Crocheting is a craft that can be used to create a wide variety of items, from potholders to afghans. Yet to the uninitiated, a crochet pattern can be extremely difficult to understand with all its strange terminology and abbreviations. Crocheting is one of those crafts that is best learned by doing it or seeing it done.
But if you don't know anyone who crochets, all is not lost. You can learn all of the basics online, complete with photos and even videos. And once you get the hang of the basic techniques, you'll be doing large projects in no time.
What You Need to Get Started
Crocheting does not require a lot of fancy equipment, because it is done by hand. All you really need to get started is a crochet hook, some yarn, and a simple pattern. But for the beginner, even that can be confusing.
It's very important to choose the right size of yarn and hook. For both items, the higher the number of the size, the thinner they are. Your pattern should include specifications for yarn and hook size. If it doesn't, you can find charts online that will tell you which size needle to use with each thread size.
You can find lots of free beginner crochet patterns online by doing a Google search. Some are accompanied by charts, photos or video tutorials, eliminating most of the guesswork.
Basic Techniques
The first two things you'll need to learn in crocheting are how to make a starting chain and how to do a single crochet stitch. These techniques should be sufficient to complete your first simple patterns. There are many more complex stitches, but you can learn them once you've mastered these basics.
Making a starting chain is a simple concept. You start out by making a slipknot. Then you bring the yarn over the hook (this is referred to in patterns as yarn over), pull it through the loop, and tighten. Continue pulling yarn through the subsequent loops until you have a chain of the desired size.
The single crochet stitch is started on the second loop of the starting chain. Insert the hook under the loop, yarn over, and pull the yarn through the stitch. This is often referred to in patterns as drawing up a loop. Yarn over again, and pull through the two loops that are on the hook. This completes your single stitch.
Once you've completed a row of single stitches, turn the piece over so that you're starting on the right-hand side again. After this first row, you no longer need to skip a loop unless the pattern calls for it.
You'll have to get a feel for how tight to do your stitches but other than that, learning these basic crochet techniques is easy. With a little practice, you'll be ready to move on to more complex stitches and patterns in no time.
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