Learn to crochet

The best beginner crochet projects use one or two basic stitches and simple shapes: a bag, a scarf or granny squares. Single crochet worked in rows or rounds is enough for your first finished piece. The patterns below live in the Knit&Note app with step by step guidance.

To start crocheting you need one hook around 8 mm, one ball of sturdy medium or chunky yarn, and two techniques: the chain and the single crochet. There is only ever one live loop on your hook, so mistakes are easy to undo. Your first real project can be a simple bag, finished in a weekend.

A magic ring is an adjustable loop you crochet your first round into, then pull tight to close the center. Wrap the yarn into a loop, pull up a loop, chain 1, work your stitches over the ring and the tail, then tug the tail. Hats, circles and amigurumi get a center with no hole.

To crochet in the round, start with a magic ring or short chain and work around instead of back and forth. Join each round with a slip stitch for neat, separate rounds, or keep going in a spiral and mark the first stitch. For a flat circle, add the same number of stitches every round: 6 for single crochet.

A crochet pattern is written in shorthand: abbreviations for stitches (ch, sc, dc), asterisks and brackets for repeats, and a stitch count at the end of each row. Read the materials, gauge and notes first, check whether it uses US or UK terms, then work one row at a time and count as you go.

US and UK crochet patterns use the same names for different stitches, shifted one step. A US single crochet (sc) is a UK double crochet (dc), a US half double crochet is a UK half treble (htr), and a US double crochet is a UK treble (tr). Chain and slip stitch are the same in both.

Crochet hooks are sized by the diameter of the shaft in millimeters. US hooks add a letter and number, so 5 mm is H-8 and 6 mm is J-10. Thicker yarn needs a bigger hook: medium (worsted) yarn usually pairs with 5.5 to 6.5 mm, bulky with 6.5 to 9 mm. When in doubt, go by the mm size.

The best yarn for beginner crochet is a smooth, light-colored medium (#4, worsted) or bulky (#5) yarn in acrylic, cotton or a cotton blend. A smooth plied yarn shows every stitch and does not split. Skip fuzzy, dark, very thin or textured yarns like mohair, boucle and chenille for now.

A first crochet bag is usually made in single crochet: a base chain, a flat bottom, rounds worked up the sides, and handles made by chaining over skipped stitches. Use sturdy yarn and firm, even tension. A small bag in thicker yarn can be finished in a weekend.

For your first crochet garment, choose your size by the finished measurements and the ease you want, not your body size alone. Make and wash a gauge swatch, follow the pattern's construction, flat pieces or top down, and block before you judge the fit. Expect weeks, not a weekend.

Crochet usually curls because of tight tension, a foundation chain tighter than the stitches, or a hook too small for the yarn. Flat circles cup when they have too few increases and ruffle with too many. Chain with a larger hook, count each round, and block to smooth a mild curl.

Uneven crochet edges come from gaining or losing stitches at the ends of rows. Missing the last stitch makes rows narrower, and working into a turning chain that does not count makes them wider. Count each row, put markers in the first and last stitch, and frog back to the last correct row.