Crochet Guide for Beginners

Knitting, one form of present day crochet, existed during 16th century itself. In those days lace industry thrived because of the patronage extended by affluent people. When the less expensive crochet took over in the early 18th century, middle class people started using the patterns and crochet continued its journey to reach the stage what we have today.

Many theories are there to believe that crochet was developed by people living in countries like China, Middle Eastern countries, and in South America. In early 18th century many European community people used crochet products and most of the designs were filet crochet patterns.

Today crochet is being practiced as a hobby by many people from all walks of life and by all age groups. With the advent of high quality yarns and sophisticated hooks, crochet turned out to be an artful craft today.

Here are some basic steps that will help you as a beginner in crocheting.

1. Your initial requirements for any crochet project are one size G crochet hook, small scissors, worsted-weight yarn with any colors, and a big-eyed yarn needle.

2. You can hold he hook with your right hand if your are a right-handed person and start with a slip-knot on the hook.

3. Slide the hooked yarn into the slipknot of the hook. By doing this you will be creating a continuous stitch or a chained like stitches. Then bring back the yarns on top of the hook duly making the thread go into the hook and grabbing the slipknot into the hook.

4. You can now pass on the first chain stitch allowing the knot to be properly hooked on the thread knot. This will secure the thread properly without any loosening. A much tighter knot will serve better for creating any chain stitch.

5. Get the hook inserted to the hole of the next chain stitch, and then slide the yarn passing through the center of the second chain stitch going to the upper part of the hook. You have created now two loops of thread on the hook.

6. Starting from the back, bring the yarn to front side and slide the knot in the center of the loops that has been created by you on the hook.

7. Create another chain stitch from the second loop and make it a counter clockwise loop. This will make the hook to remain in the chain stitches. Start with the next row and create loops similar to earlier rows.

8. You may create a single crochet stitch in the first loop and tighten it; and then proceed to following loops of previous rows. You must now create last stitch and ensure that it remains in the same place.

You may now cut the excess yarn leaving at least 6 inches of the thread on the last chain stitch. This will enable you to slide the hook up to the upper part of the loops and bringing the thread into the last loops of the hook.

As a beginner, you may find it difficult to carry over the stitches initially, but as you practice, you will tend to become an adept crocheter and capable of doing many crochet projects with ease.