Sunday 2 March 2014

Crochet - Mastering the Basics

Hello Ladies and Gents and how are you on this grey March day? I'm shocked that four weeks have passed since my last bloggie so I'll update you with my crochet news.

All through February I have been practicing how to hold the yarn and do the basic stitches. This may seem like a long time just to master the basics, but now I've ventured onto granny squares I feel it was time well spent.

Having a glimpse back at previous blog (First Crochet Blog) I think I got a bit cocky at my skills. I did learn how to chain, but achieving the right tension to chain consistently was slightly more challenging. So a top tip I will give to you all is to take time as a beginner to practice holding the yarn and needle - this is crucial as this determines the tension in the stitch itself. I tried different methods - some with greater or lesser success. At one point the yarn was so wrapped around my fingers it looked like I had a henna tattoo :). There are many great You Tube clips showing you differing techniques... I found this link particularly helpful 'How to Hold Yarn for Beginners' and I do a mixture of the first one and the final one - I wrap the yarn around my pinkie and then around my fore finger - this works well for me but everyone is different.

Another top tip is where to hang/ position your yarn. I tried it on the sofa, bed and floor (I promise I'm talking about crochet here!) and for me, sat on the sofa with the ball of yarn on the floor worked best. This is a great You Tube clip for other ideas: 'Crochet Body Positions, Holding Yarn and Chaining'

The best way to test how you hold your yarn and hook and where to place your yarn is to practice chaining. As I said above by simply chaining you will see if the chains are a consistent tension and if not, you can simply pull the yarn and start again! After successfully chaining, I moved how to single crochet and double crochet however I found this quite difficult when not following a pattern so I moved onto making granny squares! 

I'm so pleased I went back to basics before moving on. I feel by reading and watching tutorials it has helped me understand that tension of the yarn is important and will help with my future projects. Next time, I'll tell you about granny squares.

Top Tips:

  • Equipment: Yarn and hook
  • Take time as a beginner to practice holding the yarn and needle
  • Where to hang/ position your yarn - have a go with different styles - you'll notice the different :)
Useful websites:
Happy Crocheting xx

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