Tips and Tricks for Beginner Crocheters

Harris Sister Misty's daughter Charlotte has shown an interest in learning how to crochet. As part of her Christmas present, I bought her a few crochet kits but I also promised to write her a blog post with some crochet tips and tricks for beginners. 

These pro tips and tricks will help any beginning crocheter get off on the right foot while they learn how to crochet. And if you're thinking of taking up crochet as a new craft for the new year, then these tips will be perfect for you too!

First, Learn the Basics

You might have wanted to learn how to crochet because you fell in love with a beautiful handmade sweater or an adorable (and tiny!) amigurumi toy, but before you jump into the deep end, you've got to learn some basic stitches. 

I learned how to crochet at the ripe old age of 10 from a book that I checked out from our local library. Since dinosaurs are no longer roaming the earth, I would recommend heading straight to your computer to check out video tutorials to learn basic stitches. 

The Crochet Crowd on YouTube has lots of how-to tutorials, including basic stitches (and many videos for left-handed people too!):

• Slip Knot 
• Crochet Chain 
• Single Crochet 
• Double Crochet 

Once you're comfortable with the basic crochet stitches, you can move on to following crochet patterns to make finished products. A good first pattern to start with is a Granny Square. If you learn how to change colors, you can make one about 3 feet square and you'll have a Granny Square Baby Blanket. If you keep going (to about 6 feet square), you'll have an adult sized Granny Square Blanket. And if you learn a little more about finishing crochet pieces, you can make one into a Granny Square Striped Bag. So, a Granny Square is a very good place to start your crochet journey. Many who crochet will tell you it's the first thing they learned!

Granny Square Scrap Afghan

Crocheting Will Take Patience and Practice

New crocheters tend to crochet stitches very tightly, which might cause you to have trouble sliding the yarn easily over the hook. Try your best to keep your stitches relaxed. You will need to count stitches to make sure you’re not accidentally dropping stitches. 

If your crochet work doesn’t come out right – you can always frog it. This is the crochet term that means to rip out the stitches and start over (rip it, rip it - like the ribbit, ribbit sound a frog makes!). 

What I made when I was 10 doesn’t look anything like what I would make now. But, think about something you're truly good at and how you got to be that way. Probably through a lot of practice, right? Start with simple patterns and work your way up. You'll see a lot of patterns for cable stitches, popcorn stitches, appliques, chevrons, and more, but the best thing to start with as a beginner are straight rows of single crochet and double crochet until you get a feel for producing those stitches consistently every time.

Retro Cherry Baby Dress

Use a Big Hook and Yarn

When you first start to learn how to crochet, one thing that can really help you with your stitch counting and knowing which stitch to insert your hook into is to start with a big hook and yarn. When I first learned how to crochet in the days of yore, larger sized yarns weren't as readily available as they are now. So, I learned on H and I size hooks with worsted weight yarn.

However, now that bulky weight yarns are easy to find, you can pair those with L, M, or N size hooks. To find the weight of a yarn, look on the yarn label and you will see a number in a box. Worsted weight yarns are size 4, and bulky weight yarns are size 5.

Having bigger hooks and thicker yarn will make it easier for you to see your stitches. Lighter colored yarn is also a little easier to see the stiches in, so you might want to use that for some of your practice work. (For example, work your way up to using black or navy blue yarn.)

Pick the Right Yarn for Your Project

Acrylic yarn is the best type to use when you're first learning how to crochet for a few reasons. First, acrylic yarn will make it easy to see your stitches, which is important when you're first starting out. And second, chances are you're going to frog your work a time or two, and if you start with some fancy-pants, super-floofy yarn, you might not be able to frog your project. (The fibers in these types of yarns sometimes get tangled as you go, so if your work isn't perfection, there might not be a chance of frogging all the stitches you need to.)

Once you're ready to tackle an actual project, acrylic yarn is also a good choice for any item that will be washed a lot (blankets, baby clothing, etc.). Also, acrylic yarns are safe for babies’ sensitive skin. Some good brands are Red Heart, Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn, Caron Simply Soft, and Lion Brand Yarns. Save fancier yarns (wool or wool blends, alpaca, hand-spun craft fair purchases, etc.) for clothing items like hats and scarves that don’t get washed as often and can easily be hand washed and laid flat to dry.

Pay Attention to Dye Lots

When you're purchasing yarn for a project, make sure to purchase enough yarn in the right dye lot at the same time and then save your receipt. (A dye lot is the batch the yarn was dyed in and this number is also listed on the back of the yarn label. You will want to buy skeins of yarn with matching dye lot numbers to ensure that the yarn was dyed the same time and the colors match exactly.) Keep all of the yarn for that project in a clean container with the receipt. If you have any leftover, unused skeins of yarn, you can return them to the store for a refund. But, it is unlikely that you will be able to purchase more yarn in the same dye lot at a different time.

Ball Your Yarn or Pull from the Center of a Skein

Either pull from the center of each skein of yarn or wind each skein of yarn into a ball before starting to crochet. I am a center-pull crocheter myself, but this is a personal decision. Under no circumstances should you ever pull the yarn from the outside of a skein and unwind around. You will have skeins of yarn flopping all over the place and probably getting tangled, which will inevitably lead to frustration.

