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I’ve started working on a project that I’ve had in mind for a while now: creating thorough tutorials on every aspect of crocheting. My hope is that someone will find this useful, and that people will feel free to ask any question, no matter how silly, because in answering these questions we end up with a more exact tutorial. And that’s a good thing!

Today I’m going to cover picking yarn and a matching hook, how to make a slip knot, and how to hold the yarn while crocheting. If you already know these things, take a look at the pretty slippers I made myself for work:

Everyone else, please join me under the cut:

So you want to learn how to crochet. The first thing you do is head to the craft store, but what do you get when you’re there? Well, a crochet hook, obviously, and some yarn. But there are dozens of hooks from which to choose, and hundreds of different types of yarn. What do you do?

My advice is to start with the yarn. Pick one that is smooth (not hairy or bumpy) and not too thick or too thin, in a colour that you like. I recommend a shade in the medium range: not too light, not too dark. You might want to pick a variegated yarn (meaning there are multiple colours in one ball). Some people find it easier to see the stitches when they appear in different colours. Seasoned crocheters sometimes like using variegated yarns because it can hold their interest longer than the single colour yarns do.

Once you have your yarn of choice, look at the label to determine which hook to get. Here is the ball band from a ball of Bernat Satin:

You can see where I’ve circled the recommended hook size. Beware: some yarns don’t tell you a hook size. Usually those yarns will tell you a knitting needle size, and I’ve found that using the same size hook works just fine.

Find your hook. Most hooks come in a package that clearly displays the hook size. If it doesn’t, you’ll want to look at the thumb rest; that’s the flat bit about an inch or so down from the hook. Here’s mine:

When I first learned to crochet I found that when using the recommended hook I ended up with stitches that were too tight. Moving up a hook size usually solved the problem. So, in this case, I would have probably gone for a 5.5mm hook. For the last little while I’ve noticed that the recommended hook size has been working just fine, which means that no matter how experienced you get, it’s important to do a swatch before you start any patterns where size matters. (More on swatches another time.)

For now, start with the recommended hook. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can certainly buy more hooks in different sizes, just to test them out. If you get as obsessed with crocheting as I am, you’ll be buying them eventually anyway. ^_-

So, you have your yarn and your hook. What now?

The first thing you need to do to make anything in crochet is to make a slip knot. (There are always exceptions.)

These instructions are for right-handed crocheters. If you are left-handed, just switch the directions and hold a mirror up to the side of your screen ^_^

Find a yarn end (preferably the one on the inside, again, more on that later) and lay the yarn out with the end of the yarn to the left:

Lift the yarn up to the right of the end and fold it over itself making a loop:

With your thumb and pointer finger, reach through that loop and grab the yarn to the right of the loop (towards the ball) and pull it through the loop:

Pull on the yarn hanging down from the loop (I needed one hand to take this picture, so imagine my other hand holding the loop at the top) :

Grab your hook and insert it in the loop you made:

and pull on the yarn leading towards the ball (known as the “working yarn”) and the loop will tighten around your hook. If it doesn’t, try pulling on the yarn tail. If that works, then you did something differently than the instructions. Take your hook out of the loop and keep pulling on the yarn tail until the slip knot comes out, and try it again. It’s important that the working yarn be the side that closes the loop.

Finally, how to hold the yarn. There are many different ways to hold the working yarn. The goal is to control the tension of the yarn as you work with it while still having fingers left over to hold your work in progress.

This is how I do it:

Starting close to the hook, and working loosely, hold your hand palm up and bring the yarn up between your ring and pinky fingers:

and bring it down over the pinky.

Wrap around the pinky then pull the yarn up between those same two fingers again:

then pull the yarn up towards your other fingers.

Bring the yarn down between your pointer and middle fingers and wrap it up and around your pointer finger:

Then hold your work in progress between your thumb and middle finger:

This will allow you to control the yarn by moving your pointer finger up and down as needed, and holding the rest of your fingers splayed apart or held close together to make the yarn come faster or slower, respectively.

Experiment with it. Some people find that simply holding the yarn in a loose fist does the job just as well.

I was hoping to at least include pictures on how to make a chain stitch, but the batteries in my camera died, so that will have to wait for another day.

Good luck, and don’t be afraid to ask questions!