I thought I would put together a beginners guide to crochet for anyone looking to pick up the hobby.
What you’ll need:
– Hooks
I recommend getting a set of hooks as you’ll never know what size yarn you’ll pick up, these soft grip starter sets on amazon are amazing and so affordable. They usually come with some other goodies which I’ll list below too.
However if you’re looking to just pick up one hook for now, I recommend a 4mm one as this is pretty much the standard for most yarn.
– Yarn
You’ll want to head down to your local crafts store or have a shop online (I made a list of the places I buy yarn from here). It’s important to have a yarn which matches your hook size, you can usually find the size of hook you’ll need on the size of the packaging.
– Stitch Markers
When I first started crocheting I used markers a lot so I did not lose my place / could understand where the beginning of a row was. Once you get the hang of counting you may not need them but they always come in handy for some more difficult projects!
– A notepad
This is really good for helping you count how many rows or stitches you do by marking them in notebook. Also if you’re working from a pattern and want to make notes (especially if you’re deciding to change the pattern slightly).
– Scissors
A simple thing that most people have in their home, but you might want to treat yourself to a gorgeous pair of crafting scissors. I love these ones on Amazon.
– Needles
If you haven’t started yet you might be wondering why needles? You’ll need blunt needles to be able to sew in the ends of your work – you can try and do this without a needle but it’ll be time consuming.
Nice to haves:
– Measuring Tape
– Thread ruler
– Crafts storage
Best ways to learn:
– Beginners books (I own all of the books below)
- How to Crochet: A Complete Guide for Absolute Beginners
- A Little Course in Crochet: Simply everything you need to succeed
- Ultimate Crochet Bible: A Complete Reference with Step-by-Step Techniques
- Crochet: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide
– YouTubers I recommend
Some basic tips and tricks:
– Try a Granny Square first
– Don’t fret if your first try is unsuccessful
- My first few grannies squares looked really bad. They were twisted and every stitch was a different tension. Do not give up – keep making them and watch your progress (I saved my first ever squares to see how far I’d come)
– The more you redo the better you’ll get
- Similar to the last point, it’s so easy to undo and redo your work with crochet, you simply pull your yarn. However it’s also nice to see your progress so you might not want to undo every single mistake.
– Tension is key
- It will take a while before you find your perfect tension, most people begin crocheting with their tension quite tight, however I found that the loser the better.
– Try not to lose count
– Find a way to hold your yarn that’s comfortable for you
- There are so many tutorials which tell you how to hold your yarn, I tried all of these but in the end found a way which worked for me. You might find that the way someone recommends you to be perfect, or you might want to experiment and find a comfortable solution.
– Learn what the ‘top’ of a stitch looks like
- Once you move onto a second row of any project you’ll be more than likely stitching into the top of a stitch, so it’s worth making sure you recognise what the top of a stitch looks like.
– Challenge yourself
– Do not give up!
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How many of you are going to try Crocheting? And how many of you have stories to tell of your first time learning to Crochet?
I also started an Instagram specifically for my Crochet/Cross Stitch, you can follow me here on Stitches In Wonderland.
-Amy x
, What Makes Girls Sick and Tired. I put together a few words and popped it up on Goodreads so I’ll paste those below.