaining chain stitches down the entire foundation chain. You should end up with 20 single crochet stitches in total (since you skipped the first chain). Your row of single crochet stitches should look similar to this:
Moving On to the Next Row:
- To begin the next row and crochet on top of the single crochet row, you need to make a chain 1 (yarn over, pull through the loop on your hook). This chain 1 is called the “turning chain.” The turning chain provides the height needed for the next row and helps keep the edges of your work straight.
- Turn your work. It doesn’t matter whether you turn clockwise or counter-clockwise, but it’s important to turn your work the same way at the beginning of each row to maintain consistency.
- To continue crocheting down the row, insert your hook into the very first single crochet stitch of the previous row. This is the stitch right next to your turning chain.
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Notice how the stitch looks from above. It forms a distinctive “V” shape. For single crochet, you typically insert your hook under both loops of this “V”.
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Yarn over (YO) and pull the yarn through the stitch. You will have two loops on your hook.
- Yarn over again (YO) and pull through both loops on your hook. You’ve completed a single crochet stitch in the second row!
And that’s it! You can now crochet! To practice further, continue making rows of single crochet to create a square swatch. This is excellent practice and these squares can later be joined to make larger projects. Now, let’s learn how to finish off your work and weave in the ends.
Finish Off and Weave in the Ends
Cutting the yarn, or “finishing off,” provides a satisfying sense of completion to your crochet project.
Crochet patterns often use the abbreviation “FO” for “Finish Off,” which simply means to cut your yarn and secure the final loop to prevent unraveling. Here’s how to finish off and weave in your yarn ends:
At the end of your last row, yarn over as if you were making a chain 1.
Pull the loop on your hook out to be about an inch long.
Keeping the loop on your hook, lay your project down and measure about 2 inches of yarn from the loop. Cut the yarn at the 2-inch mark.
Now, use your hook to pull the cut yarn tail completely through the loop and tighten to secure the end.
Weaving in the Ends
To weave in the ends, thread the yarn tail through the eye of your yarn needle.
Pull enough yarn through the needle eye to have a good length to work with.
I usually insert the needle from the back of the first stitch to reach the bottom row of stitches.
Insert the needle under a stitch, going from the top down, being careful not to poke through to the front side of your work.
Pull the yarn through gently, not too tightly, to avoid distorting your crochet fabric.
Weave the needle back in the opposite direction under stitches in the same row, where your yarn tail emerged.
Pull the yarn through again, keeping the tension even.
Remove the needle and cut the yarn tail close to your crochet work. If a small piece of the tail is still visible, gently stretch the surrounding stitches until it disappears.
And that’s all there is to it!
Now you can continue practicing the single crochet stitch, creating more squares to build your skills and perhaps even assemble a blanket or throw.
In conclusion, I sincerely hope this tutorial has been helpful and inspiring as you learn crochet. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below. Happy crocheting, and welcome to this wonderfully creative craft!
