Simple Crochet Instructions

Are you new to the world of crochet?  Have you been doing crochet for a while?  Or are you like me?  I did crochet many years ago and recently decided to pick it up again.

Well, in any case, congratulations on your decision to crochet.  It is a great pastime.  It can be done while watching TV or waiting to pick up your kids after soccer practice.  You can do it in bed for a few minutes before you go to sleep.  You can set aside whole afternoons to do it or pick it up when you have a couple of minutes.  It gives you a creative outlet while allowing you to be very productive making something useful.  You can keep your finished pieces and display them in your home or wear them.  Or you can give them as unique gifts.  Your finished product can be as practical as a handcrafted scarf or sweater or as utterly without par as a handcrafted scarf or sweater.  You can see the product grow every time you pick it up.

Here are a few tips for beginners to crochet, but more experienced people might learn from them, too.

Never Underestimate the Importance of a Good Choice of Yarn

No crochet project that you create will be more beautiful than the yarn you choose to make it with.  So always choose the best quality yarn that is suitable for your project and that you can afford.  Natural fibers and yarns are often more beautiful than artificial fibers so choose them when you can.  They generally are less slippery and easier to work with, too, so a beginner to crochet is well-advised to look for them. 

When you buy your yarn to start a project, make sure you get enough to complete it all from a single dye lot.  You don’t want to have to complete a project with a different dye lot, as that can make a visible difference in your finished product.

Holding Your Hook and Yarn

When I first learned to crochet, I resisted holding the yarn the way the crochet instructions advised.  But I ran into problems as I tried to use learn more advanced stitches.  So I had to learn how to hold the yarn all over again.  The best advice is to thread the yarn through your fingers, holding it above your forefinger and middle fingers, below your ring finger and over your little finger.

Hold your crochet hook underhanded, as you hold a fork or a pencil, not overhanded, as you hold a knife.

Crochet Hook Sizes

Choose the right size of crochet hook for your yarn and your project.  Aluminum crochet hooks are intended to be used with yarn, not crochet cotton. They are labeled with numbers and letters.  These numbers and letters correspond to different sizes.  The higher the number or letter then the larger and thicker the size of the hook, and the larger and bulkier type of yarn you should use.  Read the label of the yarn skeins for advice concerning the appropriate size hook for that yarn.  Note that a larger hook and bulkier yarn means that a crochet project will be completed faster.  Good news for newbies!

Crochet With Others

Maybe you come from a family with other crocheters.  Or maybe you will need to seek out new friends to find a crochet partner.  At any rate, it’s always helpful to crochet with others. 

Being new to crocheting offers some challenges.  One of these is trying to learn to crochet well from a book or off of the Internet or television.  Crocheting is one of those things which appears much harder than it really is.  If you have a friend or relative who crochets, ask them to show you how.  If you do not know anyone who crochets, then you might want to take a class at your local community college, or join a local crocheting group.  While you can learn to crochet on your own, and many people have, it is a lot easier to learn when there are people around you who can show you what to do. 

So many people these days thinks they don’t have time for crochet or other crafts.  What a shame, because once you have mastered a few stitches you can crochet anywhere for any amount of time, no matter how long or short.  Crocheting relieves stress, is a practical way to make garments or home items that are exactly what you want and allows you freedom to create beautiful and unique items.  Start slowly, but learn as you go and you will be a master crocheter in no time.

Here are some more crochet blogs:

• How to Crochet and Do Crochet Edging – If you are like me, your curiosity about the way the world became what it is always gets the better of you. I am always trying to find out where the habits and activities we enjoy came from. Anything from arts to music to architecture and clothing design has come from a development through centuries of trial and error.

• A baby blanket « MizJennah.com – Well I didn’t intend on my very next post to be about a baby blanket after I just talked about how I wasn’t going to have any more kids but here I am writing about baby blankets nonetheless. Growing up I would always watch my mother crochet. She mostly crocheted afghans and baby blankets that I remember.

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