So you want to learn to crochet. Good choice! As a hobby and craft, it’s versatile and easy to pick up. I’ve been crocheting for 3 years now, and I can confidently say that it’s a fantastic creative outlet, plus you get an amazing item to keep or gift at the end! There are truly a million different stunning projects you can do with crochet. As such, this intro to crochet is split into sections focused on the different things you can crochet!
Tools and materials
Yarn
Yarn comes in a variety of materials, colors, and sizes. I like to use acrylic because it’s
widely available, comes in a really wide range of colors, it’s soft, and usually machine washable. This is good for most projects including amigurumi, wearables, and blankets.
Cotton and wool are both natural fibers, which are warm and more environmentally friendly, though they are more expensive, less flexible, and require more care.
After deciding on what material you want to work with, you should choose a size of yarn that will be easy for you to work with. I like to use size 4 yarn, also called Worsted weight or Aran yarn. It’s a good medium size that can be used for many different types of projects. Chunky yarn is also a popular choice because it takes less time and effort to make a large piece like a cardigan or blanket.
You can find this information on the label of the yarn.
Crochet hook
Your crochet hook should match the size of your yarn. The label on the skein of your yarn will tell you what the recommended hook size is for that particular yarn.
This is not a hard and fast rule - just a recommendation! For example, many amigurumi crocheters prefer using a hook that’s a few sizes smaller than recommended in order to make tighter stitches.
Tapestry needle
This is necessary for sewing in your yarn ends and giving your piece a clean, secure finish. I use needles ranging from size 18 to 22.
Clothing/Wearables
There are tons of patterns for crocheted cardigans, sweaters, and hats, both free and paid, available online. My own crocheted bucket hats are loosely based on a free pattern I found online!
If you’re looking to start crocheting wearables, I recommend you start with the granny square. It’s an easy-to-learn building block for crocheting, and by stitching squares together you can make anything from cardigans to bags to blankets.
Ravelry is a good resource for finding free crochet patterns of varying difficulty levels. I recommend the following patterns for beginners:
Amigurumi
What can I say about amigurumi? They’re adorable and there’s so much potential for fanart as well! An additional material you’re going to need is stuffing. I like to use polyfill but you could use sponges or scrap fabric or yarn.
An essential technique to learn if you want to make amigurumi is the magic circle. Once you have this down, the rest of amigurumi is largely single crochets, increases, and decreases, which are relatively simple.
Again, I recommend Ravelry for amigurumi patterns. Some artists like Megan Bubbles (or FalseBubbles) even put fan art patterns up for free!
Blankets
If you like large, cozy projects, you will love crocheting blankets. There are a few different ways to crochet a blanket: in rows, corner to corner (C2C for short), or with granny squares. These methods can be further made unique with different crochet stitches and multicolored yarn.
What I love about the C2C or granny square method is you can make pixel art blankets, also called graphghans.
Other fun crochet ideas
I love crocheting so much as a creative, therapeutic outlet, and a fun craft to share with others. I truly hope this was helpful.
If you have comments or questions, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram or Twitter at @thenerDIYblog. If you’d like to have your questions answered live, I stream on Twitch at twitch.tv/finding_doro. I look forward to seeing all the things you make!
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