How to Crochet

Crochet Any Day

Do you want to learn how to crochet, but have no idea where to begin? This is the perfect place to start! Scroll down, and follow the step-by-step instructions to learn some basic skills.

Step 1: Materials

In order to crochet, you must have basic crocheting materials. These include yarn, a crochet hook, and scissors. The thicker the yarn you have, the bigger of a crochet hook you should use. I use standard-sized yarn, and a 4.0 mm crochet hook.

Step 2: Learn a Slip Knot

Nearly everything that you will crochet will start with this knot. It is very easy to learn, and will be extremely useful! Follow the images below to make this knot.

First, make two loops with your yarn. One big one, and one small one.

Second, place the big loop over the small loop.

Insert your crochet hook into the small loop.

Next, pull both ends of yarn outwards so that the loops start to shrink. Make sure that the big loop goes around the back of the hook.

Keep on pulling the ends of the yarn!

Once you have pulled the yarn so much that both loops are touching the crochet hook, you are done. Hooray! You just made a slip knot!

Step 3: Chain Stitches

Once you have mastered the slip knot, you are ready to learn your first stitch! This is the easiest stitch to learn. When you are reading a pattern, this stitch will be referred to as "ch".

Make sure that you have a slip knot on your hook.

Next, wrap the yarn around the top of your hook once.

Put the bottom loop over the top loop, and all the way off the hook.

Repeat these steps to make more chain stitches. You have completed your first stitch!!

Step 4: Tying off your yarn

In order to take any piece of crocheting off the hook, you must learn to tie off your yarn.

To tie off the yarn, first clip the end that is attached to the yarn ball using scissors.

Pull the crochet hook away from the stitches. The loop around the hook should be big now. Next, take the hook out of the large loop.

Put the end of the yarn through the large loop.

Pull the end of the yarn until the loop shrinks into a knot.

Clip the end of the yarn, so that there is not extra yarn hanging off the end. Yay! You have completed step four!

Step 5: Slipstitch

Ready to take on another stitch? Let's get crocheting! This stitch might be harder to learn than a chain stitch, but if you have gotten comfortable with the ch, then try out this one! The abbreviation for this stitch is "slst".

Make sure that you have some ch on your hook.

Now, take your hook and insert it into the ch that is closest to it. There should now be two loops on the hook.

Wrap the yarn around the top of the hook. From now on instead of saying "Wrap the yarn around the top of the hook", I will say YO, which means yarn over.

Put the bottom two loops over the top one and off the hook. You have made your first slst!

Repeat the last three images to make a whole row of slst on top of the rest of the ch. Congrats! You have learned slipstitch! The rest of the stitches will be easy for you once you master this one.

Step 6: Connecting Ends

Once you have learned your slipstitch, you propably want to try out a pattern! Scroll down, and follow these instructions carefully.

Make sure that you have enough ch on your hook that they can easily wrap around your wrist.

Insert your crochet hook into the ch that you made first. You should now have two loops on your hook.

Put the bottom loop over the top loop, and off the hook. Now you should have one loop on your hook.

Make slst all the way around the bracelet, until you come back to where you started. This is called a round.

Pull your hook away....

...and tie off your yarn.

Clip off the ends of the yarn, and you should have a nice slst bracelet! To make your bracelet taller, simply crochet more slst rounds onto the top!

Step 7: Single Crochet

Ready to learn the most common stitch? If you learn this, there are countless patterns that you can do! The abbreviation for this is "sc".

Make sure that you have some ch on your hook.

Insert your hook into the closest ch to your hook.

YO (Yarn Over).

Put the middle loop over the top loop and off the hook. You should now have two loops on your hook.

YO

Put both the bottom loops over the top loops and over the hook.

You made a sc! Now, make sc on the rest of the st (stitches).

Step 8: Follow a Pattern

You have completed seven steps! The fun part lies ahead! Here are two patterns that have all the stitches that you have learned. Click here to make a chapstick case, or here to make a simple square. Have fun!

Now that you know how to learn a stitch, follow the instructions from Simple Stitches to learn more!