Knot Your Average Crochet Beginners Guide

You are excited! You are ready to shop! You are….overwhelmed! 

I completely understand. While I am not self-taught, I have put crocheting down so many times that I have felt like a beginner many times. I learned how to crochet 23 years ago when my Grandma saw how amazed I was at her work. 

When I say I have felt like a beginner, I mean a true beginner. I cannot tell you how many times I have watched beginner videos on YouTube and just started fresh. But when you start fresh, where do you go? Pinterest. 

Pinterest is a great tool, but let’s face it…It is filled with so much crap. There is so much fluff and misdirection that it can frustrate you. I cannot tell you how many people have told me that they give up on crochet because they believe they cannot do it.

This is why I am making this post. I want others to have the same confidence that I have built in the last year. Before that, even though I knew how to do basic crochet stitches, I had no confidence at all when it came to my skills.

Let me tell you a secret…anyone can crochet! And that sounds cliché af, but I mean it from deep in my heart. I know for a fact that you can too! 

With that said, let’s get down to these tips and tricks.

Take it slow 

I have NO patience. I know people say that all the time, but I am so dead serious that it is a fatal flaw of mine. They say when you get older, that you gain patience, a lie detector detected that was a lie. It did not happen when I had my son either.

Funny enough, the only patience I do not have with crocheting is finding patterns. Not the actual act of crocheting itself. But I know that so many of you out there find that patience ruins your art. 

Set a timer

My advice is to set a timer when you first start. You can do one hour on and one hour off, or twenty minutes on and off. When you go full bull into a project, it can feel exciting, but you will also feel burn out with a quickness. 

So, take learning at a slow pace.

Stitch Marker Magic

This one right here is the magic tip. The tip of all tips. The mother of all tips!! I know guys, I know I know I know…the countinggggg.

Yes, with crocheting, you will be counting. And coming from someone who cannot math to save her life, there is a fix to this headache. An easy and cheap fix! 

What is it?

Most of them look like little plastic clothespins (I prefer these because they close), and they are meant to mark stitches (hence the name).

Let’s say that you need to make 100 single crochets, and you see that number while feeling your eyes bulge out of your head. What if you lose count? Sorry to say, you will lose count more times than you can…count. It can be insanely frustrating but this is where your stitch markers will save the day. 

This is what I do: I count in increments of 20, and I put a stitch marker every 20th stitch. It is a lot easier to count 43 stitches when you have a stitch marker at stitch 40. Doesn’t feel so daunting anymore, huh? 

Extra Tip: Put one in the loop of your working yarn when you need to put your work down.

Pinterest and YouTube BFF

I know that I literally talked shit about Pinterest at the beginning of this post, but it really is a great tool. The number of free patterns is endless. Ideas run rampant, and soon you will have 1K pins like I do.

Create Pinterest board

Create a Pinterest board named “Crochet” and get to pinning. Do not forget to go back to your board every now and again to find a project. You will probably find a pattern you totally forgot you even pinned. 

Learn via YouTube

I remember when there was no YouTube (shut up!), and if you wanted to learn to do something, you had to go to the library, bookstore, or trust a Geocities website. Let’s just say that as a kid, learning how to start a hobby was annoying. I threw pretty much all of them down, but crochet.

Stay away from those crochet courses and coaches. You honestly do not even need to purchase books anymore to learn things, so stay away from those paid digital downloads too. All you need to learn how to crochet is YouTube. There are thousands upon thousands of FREE crochet classes, along with artists who will crochet an entire pattern with you. 

So, when you feel that “I can’t do this” feeling, go to YouTube and type in what you think you cannot do. I bet you 100 bucks you will find a tutorial on it by several creators. Utilize this tool to the fullest advantage.

Hacks & Gadgets

Man, did I get lost in hacks and products when I picked crocheting back up last year with the promise of endurance. You do not need a tension ring or a hook with a light. You do not need a magic ring maker or stitch counter bracelet. 

Do you see where I am getting at here? During the process of learning to crochet, you will run into the craziest and convincing gadgets. That tension ring really got me because my tension runs tight. While it wasn’t too much of a learning curve, I didn’t like not having control of my tension. So I accept and love my tighter style stitching. 

