Welcome to Home of Yarns and your first crochet lesson. Crochet is a wonderful craft and not very difficult to learn. Once you know the basics and a few stitches, you are able to make all sorts of wonderful things. If you follow the Home of Yarns crochet lessons, I will teach you how to crochet in no time!
What do you need?
To learn how to crochet, all you need is a crochet hook and yarn.
The size of the yarn and the hook need to match. On every ball of yarn you can buy, there is a wrap with information about the matching crochet hook size. As an absolute beginner, it is best to use medium or thick yarn that is not fluffy, so you can clearly see your stitches.
Step 1: Slip knot
Before you can begin crocheting, you need to make a slip knot. Follow steps 1-4 in the pictures. Pick up your yarn, fold the end so you get a loop, twist that loop and pull some yarn that leads to the ball through the loop. Pull tight. If you can slide the knot up and down the yarn, you know you did it right.
Step 2: How to hold the crochet hook
Put the loop with the slip knot over the crochet hook en slide the knot up to the hook so that it is secured. Follow steps 5-6 in the pictures. Hold the crochet hook in your right hand, like a pen. The hook is facing you.
Step 3: How to hold your crochet project
Your left hand holds the little yarn end and what is called the working yarn, which is the yarn that goes to the ball. I personally wrap the working yarn around my left index finger twice and control the yarn tension that way. I hold the little yarn end with my thumb and middle finger.
Step 4: Chain stitch
Put your hook around the working yarn and pull it through the loop on your crochet hook. Follow steps 7-10 in the pictures. As you can see, the way you put the hook around the yarn is like scooping under, behind and over the working yarn. This technique is called ‘to yarn over’. (Some people also decribe this from the viewpoint of the yarn, rather than the hook. They speak of wrapping the yarn around the hook from the back over to the front. Try it, the result is the same.)
Congratulations, you have just made your first chain stitch! To make more chain stitches, yarn over again and pull a loop through the previous stitch. You can make a long chain of stitches this way. Hence the name.
Homework
Try practicing making all the stitches the same size.
I hope to see you next time for your second crochet lesson. After that, you will be able to make your very first crochet pattern!
