Basic Crochet Stitches
When I started crocheting over a year ago, I knew absolutely nothing. I had been knitting for almost ten years, on and off, and had never even thought about trying crochet. Well, I was pregnant with my second son and I was tired most of the time. I wanted something to do that required little to no physical effort. I was knitting a lot, and figured hey, why not try to learn how to crochet?! So I headed off to Michaels to buy a set of crochet hooks and give it a go… I had no idea what size I should get, so I figured a set of three (4.5mm, 5.0mm and 5.5mm) should do the trick. (A couple of weeks later I ordered this set and I love it! It’s affordable and colourful and I love having a convenient holder for all my hooks!)
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That night after I got home, and after I put my one year old son to bed, I did what any exhausted pregnant woman would do: I ran a hot (warm) bath! Then I grabbed my new hooks and some scrap yarn and started scrolling through Pinterest and YouTube for crochet tutorials on my cell phone!
Holding a hook
Tip: If you don’t like wet yarn, don’t learn how to hold a crochet hook in the bathtub!
I’m normally a pretty quick learner, but after knitting for ten years, the feel of giving up two needles and trading them for a hook and your fingers is really weird! It took me a while before I found a comfortable way to hold the yarn and hook. I had to pause and re-watch a few videos before I got it! I now have a photo and video tutorial to teach you here!
Half Double What?
My next hurdle was all the terminology. I was used to knit and purl, and now I’m being told to chain, single crochet, double crochet and I’m sorry, did I hear that right, a half double what?! I mean I’m no math wiz but isn’t half of double just single…? Nope, not in crochet (at least US terminology)! Not only were the names foreign to me, I didn’t even know what these stitches were suppose to look like, or what loop (s) I was suppose to insert my hook into. I was pretty confused for a long time. Nevertheless, here I am a year later, designing my own patterns, like The Snow Howl, that uses the half-double crochet stitch in the back loop only!
One of my goals with this blog is to help beginners. The ones like me who had to turn to the internet for help, but didn’t quite know where to go. I will be releasing more in depth tutorials in the future, but for now to get you started I’ve designed this chart. For those of you, who like me, could use a chart with a few basics to help wrap your head around before plunging into this awesome world of crochet! Whether you have a basic knowledge of crochet or absolutely no knowledge at all, I hope this chart will help you in your learning process.
If you want to start crocheting right away, check out these two awesome free patterns I designed: The Jonathan Beanie and The Jasmin Messy Bun Beanie!
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