Starting Materials

a basic crochet hook set (at least 3mm to 6mm)
one skein (or more, but do not go to the dark side of yarn addiction)
crochet needle
stitch markers
scissors

Stripe or Ombre Yarn

Are you like me and when you get a hobby bug you dive face first without looking how deep the water is? 

Small yarn stash

Like I said before, slow it down or you will end up with a yarn stash that you may never get through in your life (guilty, but I justify it by saying that I always have yarn on my hook).

Dark/light colors

This may seem like a weird tip, but hear me out. When you start to learn how to crochet, you will be taught how to identify the V part of most stitches. This is not a difficult task, they are right on top of the stitch. It is where you will insert your hook to pull through a loop. 

While it is a pretty easy thing to point out, it is not so easy with dark or light yarn. Everything just merges together in your eyes and you cannot see the individual stitches (get a necklight, one of the best “crochet gadgets.”). But if you have striped or gradient yarn, the individual strands of yarn that will make up that V now has different colors. This will make seeing those V’s so much easier. 

You will work up to dark and light yarn with practice. Give yourself grace.

My Row Counter App

There are so many gadgets out there and we covered that we do not want to get lost in them when we start learning to crochet. But, the My Row Counter App is an absolute must. It is FREE (with paid option)!

Upload pattern

You can upload any pattern from basically anywhere. For example; the files on your phone, saved ravelry patterns, Google Drive, photos, make your own pattern, and much more. I cannot rave more about the pattern uploading ability of this app.

Start counting! 

It really isn’t that much counting as you think with rows compared to stitches. You are going to put stitches across in a straight line, circle, etc and click a button to say you are finished with that row and will be starting the next. Losing count of your rows can be a frogging nightmare especially when you are working in the round. 

More features

Digital yarn stash 

Multiple types of counters (even stitches!)

Chart Creator

Smart Watch Compatible

2 WIPS

This was a promise I made to myself after many YouTube and Pinterest searching. So many Fiber Artists will admit that they have too many WIPS. 

What is a WIP?

Plain and simple, it is just an unfinished project. It is a project that is a Work In Process, hence WIP. 

Why a limit?

Looks, life is short and you should find your happiness. This is why I threw that promise out the window and you may too. But having so many unfinished projects can get really overwhelming. I have so many late presents that I just want to toss them to be done with it. 

Too much is bad

You do not want your new hobby to turn into a chore. The easiest way to do that is to take away pressure. So, limit your promised gifts and try to finish a project before starting a new one. I will emphasize the word TRY. 

Frogging is Educational

In November, I was insanely depressed because of the climate of the world. I felt that my family was unsafe and reading the news was dragging my mood down to where I had no mood left to give. 

I had to put the phone down, step away from social media and the news, but also figure out a way to be entertained. It was near Christmas and I had a friend from a gaming Discord server that started to learn how to crochet. That sparked something in me. Crocheting was my answer, or I should at least try to figure out if it was my answer. 

What is it?

Frogging is when you pull your stitches out because you have made a mistake or want to perfect a stitch. This sounds miserable and you have to accept you will do this often.

Funny name

It is a silly name, isn’t it? It is actually a brilliant name. It actually originates from knitting and while there are some differentiating opinions, the overwhelming explanation is that when you frog you are ripping your stitches out. What does a frog say? “Rip it, rip it, rip it.”

 

No perfection

I will be preaching to the choir here, but while you are learning to crochet you honestly do not want perfection anywhere near your project. That sounds like terrible advice, so let me try a cliche one. Mistakes are lessons. 

Better Fiber Artist

When you have to frog you may be pissed and want to throw the whole project away. I get it. Have I ever thrown a project away because I had to frog? No. Which goes against everything in me because of my perfectionism. But I drilled into my head that frogging it will not only teach me a lesson on how not to make that mistake again, but having to redo all the rest of the stitches is just additional practice. You can either accept human error, as many do because they believe it gives it character. Or you can learn.