Crocheting

For the Thursdays of this month we are going back to the basics of crocheting specifically getting started and the stitches. As I said before, I am looking to post some from a previous blog on Blogger. And these are some of them. This one is basically the introduction to crochet, how to hold the hook, how to hold the yarn, things like that. And throughout the month we will look at stitches and things that also are the "basics" of crocheting.

Crocheting is really easy once you get the hang of it. It does take some practice but it is not too hard to pick up. The hardest thing is figuring out what works for you. Every crocheter holds their hook differently and their yarn differently. It is all about finding what is comfortable and it is just a personal preference, once you get down what works for you the rest comes much easier.

How I Crochet:

My stepmother taught me how to crochet. Her style is different from mine so I can show you how I crochet, and how she crochets. Neither is right or wrong it is all about what feels good for us.

I am right-handed so I hold my hook in that hand. You probably should hold the crochet hook between your thumb and forefinger. This will give you the most control over the hook and you would hold it the way you would hold a knife to chop with or a pencil to write with. As you can see in the picture below most hooks come with a flat part to show you where your grip should be.

Holding the yarn is where most crocheters differ. The thing to remember is you want to hold the yarn in a way that is loose and flows easily. This is because if the yarn is too tight the stitches will become tight and the holes will be harder to find and work with.

I take the yarn between my thumb and forefinger, wrap it around my hand and bring it back full circle. Finally, I wrap it around my forefinger and start crocheting. I find that I can keep it tight enough to my liking and it flows well for me. My stepmother wraps the yarn around her whole hand then brings it around her fingers so it is between her thumb and forefinger. Finally, she passes the yarn around the back of her pinkie to her forefinger. I found that got very tight for me but whatever works for you is perfectly fine. I have also seen a style where the yarn gets wrapped around the pinkie three times and then sent to the forefinger.

(Left is my style, right is my stepmother's style)

Starting A Project All crocheting projects start the same way. You start with a slip knot, then create a chain. The chain will determine how wide your project will be. Remember that the starting knot doesn't count as a stitch. Once your chain has the number of stitches you need then it comes time to work off the chain. Working off the Chain When starting a new row, it is important to remember to build up to the next row. What this means is on top of your chain, you need to add more stitches to create the wall to the next row. For example: If you need 50 stitches in your chain foundation, and you will start the second row with a single crochet; you need to chain 50 stitches then plus 1 for the side before starting the new row. In order to start the new row properly, you need to skip the first stitch and start on the second stitch with your single crochets. Starting and Finishing a Row The important thing to remember when finishing a row is to crochet every stitch. This sounds simple but sometimes it is not always done. The last stitch in the row often doesn't look the same as the other stitches and gets left out. If you do this your work will grow awkwardly and unevenly.

Once you finish all the stitches in the row, you need to chain at least one to start the new row. This will create the side of the next row. How many you chain depends on what stitch you are going to be doing. For single crochets, you need to chain one, for double crochet you need to chain two.