Simple Crochet Instructions

When I set out to learn simple crochet, I made a mistake within the first couple of days that caused me not even to be able to practice my stitches.  I bought crochet thread and a yarn hook.  The hook was too large for the fine thread I was using, and the result was neither becoming nor practical. 

I would like to save you the same trouble as you embark on your simple crochet adventures. 

Here’s the tip:  there are four different kinds of crochet hooks, and you have to pick the right one for your work turn out successfully.  Here’s a run-down of each:

1.    The Steel Crochet Hook.  This type of hook is very small.  It is not suitable for yarn, but it is the correct choice for crochet thread.  We use numbers to refer to sizes.  The sizes range from 00 to 14 and the unlikely fact is that larger numbers refer to smaller sized hooks.  Also note the number of the size of the crochet thread.  The label, or the pattern that you are following, will usually give you a recommendation for the appropriate size of the hook.  This is the type of hook used for lacy doilies, tablecloths, bedspreads and other fine work.  It is also used for filet crochet patterns.

2.    The Yarn Hook.  The yarn hook is sometimes referred to as the “aluminum” hook, but in fact it can be made from plastic or wood in addition to aluminum.  As you might expect, it is an appropriate choice for yarn.  Yarn hooks are bigger around than steel hooks.  Their sizes are referred to variously by numbers and letters and in this case, the size of the hook increases as the number gets larger or the letter gets further along in the alphabet.  Yarn hooks can be tapered or in-line.  The tapered style is tapered from the shank of the hook down to the hook itself.  On the other hand, the circumference of the in-line hook remains constant until just before the hook, when it narrows quickly and obviously.  Whether you use a tapered style or an in-line hook depends on your personal preference.  The size of the stitch won’t be affected by using one or the other if you use the best practice of sizing your stitch by slipping the loop up to the shank of the hook.

3.    The Afghan Hook.  The afghan hook is a specialty hook, longer and usually bigger around than a yarn hook, which is used for crocheting yarn in the afghan stitch.  The afghan stitch is different from other crochet stitches because when you make a loop in the afghan stitch you hold it on the hook until you get to the end of the row.  At the end of a row of the afghan stitch, you start to yarn over the hook, then draw the loop through the loops on the hook two at a time.  Consequently, the afghan hook has a stitch blocker on the end to ensure that the loops don’t slip off. 

4.    The Double-Hooked Hook, or Cro-Hook.  The cro-hook is a long crochet hook with a hook at each end.  It is used in a specialized version of crochet that frankly I have not even attempted yet.  You use two balls of yarn with a cro-hook and generally they would be two different colors.  The stitch resembles the afghan stitch somewhat, in that you keep all the stitches on the hook until you get to the end of the row.

All of these hooks are easy to find anywhere where crochet supplies are sold.  Just choose materials that work together and you will be all set.

Read more about crochet:

• Crochet Spot » Blog Archive » Crochet Pattern: Beginner’s Wrist … – As a beginner level pattern, you will be crocheting a rectangle that will fold around your arm. The piece will then be sewn shut, leaving a small hole for your thumb. These wrist warmers are fast and easy to crochet! crochet beginner …

• Crochet Beginner – Learn How To Crochet | crochetlife.com – This post encourages the beginner crocheter to continue to learn and points them to some of the many excellent resources available to them.

Newbies take note.  Here is a piece of simple crochet advice.

When you buy a ball yarn, read the label.  It will usually recommend hook sizes so that you don’t have to guess.  It will also give you a gauge; that is, it will tell you how many stitches should make how many inches of crochet if you use the yarn in question and the recommended hook.

Also important is the dye lot.  The label will give you a dye lot code, usually a few numbers and letters, that will indicate what lot the yarn was dyed in.  The theory is that when two balls of yarn are dyed together, they will be the exact same color.  When two balls of yarn are dyed in different lots, they run the risk of being slightly different shades.  The difference in different dye lots is usually very subtle and maybe not visible to the casual observer.  But if you are putting all that effort into a piece of work, even if it’s one of your earliest simple crochet pieces, you want it to be right from the start. 

I have never seen two dye lots of the same yarn for sale at the same time in the same store, but I always check to make sure.  You are most likely to see a difference, though, when you run out of yarn part of the way through a project and need to buy more.  In that case, you may not find the same dye lot even if you go back to the same store.  So plan well so that you can purchase all of the yarn you need at once and from a single dye lot.

More info for beginners in crochet:

• Crochet Mary Jane Slipper | Crochet Beginner Guide – Written Instructions crochet-mania.blogspot.com Crochet Blog crochet-mania.blogspot.com.

