So you want to learn how to crochet…

Learning a new craft can be incredibly rewarding, and let’s be honest with ourselves- this pandemic has us trying a lot of new things we might not necessarily have done if we weren’t staying at home. Crafts like knitting and crochet also have the bonus of (usually) utilitarian projects. It is incredibly rewarding to be able to use something you can say you made. Getting to this point on your ventures as a newcomer, however, are going to take a lot of work. Keep the following points in mind if you are considering taking up crocheting!

• Practice.

This is the most important bullet point of them all. As they said on Spongebob, “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.” You’re going to be spending much, much longer than two seconds in this “jail.”

I started crochet as a young kid, and as you can imagine, I did not want to practice. You have to master the basic steps before you can make a reasonable project. Yes, there are plenty of beginners patterns that people with little experience can create, however you’re bound to have wonky shapes, bunching, loose strands, or too tight loops if you don’t practice the basics. What I recommend learning before attacking any project are the very basic stitches: Slip knots, chaining, slip stitches, single crochet, half-double crochet, and double crochet (US terms). With these in your arsenal, you can tackle any project coming your way.

• Patience

No one is a master at anything on their first go-around. If you know you’re incredibly impatient, crocheting is not the craft for you. With all the practice that is required to get your projects looking picture perfect, you need to have the ability to step back, undo mistakes, restart from scratch, watch countless tutorials, etc. I would not consider myself a master crocheter, and I have spent upwards of a decade to get to this point (with a long hiatus in the middle.) Learning to get the new stitches to look nice is what always takes me the longest. When watching video tutorials, you have to be willing to pause every two minutes- no one is going to create something at the same pace as you, because no one wants to watch a three-hour long video. Noticing a mistake you make three rows back is heartbreaking, but you need to have the willingness to undo those rows and try again, if you want your project to turn out how it’s supposed to.

• Study

Studying sounds like the least exciting step, but I promise you this one is not too difficult. Really, studying is just going to refine your skillset and make sure that you know the terms. For example, if I never studied crochet terminology, I would have never known that UK and US terms are different- and mixing those terms up could really mess up a project! Knowing the abbreviations and vocabulary is going to make tackling a new project so much easier- so you wouldn’t have to take the time to google, “What does HDFPC mean.” Everyone is going to use slightly different abbreviations, and people who make a lot of patterns are going to have their own word bank laid out before the project. I would highly recommend seeking out someone who does this- their patterns are more refined, and they worked really hard to help you get the best possible outcome!

• Embrace Mistakes

Yes, I did just say to take the time to undo your mistakes, and yes, I am also telling you to embrace them. I know it sounds confusing but trust me when I say that mistakes are the best teaching tool. You know what sucks? Spending five hours making something you absolutely hate. Doing this, however, is going to help motivate you for next time. You are going to make a lot of mistakes, and it will discourage you from wanting to crochet. I’ve had this happen to me countless times, and even now, I continue to mess things up. If you don’t take the mistakes in as teaching tools, you won’t want to make anything ever again. This goes hand-in-hand with practicing. Expect to mess up and try your best to learn from it.

I hope this post helps you if you’re a struggling beginner or trying to decide if you want to learn a new craft. Some crafts aren’t for everyone- despite being an avid crocheter I couldn’t bother myself with knitting. The crochet community is growing every day, and people are so willing to help and excited to teach and share. Happy crafting!