A ball of burnt orange yarn, a wooden crochet hook, a 4" white ruler and pair of filigreed embroidery scissors lay on a white background with an opaque white box on top of it containing blue text that reads "Crochet 101 Photo and Video Tutorial Series" and the website "www.hooksbookswanderlust.com" appears in blue text at the bottom of the image.
Crochet,  Crochet 101,  Crochet Tutorials

Crochet 101: Getting Started with Crochet

December 1, 2020 / No Comments

Hello!

I’m here today with some pretty exciting news! In light of the coming new year, and the fact that many like to learn new skills as a resolution, I thought, why not do a beginner’s crochet series of tutorials? I mean, who doesn’t love a good how-to, right?

So here’s how things are going to work. Every Tuesday (Tutorial Tuesday, anyone?) for the next few weeks, I’m going to post a new beginner-friendly video tutorial, because I don’t know about you, but I learned best from videos!

Here’s a list of the tutorials I’ll be introducing! And don’t worry, I’ll be sure to come back and update each post with links as soon as those tutorials go live.

In each of these videos, I take a deep dive into common crochet terms, how to work a particular stitch or technique, and the structure, or anatomy as I like to call it, of those stitches.

Getting Started with Crochet

Today’s tutorial is going to center on getting started. In this video, I cover how I hold everything, my non-traditional way to make a slip knot (in case the traditional method ever confused you like it still does me haha), common terms like working loop, back bump, tension, etc., and how to chain stitch.

Crochet Speak

Aside from all the stitch names, it is essential to familiarize yourself with the basic terms associated with crocheting. You will see these terms in the photos that follow as well as defined for you below. They are also covered in the videos. I’ll be adding to this list of terms each week as we cover additional material.

Yarn Tail or Yarn End: the literal end of your yarn
Working Yarn: the part of the yarn that feeds directly from the skein (pronounced skane), ball, or cake
Working Loop(s): generally refers to the single loop on a crochet hook between stitches, but can also mean the loops on your hook as you are in the middle of working a stitch
Yarn Over (abbreviated as ‘yo’): the act of wrapping the working yarn over your hook from the back to the front
Top ‘V’: references the top view of a stitch, which looks like a ‘V’
Back Bump: the bottom loop of yarn in a chain stitch, opposite the Top ‘V’
Tension: how tightly or how loosely you work your stitches.
Chain Stitch (abbreviated as ‘ch’): yarn over, pull through working loop

Video Tutorial

The full video tutorial can be watched from start to finish here. In the following paragraphs, I’m going to break it down a bit and give you the minute marks that coordinate with these particular points.

Photo Tutorial

While much of what I talk about is really best shown to you in a video, I thought it might be beneficial to supplement the video with some photos as well.

Slip Knot – A Non-Traditional Method

The video tutorial begins to cover the slip knot at the 0:53 minute mark. To see how I hold my yarn, skip to the 5:30 mark.

  • a piece of yarn sits on a white background with the end to the left, labeled "yarn tail," and the skein to the right, labeled "working yarn."
  • "Step 1: Create a loop with the working yarn laying on top of the yarn tail/end."
  • "Step 2: Fold the working yarn up underneath your loop."
  • "Step 3: Insert your hook into the loop under the working yarn."
  • "Step 4: Hold both the working yarn and yarn tail in your non-dominant hand and pull your hook upward."
  • "Completed Slip Knot"
  • The working yarn, which connects to the skein, continues off to the left side of the picture, the yarn tail/end runs down toward the bottom of the picture, the loop on the hook is labeled as Working Loop and an arrow points to the slip knot under the hook and working loop.

Chain Stitch

The video tutorial begins to cover this at the 6:02 mark.

  • "Step 1: Wrap the working yarn over your hook from back to front, catching the yarn under the hook. Hold yarn tail securely with non-dominant hand."
  • "Step2: Pull the working yarn through the working loop on your hook."
  • "Chain Stitch Completed"
  • "Continue practicing chain stitches until your stitches are even."
  • "Chain Stitch Anatomy" A row of 11 chain stitches lies with the top up. Arrows identify the working yarn to the left side of the picture, the yarn tail to the right side, the working loop and the "top V" of the chain stitch.
  • "Chain Stitch Anatomy" The row of 11 chain stitches has been turned to a side view in order to identify the "back bump" of a chain stitch. Working yarn is labeled off to the left, the yarn tail is labeled off to the right, and the working loop is identified as well.

Working into a Chain Stitch – Traditional Method

Skip to 13:30 in the video.

  • "Step 1: Insert your hook into the middle of the top 'V' of the indicated chain stitch to work your first stitch." An arrow points to the first chain from the hook and notes to skip that stitch, a small orange circle shows the space in the middle of the top 'V' of the second chain from the hook.
  • "Step 2: Work your pattern's stitches across the row of chain stitches.
  • A hand holds a swatch row of single crochet has been worked into the center of each chain stitches, using an arrow to point out the gaps that occur when using the traditional method.
  • A row of single crochet has been worked into the chain stitches and is displayed on a white background.

Working into a Chain Stitch – Alternative Method

Skip to 15:11 in the video.

  • "Working Into a Chain - Alternative; Step 1: turn your work toward you so that the back bumps are visible." A row of 11 chains lay in an upside down side view, exposing the back bumps of the stitches.
  • "Working Into a Chain - Alternative; Step 2: Insert your hook under the back bump of the indicated chain." A hook is inserted under the back bump of the second chain from the hook.
  • "Working Into a Chain - Alternative; Step 3: Work your pattern's stitches across the row of chain stitches."
  • "Working into a chain - Alternative" A row of single crochet has been worked into the back bumps of all chain stitches and lays on a white background.
  • "Working into a chain - Alternative" A hand holds a swatch row of single crochet has been worked into the back bumps of all chain stitches and lays on a white background. Arrows point out "less noticeable gaps" and "more polished bottom edge to your work."

How’d You Do?

Whew! That was a lot of info for one post! I hope you found it helpful and are well on your way to crocheting! Keep practicing those techniques and your chain stitches, and really focus on holding everything and getting a consistent tension.

Next week, I’ll be back with the next video in this series, where I’ll show you how to single crochet! So practice, practice, and I’ll see you again next week!

Until next time!

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