• Crochet Instructions – Beginner To Experienced | crochetlife.com – There are many books with crochet instructions readily available these days, but a great many of them are not aimed at the crochet beginner and are too difficult to understand and therefore hard for a beginner to use. …

I’m so excited to be doing crochet!  And, as you might expect if you know me, I went off and impetuously bought some hooks and crochet cotton because I was itching to get started.  I brought them home and tried to work some stitches.  But it was awkward and didn’t flow.  It seemed that the hooks were too large for the thread.  And that was the first stage in my first lesson in crochet instructions.

Since I was having trouble, I consulted a book of simple crochet instructions.  You know what they say, right?  “If all else fails, read the instructions.”  And I discovered that there are several types of crochet hooks.  There are also different types of crochet material.  Crochet cotton is like a thick thread or maybe a very thin string.  It is much thinner than a yarn.  And even within the categories of yarn, there is a variety of weights and sizes.  I will write longer posts later that detail the different types of hooks and the different weights of yarn. 

For now, it’s enough to point out that there are very small steel hooks and larger aluminum hooks.  Within these categories, there are different sizes.  The steel hooks are small enough to work with a fine thread, like the crochet cotton that I bought.  The larger aluminum hooks are suitable for yarn.  So my aluminum hooks were too large for my cotton thread.

Undaunted, I dug up some scraps of yarn that I had stashed and got to work with them, reading the crochet instructions to practice the single crochet stitch.  My aluminum hooks work much better with them.  Crocheting was fun.  It isn’t pretty yet, but it was fun.

And that’s my first lesson in simple crochet instructions.  You need to match the type of your hook to the type of material.  Choose a steel hook for a thread and an aluminum hook for a yarn.  And then get to work!

You may also be interested in reading:

• $1.67 Slipper Pattern and Baby Booties. – no script. Do you need an inexpensive quick pair of slippers? Just before Christmas, Mom made some “I want slippers” noises. I also wanted some. My sister and niece wanted some. I found a pattern for crocheted slippers in an old …

• Crochet | THE COVETED – I think I need to learn to crochet. I mean, I know one stitch that can make comedy scarves my cats like to play with. But there is a particular sculptural quality that crochet has that doesn’t really exist with other fabrics, crochet can get really abstract without looking contrived therefore maintaining it’s natural made by hand aesthetic.

Since I have been working on my simple crochet skills, I have shared the news with friends and family.  Not to mention posting it on Facebook!  Some people have reacted with surprise and have asked me why I am doing it.  After all, I am a busy woman and have lots of other things to do.

Here are my top five reasons for learning simple crochet.

5.    Believe it or not, it’s relaxing.  Now, right now I am working hard at learning even simple crochet skills and can’t do any stitches mindlessly or easily.  But, still, when I take fifteen minutes to sit in my favorite chair in my bedroom and pick up my crochet hook, it is very soothing.  It’s like a quarter-hour retreat from the bustle of life.

4.    In a mass-produced world, every hand-made crochet item is one-of-a-kind.  Someone else on the planet may pick up the same crochet instructions to make the same project, and may even use the same color and variety of yarn.  But no other piece of crochet will have my fingerprints on it, literally or figuratively.  I am now just learning my stitches and I’m making a very simple crochet dishrag.  It is not a piece of art.  But there is no other dishrag like it anywhere.

3.    When you crochet, you see visible progress.  In many areas of life, you can not measure progress.  In interpersonal relationships, for example, everything is intangible and sometimes completely subjective.  But in even simple crochet, you see visible, tangible, even measurable results.  After my fifteen minutes of crochet, I see that there are rows in my dishrag that weren’t there before I started.  After a few days of fifteen-minute crochet breaks, I can see improvements in my work.  My stitches are more even and the edges are cleaner.  My little dishrag is a concrete expression of work and effort.

2.    Once you have mastered it, even simple crochet allows you to be creative and self-expressive.  You can mix and match colors, add crochet roses or pom-poms, throw in a row of a different stitch, or do any number of other things to create an individual piece that just screams you.

And my Number One reason for learning simple crochet:

1.    Crochet is an act of love.  You can create gifts to keep your family and friends warm and fashionable.  You can make hats, gloves and scarves for people who would otherwise have to do without.  You can make a prayer shawl for someone facing a difficult time in their lives.  You can create a baby blanket for someone else celebrating a blessed event.  And in each case, your gift is not an anonymous object, but an extension of your concern, attention and encouragement. 

So that’s why I am learning simple crochet and why I’m looking forward to learning more advanced crochet.  And why I encourage you to do so, too.

Want to read more about simple crochet?  Read:

• Crochet – Beginning Projects – Including Amigurumi « – The basic pattern comes from the book, Single Crochet for Beginners; however, just like the scrubber I modified the pattern. I highly recommend this book by Cindy Crandall-Frazier for beginners! Most Amigurumi are made with only single …

• Crochet for Beginners « Teen Hobbies – Crochet for Beginners. Posted by teenhobbies on September 15, 2008. Many theorize that knitted and crochet items survived in the early period of imperialism. Many communities in this era used this kind of industry as their main source …