Learn to Crochet
To begin, you'll need to make the first loop on your hook, a slip knot.
Pull the yarn strand from the center of the
ball. Make a loop shape 5" or 6" from the end (the tail) by placing the
tail in front of the ball yarn, then letting the rest of the tail yarn
fall slightly behind the loop.
Insert your hook into the loop. Scoop up the yarn in the back of the loop
with the hook. Pull through the front of the loop. Gently pull the tail
yarn to tighten loop around the hook. In crocheting, the slip knot does
not count as a stitch.
Hold the hook in you right hand and loop the yarn from the
ball over your left index
finger. Hold the end of the slip knot between the thumb and middle finger
of your left hand. With your left index finger, wrap the yarn from back to
front around the shaft of the hook. Use the hook to draw the yarn through
the loop on the hook – one chain is now made.
Make as many chains as your pattern calls for. Do not count
the slip knot or the loop
currently on your hook as chain stitches. The resulting row of chains is
called the foundation chain. You will build the crocheted fabric off of
this foundation. The chain stitch is also used to produce spaces and loops
in your fabric
Stitches in crochet come in varying heights. When you begin
a row of any stitch, you will be starting at the base of the row. In order
to come up to the height of the stitch you will be working, you must start
with a chain that is the same height as the stitches in the row you are
working. This chain is called the turning chain. It can be worked before
or after turning your work. The illustration above shows the most common
stitches and the length of the turning chain for each stitch.
Single crochet: one chain
Half double crochet: two chains
Double crochet: three chains
Triple crochet: four chains
Usually, the turning chain at the beginning of the row, takes the place of
the first stitch of the row. So, after working the turning chain, you will
not work another stitch in the first stitch. And when you come to the end
of the row, you will treat the turning chain as a stitch and work in it.
For the single crochet, the rules change. The turning chain worked at the
beginning of a single crochet row does not count as a stitch. After
working the turning chain, you will also work a single crochet in the
stitch below the turning chain. You will not work in the turning chain on
the return row.