To pull yarn from the center of a skein, start by finding the end that is tucked into the center. Dig your hand into the middle and pull it out. You might have to pull out a little "chunk" of yarn and unravel it to find the very end, but it will work. The end should be hiding in the chunk you pull out.

Always Do These Things Before You Start Crocheting

Before you start crocheting, always do a few things consistently:

1. Make sure you will be relatively uninterrupted and can concentrate on the project, especially if you are following a pattern.
2. Remove all bracelets and rings so that you don't have any jewelry that might snag on your work.
3. Wash your hands so that you won't transfer anything to your work. This is especially important if you're working with white yarn.
4. If you have long hair, pull it back into a ponytail or a bun so that you don't accidentally crochet shedding hair into your project.
5. Pull out only the yarn that you need for the part of the project that you will be working on. (For example, if you are working on a large blanket with multiple colors, but you will only be working on one green row, you only need to pull out the green yarn.) All other yarn should stay in a dedicated bin or tote that you can close to keep pets away from it. (The project itself should also go back into that bin or tote while it's a WIP - work in progress. This helps to keep the project clean and away from pets.)
6. BONUS TIP: If your hands start hurting (or your neck muscles), stop at the end of the row you're on and come back to it on a different day. This is especially important when you're just learning how to crochet because you won't yet be used to moving your hands this way or looking down at your work. So, instead of making yourself miserable and not having a great experience crocheting, give your muscles a break and come back to it.

Wire Beaded Bracelet

Learn How to Read Written Crochet Patterns

When you start reading crochet patterns you are going to think you're reading a different language. First you'll need to figure out the stitch abbreviations. The easiest thing to do might be to view a tutorial on it and The Crochet Crowd has a good one on YouTube. 

Once you've got that down, the next best thing to do is to read through the entire pattern before you do anything. Is there any finishing that you'll need to do? Are there any new stitches that you'll need to learn? Will you need to block the finished piece? Do you have all of the supplies to complete the project? Is the project recommended for someone with your crochet experience?

Until you get the hang of crocheting by patterns, print out the patterns and check off or highlight each row as you complete it. That way, when you put your project away and come back to it later, you'll know exactly where to start again. I still use this method for more complicated patterns, and I have been crocheting for 30+ years.

Dedicate a Space for All Your Crochet Supplies

Set aside a space for all of your crochet supplies. Besides the obvious items like yarn and hooks, you'll also need scissors, stitch markers, a tape measure, and a yarn needle. If you print your patterns and would like to save them (especially after making notes on them), three-hole punch them and save them in a binder. 

Keeping all of your crochet items in one location will not only save you time when you want to start a project but also your sanity. Where did I put my yarn needle?!? I just used it last Wednesday!!! 

Save Any Leftover Yarn

This might seem obvious, but save any leftover yarn you have once you've completed your projects. If you have nearly a complete skein left, you can leave it in skein form with the wrapper intact for future reference. If you've only got a little bit left, it's probably easier to roll it into a ball and then store it in a container with a lid to keep it dust-free. You will slowly build what crocheters refer to as a yarn "stash." This is yarn that you can use when you only need a little bit for a project or that you can put together to make a larger project.

Scrap yarn crochet usually involves patterns for small items or patterns that have lots of color changes. You can make a large project, like a Super Thick Stash Busting Crochet Afghan or a Granny Mandala Ottoman Cover that involves whatever you have in your yarn stash. What makes these stash-busting crochet patterns so fantastic is that they are budget-friendly! (You aren't purchasing new yarn for these projects, but you're using what you have.)

Even the smallest amount of yarn can be used to make scrap projects like pom poms, tassels, cell phone covers, hats, scarves, bracelets, washcloths, amigurumi, and more. 

Granny Mandala Ottoman Cover

How to Weave in Ends of Crochet so They Don't Come Out

Once you learn to make projects from patterns, you'll need to learn how to weave in your ends of yarn. And, you'll want to make sure that your ends are secure so that they don't come unraveled when the item is washed. 

If you get this trick "down" you will have figured out something that some crocheters have a hard time with. The trick is to do three things consistently: 

1. leave a long enough tail of yarn to actually weave in (don't clip the yarn close to your project to "save more" to crochet with)
2. if possible when changing colors, hold that tail of yarn down on top of the previous row of stitches and crochet over top of the tail of yarn with the newly attached yarn for a few stitches
3. attach a yarn needle to the tail of yarn and weave the yarn in three different directions through the same color of stitches as the yarn tail (e.g. weave a blue yarn tail through blue yarn stitches rather than white yarn stitches so that the woven area will disappear). Make sure to go through the fibers of the yarn in at least one pass.
   
   

Once you've completed these three steps, you can clip the yarn close to the piece, making sure not to clip any of the stitches in the work.

Spiderman Afghan

I hope these tips and tricks make it easier for you to learn how to crochet. Remember to practice, practice, practice and good luck on your crochet journey!

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