Welcome to crochet for beginners! Learning any new skill can feel daunting to begin with so I’ve broken it down into 3 easy steps to get you started! Before you begin you will need a few supplies (be warned, yarn will become a whole new exciting hobby of it’s own – no, I’m not kidding you!)
In this article we will cover the following:
- Yarn Basics
- Curating a Beginners Kit
- Beginners Tutorials for Right & Left Hands
- Suggested Beginners Projects
- Tips & Tricks
Yarn Basics
Wool yarn is made from animal fibres such as sheep. Wool creates warm fabrics but can be pricey if making large projects. I don’t recommend wool for complete beginners as the yarn can be fibrous and catches on the hook.
Acrylic is synthetic yarn, its affordable and easy to use for beginners. While it’s not the most environmentally friendly option it is the favourite among beginners. Most of my tutorials on YouTube use acrylic yarn from the Stylecraft Special Dk range.
Cotton Yarn is my favourite yarn to crochet with, its soft, easy to use and can be washed at higher temperatures than wool making it safer to gift!
Curating a Beginners Kit
I highly recommend curating your own crochet kit, while buying prepacked kits can be an exciting impulse buy, everyone is different and any prepacked kit will probably contain a few great items they will also include materials you will never use.
Essentials
- hooks
- yarn
- scissors
Storage
Yarn Storage as I mentioned before yarn will become a hobby and you will end up with lots of soft squishy balls of loveliness! You will need somewhere to keep it free from dust. I use these Ikea bags that I keep under my bed. I have one for acrylic dk yarn, one for aran weight yarn, one for cotton and lastly one for WIPs
Project Storage WIP’s I’m working on I keep in a basket so I can move it around the house and garden easily.
Notebooks You may want a notebook or project book to keep patterns and project information in.
Right Hand Tutorials
Left Hand Crochet Tutorials
Suggested Beginners Projects
A Large Granny Square This is a great opportunity to practice building up your rhythm and finding your tension by repeating the same stitch. The pattern is a simple repeat but can look beautiful with colour changes.
Small Granny Squares Make lots of different granny squares to create a patchwork blanket. When you feel confident try making some of the squares from the Granny Square Series to learn new stitches.