How to Crochet for Beginners

Okay, getting back to the basics of crochet, if you need to know how to hold—then you’ll have to go into another video and I provided links for you. So what you're going to do in order to start off your piece of string you’re going to wrap around your finger twice like that so you have to. And I’m going to at the speed that you need to go at. So this is absolutely for beginners, never touch some wool before and etcetera. So what you’re going to do is you’re going to grab this piece that’s closes to you. So I’m right handed so you’re going to grab the piece that’s closes to your knuckle there, pulling it over like so. So you’re going to grab this piece here and pull it up and then what you're going to do is you’re just going to use your other finger and push up and let it go and see how it creates underneath. That is your first loop, see just going to pull it snug. So there’s your first loop of crochet.

So what you’re going to do is you’re going to stick in your needle. I’m using a k size needle and we’re going to stick it in and you’re going to pull it nice and tight, not too tight but nice and snugger, yeah. Now, the basics of crochet when you’re actually crocheting, if you pull this like that, do you see how you get a teardrop shape underneath like so right there. But that’s because you need—in order to get your needle in and out of the stitches is that it needs to do that. So for example, if I go to try to pull your needle here or here, it’s going to catch but if I rotate underneath like so, it pop so and that’s exactly what you’re doing and this is part of the actual skill up crochet.

Now, to start your first line it’s called the chain. So what you’re going to do is just going to put your material in your hand just like so. So this thing right here helps control the tension and the finger is closing and starting—are closing and opening here controls tension as well and the tension is what makes your crochet very—which makes it look even or—it makes it look really quite professional. So what you're going to do is you're going to grab your material so you're going to turn your needle, turn your needle to the back so that the loop—the hook is facing away from you, push back like so. Rotate your needle just like so and then grab it and pull under and see how it continuing to rotate so that I can get it to go underneath there so there’s chain one so let’s that again. So let’s do ten of these, so grabbing your material and pulling it through.

Do you see how I’m allowing the material to flow through my hands pretty snag? So because I’m a pretty much of a professional crochet of my stitches were all at the same. But when you’re in the very beginning, you tend that need to make them too loose or too tight. So let’s do 10 of these things. So again, just pushing back, rotating, pulling forward so push back, rotate, pulling forward. So there’s would be your first line so if you wanted to go the sides of the blanket then you just keep going and going and going maybe measure this whole chain on top of you bed as if you want to go that far or if you want to do a—I have to through just keep going until you think the chain actually pretty descent. So now at the end, we’re going to do a double crochet which is pretty well the most standard stitch of crochet. So what we need to do is that at the very end, I’m going to be holding my chain underneath like so and we’re going to be chaining up three so this doesn’t count as a chain. So grabbing your material one, two, three. And did you notice how I didn’t move this hand and the reason for is I want to know exactly where that chain starts so that I know where I need to go into the material when I’m going to start my way across.

So I was holding it there so then my first stitch will be right there. And how would I know that? You can count back, so one, two, three and four would be my actual stitch that I want so you can—you see you need to go one, two, three, four and count back or like that or you could just kept your finger like I did. Now, a double crochet, so you’re going to wrap your material around once like so and see where I hold it down, it’s the number forth away from the hook. And so what you need to do is you’re going to be seeing three strings and what you want to do is you want to end up with two strings on top like so and one on the bottom. So now you’re going to push it through and now you should have four—it appears to be four stitches on your hook.

So what you want to do is grab your material and pull it through just that one only so now you’ve got three. So now you have three, grab your material, pull through two, grabbing your material and pull through two and that is the double crochet. So grabbing your material again, going to the very next stitch and how can you tell that where the next stitch will. There’s where the other one went through so it can’t be that one so it has to be here, right there. So what you want to do is wrap your material around again and going into the stitch making sure there’s two on top one on the bottom. Grabbing it, pulling it through two, I’m pulling it through two. So try again. So wrapping your material looking for the next stitch, so you’ve gone in there so it must be the next one so make sure you go end, make sure you got two strings left on top, one on the bottom, grabbing your material, pulling it through only and pulling it through two and two. So try again. So wrapping your material, going in just like so as you got two strings on top, do you see that?

Now, down the road, you’re going to come to learn to know that these strings are actually—just wrap your material around, stick it in, in the next stitch. And in down the road, what’s going to come for you if you keep going with the crochet is that you’ll learn that these are couple of loops. And the one that is closes to you which would be that one is the front loop and the other one behind is the back loop. They’re just referred to as stitches at this point. And they're’ only called the loops when you only want to go into one or the other so going into the very next one, pulling it through, pulling it through two and two. Grabbing your material around, going in, pulling it through that one, pull it through two and two. So grabbing your material again, next stitch, pulling it through two and two, the string is coming on.

So now, we’re on our very last stitch here in the bottom and here’s where a lot of people go wrong. So you’re going to stick it in, pulling it through there two and two. Now, here’s where people go wrong it’s when they actually go to rotate this thing that the accidentally create an extra stitch so then you end up with material that end ups going like that or just set a straight up. So what we want to do is we want to rotate so rotate that in your hand. Now, this stitch when I go to crochet or when I go to make my chain I already count as this one. So when I go to put in my first stitch in this row, it will the next one over. So what we’re going to do is chain up three so one, two and three. Remember what I just said, see how that chain is inline with that one so you’ve already done that one. So when you go in you’re not going into the bottom of this right here because that’s already—it’s already been created so you’re going to go into that next one right there.

And once you get passed your first chaining road, these stitches become so obvious to see. And again, you’ll have your two strings on top, pulling it through that one, pulling it through two and two. And do you see how that pull that up? That’s exactly what you're looking for. So let’s go to the next one; wrapping your material. So you’re not going stick it in the bottom like that big gap, you want to stick it just in the top stitches just like so. Pull it through two and two, wrapping your material, pulling it through two and two, going into the next stitch. So just work your way across and this is a really good exercise for making your strength tension getting used to it. I would recommend that if anybody was trying to crochet they make dish cloth, the size of a dish cloth and you can really see the tension changing as the more you get used to it, the more the tension and the string trying to change.

So we’re almost at the very end, see how we got one here and so this one kind of matches that one so you got one more to go. So you’re going to wrap your material, going into the last one. Don’t ever—on the ends, don’t ever go into that big gap and the reason for that is that if you into that gap and you make it like so you’ll end up with that gap. Do you see that? So you don’t want to ever do instead the only way to stop that is to do it properly and just wrap your material around and doing like exactly what you did along and to see how there are two strings on top, one on the bottom you can go right in between there as like a regular stitch one, two and two.

So now, what that does is that it creates that and because I’ve—see how that goes? So let’s rotate again, we’ll go back to the next line so chaining up three so one, two and three so you’re wrapping your material and we’ve already just done this one here, you can see that. We’re going to go into the very next one so two, two. So just work your way across the chaining and basically the whole technique, their crochet is string tension with—just cases with my left hand the rotation of that needle. We’re coming near the edge again because the ends are where people mess up the most. So looking at it, so you got one more to go so you don’t want to go into the gap, I’ll show you what it looks like the end if I do into the gap. So you end up with a hole which you don’t want. So pull that out, so you want to go into just a stitch only. And so what you want to do is grow in, leaving two strings on top, one on the bottom pulling it through—I should have wrap my materials going in—wrapping my material going into the actual stitch. And that would be the basics of crochet. That’s your sample piece and you can see that the string is kind of leaning one way, going one direction, the other way going the other. And every side of that crochet looks different so therefore that’s how you get the texture.