Crochet Basics●Abbreviations●How to Start a Chain●How to Chain (ch)●How to Single Crochet (sc)●How to Single Crochet in the Round

ByAlison Grenier

Pepperberry Crochet

Comments? You can email me-- pepperberrycrochet@yahoo.comKeep up with the crochet news at http://pepperberry.typepad.com or on Facebook, Pepperberry Crochet.If you find this helpful, please share it & pass it along to other aspiring crocheters.

Copyright 2009 Alison Grenier, all rights reserved

AbbreviationsAbbreviations are used in crochet so that patterns aren't miles long and difficult to use

when we're working. It also helps keep designers from writing the same thing over and over again.

When you're crocheting, you're going to run into the same abbreviations over and over again, so we'll go over the most common, and the ones you'll need to complete this tutorial.

chA chain is the basis for most crochet projects, and it's the abbreviation you'll see at the start of most patterns. At the start of a pattern, it looks something like this: “ch12, turn”. “ch” tells you that you'll be using the chain stitch, the number tells you how many of those stitches to make.

turnOkay, turn isn't an abbreviation, but it is another common thing to see at the start of a pattern. It means to turn your piece so that you're now working back along the stitches you've just made. In other words, flip the piece over horizontally!

yoyo stands for “yarn over”, it means to place your hook so that the yarn is over it, that way you can catch the yarn with your hook. Right after you yo, you will....

lpYou'll always see lp as “draw up a lp”. It's short for loop, and it proves that maybe we use more abbreviations than we really need in crochet.

scFinally, an abbreviation that makes some crocheted fabric! sc stands for single crochet, the most basic crochet stitch.

Here's the difference between an abbreviated and non-abbreviated instruction:

Unabbreviated: Make 11 chain stitches. Turn the piece over so that you're working in the opposite direction. Insert your hook in the second chain from the hook, yarn over, and draw up a loop. Yarn over. Draw a loop through both loops on hook. Single crochet in the next 9 stitches.

Abbreviated: ch11. Turn. Insert hook in 2nd ch from hook, yo, draw up lp. Yo. Draw lp through both lps on hook. 9 sc.

Phew. See how much space that saves? Many new crocheters don't like abbreviations, but you'll be doing yourself a favor if you learn them as fast as possible. You can get a “cheat sheet” of abbreviations at http://www.yarnstandards.com/crochet.html

How to Start a Chain

The first question you should have when you start crocheting is, “How do I get the yarn on the hook?” You could always tie a loop in the yarn and work from there, or tie the yarn around the hook, but there are better and more professional ways of attaching the yarn.

Hold the yarn with the end poking out from under your pinky finger. The part still attached to the skein is currently resting on my index in the photo.

Keep holding the end in your fingers, and wrap the yarn around your thumb. Bring the part attached to the skein under your index finger.

Now that the yarn is under your index finger, reach over the top of your finger, grab the yarn, and hold it with the end piece.

Insert your hook under the bottom of the two pieces of yarn on your index finger.

How to Start a Chaincontinued

Still holding the ends, insert yourhook under the bottom of the two pieceson your thumb. Come up fromunderneath.

You've got two pieces of yarn, or loops, on your hook. Still holding the twopieces of yarn, keep your hook horizontaland pull up.

Keep pulling. You can relax your grip on theends a little now. Congratulations, the yarn is on the hook!

How to ChainFantastic, now the yarn is on the hook, and we're ready to move on to chaining (remember, it's

abbreviated ch) which is the most important thing you're going to learn how to do in crochet.Why? Well, first there's one little thing that we have to talk about.

Tension is how hard you're pulling on the yarn. In crochet (and in knitting) you want yourtension to be even so that your stitches will all be the same size. The best way to make sureyour tension is even is to practice chaining over and over again until you can produce evenlysized “links” or stitches with your eyes closed.

Chaining is easy to learn how to do, and won't take you very long to master. The amount oftime you spend practicing your chains will pay off when you move on to your first project. Keep in mind, crochet shouldn't be physically painful, although sometimes it can be mentallychallenging. If your elbows or wrists hurt, try relaxing your grip,and pulling gently with yourhook (you should be able to pull with two fingers.

I'm doing the same thing in all threeof these pictures. Getting ready tochain, I'm holding the “join” where weattached the yarn to the needle withthe middle finger and thumb of myleft hand (I'm a righty. If you're a lefty,reverse it). The end of the yarnattached to the skein has been wouldover my index finger, under mymiddle and ring fingers, and thenover my pinky. This will help tensionthe yarn when I start making chains.

How to Chaincontinued

yo, grab the yarn with the hook. This meansthat you're going to put the hook under theyarn in the space between your index andthumb, and pick it up with the hook.

Pull the loop you have grabbed throughthe loop already on the hook.Congratulations, you've made a chain!

Now, slide your middle finger and thumbup close to the loop currently on thehook, and repeat.Keep repeating, and you'll keep on chaining!

How to Single CrochetNow that you've mastered making a chain, and your tensioning is all set, it's time to move on to

single crochet (sc). This is exciting! With single crochet, you can make all kinds of fun things!In order to single crochet, you need to have a chain, first. Go ahead and ch11 (refer back to

the abbreviations sheet if you need help). Remember, your chains should be nice and even, if they're not, go back and keep practicing! I know it's no fun, but you'll save yourself a lot of pain later.

Here we are, chain complete. Now, poke your hook through the second chain from the hook. What does this mean? See the loop you have on your hook? You can't put the hook there. See the next chain? That one will work. It's the second chain from the hook.

Look at your hook. Now there are two loops sitting on top of it. Yo, and pull the yarn through *one* of these loops.

You still have two loops sitting on your hook at this point. Yo, and this time pull the yarn through *both* of the loops.

Congratulations, you've made a single crochet!

How to Single CrochetWhat do you do when you get to the end of the row? Here's what you do: turn. ch1 (counts as

first sc), sc across. But wait, what does that mean? Consult the abbreviations, and you'll discover that ch1 means to chain one stitch. "Counts as first sc" means DO NOT crochet in the first stitch you see there, but skip it and move on to the next one. If you don't skip it, your piece will eventually turn into a triangle instead of the nice square or rectangle you are working on.

How to Single Crochet in the Round

Here we go, sc in the round! If you want to make amigurumi, you absolutely need to know how to do this. In some ways, working in the round is easier than working back-and-forth, because you're not going to be needing to worry about turns. One quick note, this is going to show you how to single crochet in the round in a spiral, not how to make joined rounds, that's a little more detailed. We'll cover that later, in Crochet Basics 2.

Start out by ch3 (not pictured)

Then, stick your hook through the first stitch.

yo, pull a loop through everything that you have on the hook. Now you've made a little ch 3 loop.

continued

How to Single Crochet in the Round

Stick the hook through the center of the ch3 loop that you made.

Pull up a loop.

Yarn over, and pull the yarn through both loops on the hook.

continued

Make a lot more sc in the loop, hooray!

I hope you enjoyed this and found it helpful, and that you share it if you liked it, or tell me how to fix it if you didn't. Good luck, and happy crocheting!