Crochet for Beginners, 23rd Ed

Crochet as a hobby has boomed in recent years, with the art being passed down to younger generations. Fashionable and thrifty, making your own garments, gifts and decorations has become a really popular pastime. Crochet for Beginners will show you all the essential stitches and techniques you’ll need to get started, from your very first foundation chain to adding embellishments like fringe and edging. Once you’ve mastered those techniques, it’s time to put them into practice! Turn to the starter projects section for easy-to-follow patterns from experienced crocheters. Start with the flower corsage and adorable teddy bear, then progress onto more advanced projects like the stylish Aran cushion cover. Follow our simple steps and you’ll soon be creating beautiful items worthy of the high street. Happy crocheting!…

To begin crocheting, all you need are two essential pieces of equipment: a crochet hook and a ball of yarn. The yarn that you decide to use will play a part in determining which hook you will work with, so let’s start by looking at the many types of yarn available to you. Yarns are made with a wide variety of fibres; most are natural, some are synthetic, and others blend different fibres together. All yarns have different textures and properties, and will affect the look and feel of your finished project. For example, wool is stretchy and tough, alpaca is soft and luxurious, while natural and synthetic blends are durable with other enhanced properties. When choosing a yarn you also need to consider its thickness, usually called its weight.…

Different crochet hooks are designed with various factors in mind, from the type of project you will be working on to the level of grip and comfort required. Most importantly, crochet hooks come in different sizes, and the size of hook you use – while most of the time being determined by the weight of the yarn you are working with – will determine the look of your finished project. In general, the thicker the yarn you use the larger the crochet hook you will need, but using a large hook with a fine yarn can also produce an interesting, delicate fabric. Crochet hooks are produced in different materials – mainly metal, wood and plastic – and some come with comfy-grip or ergonomic handles. Finding the right hook for you…

Case You will only need a small case to keep all your crochet tools together, and ones designed with crochet tools in mind can be found at most craft stores. These will most likely be fitted with multiple elastic straps to keep your hooks and tools in place. However, as crochet hooks are only small, you could alternatively use a pencil case (as pictured) to keep everything in one place. Row counter Row counters are used for marking off how many rows you’ve worked. Just turn it once when you finish a row and it will keep track for you. Scissors A sharp pair of scissors is one of the most important tools a crocheter can keep to hand, as you will use them frequently for cutting yarn. Try to…

Acrochet hook can feel a bit unnatural in your hand at first, but you’ll soon get used to the way it feels and how it moves. If you’ve got a hook with a thumb rest (one without a comfort grip on the bottom), start by grabbing that part of the hook between your thumb and index finger of your right hand, with the throat of the hook facing towards you. (If you’re left-handed, or you find that holding the hook in your right hand just won’t work for you, turn to the next page for our guide on crochet for left-handers). While your right hand is busy handling the crochet hook, your left hand has its own job to do – controlling the tension in your yarn. The tighter you…

While most crochet patterns are written for people crocheting with their right hand, it’s easy to make them applicable for left-handed crocheters. As left-handed crochet produces a mirror image of righthanded crochet, there are just four instructions that need to be reversed – and these can be seen in the table on the next page. By following these simple rules, you will be able to crochet almost everything that a right-handed crocheter can with ease. The only differences will be that diagonal details slant the other way and spirals will rotate in the opposite direction, but this will rarely cause significant problems. To see what your finished piece will look like, or to follow a technique tutorial, simply hold the image up to a mirror. This will show the left-handed…