How do I start crochet as a complete beginner?

Crochet works one live stitch at a time, so it cannot unravel the way knitting can and mistakes are easy to pull back. The one thing everyone gets wrong at first is where the row ends.

What you'll need

• A 4mm or 5mm crochet hook
• Smooth, light double knitting yarn
• Scissors and a blunt darning needle

Step by step

1. Get a 4mm or 5mm hook and plain DK yarn.Large enough to see what you are doing, and smooth light yarn so the stitches are visible. An ergonomic handle is worth having if you crochet for long.
2. Learn a slip knot and a chain.Yarn over the hook, pull through the loop, repeat. Chain about twenty as practice — it teaches you to hold the hook and control tension before any real stitch.
3. Keep the chain loose.A tight foundation chain is the commonest beginner problem and it makes the first row nearly impossible to work into. Some people chain with a hook one size larger.
4. Learn the double crochet.Called single crochet in American patterns, which matters when following instructions online. Hook in, yarn over, pull through, yarn over, pull through both loops.
5. Know where to insert the hook.Under both loops of the V at the top of the stitch below, not into the hole and not into one loop only unless the pattern says so.
6. Count every single row.Out loud if it helps. Losing or gaining a stitch at the row ends is the reason a beginner's square becomes a triangle or a trapezium.
7. Understand the turning chain.At the end of a row you chain one or more and turn. Whether that chain counts as a stitch depends on the stitch and the pattern, and getting it wrong changes the stitch count every row.
8. Work the last stitch of each row.The final stitch is easy to miss because it sits right at the edge. Missing it once loses a stitch permanently, and that is where triangles come from.
9. Make a granny square or a dishcloth.Small, finished quickly, and it teaches the fundamentals. Granny squares also teach working in the round, which opens up most crochet patterns.
10. Check whether a pattern is UK or US.The stitch names are shifted by one between the two systems: a UK double crochet is a US single crochet. Following a US pattern with UK names produces a very different fabric.
11. Pull back without fear.Crochet undoes cleanly by pulling the yarn — there are no live stitches to catch. Redoing three rows costs minutes.

Tips

• Chain loosely. A tight foundation chain makes the whole first row a fight.
• Count your stitches every row. It is the difference between a square and a triangle.
• Check whether a pattern is UK or US terminology before starting, not halfway through.

Common mistakes

• Missing the last stitch of each row — It sits tight against the edge and is easy to overlook, so the row loses a stitch. Repeated over twenty rows it turns a square into a triangle.
• Mixing UK and US stitch names — The two systems are offset by one stitch, so a UK double crochet is a US single crochet. Following a US pattern as though it were UK produces a completely different, much taller fabric.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask