I’ve decided to start posting some helpful links for beginner crocheters. Annie’s Catalog has great tutorials and most have videos attached. I will add my own thoughts and comments where I think it will be helpful.
First things first! How to hold a crochet hook. There are two ways that are widely used – the “knife” method and the “pencil” method – and this tutorial shows both. I use the “knife” method. It’s how I was taught over thirty years ago, and it’s the most comfortable for me. Try them both out and see what works best for you. The other thing you need to learn is how to hold your working yarn. I wrap the yarn around my left pinkie and index finger as you see in the photos below. The link in “Lesson 2” below has a video showing how to hold your yarn.
Second, is how to slip knot and make a starting chain which is the beginning of almost all crochet work. There are ways to start without a chain, but I don’t use those in my patterns – at least not yet!
I try to keep my patterns as simple as possible for you while still helping you to create beautiful and stylish pieces. I’m hoping these tutorials will enable more people to learn the amazing art of crochet!
Lesson 1: How to hold a crochet hook.
Lesson 2: How to slip knot and make a starting chain.
The photo at the top of the page shows a chain of four with the arrow pointing to the first chain. The photo below shows where you start to count your chains from the hook. So if your instructions say to start in the second chain from hook, you start counting where the number “1” is in the photo below, and you would insert your hook into the chain that is numbered “2”.
