Cocktails, Crooners & Craft: Hook Me Up, Part 3

You: Wow, Sarah! Are you crocheting?

Sarah: Why, yes. Yes I am.

You: That’s so cool!!!!!! I wanna be just like you.

Sarah: Well, you can be. Let me show you how.

We’re on the last leg or our crafting journey, and we’re finally getting to the fun stuff. Crocheting! You heard me right. We’re gonna learn how to crochet. Remember when I said I was gonna teach myself to crochet? Well I did! That weekend. For serious. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. If I can do it, you can too. And remember, if you get frustrated and wanna give up, just refer to the “30 Steps to Mastery“.

First you’ll need a crochet hook and a skein of yarn. Any type of hook and yarn will do. Go to Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, your cutesy local yarn store (those places are so cute!) or steal some from your grandma (she loves you. she won’t care). Just grab some simple yarn in your favorite color and a medium thickness. Really thin or really thick yarn might be harder to work with for a beginner. Stick with a medium-large size hook as well. I started with size K (6.50MM). I also used the I Taught Myself Crochet kit by Boye. It worked for me, but I also have some knitting experience up my sleeve, which might have guided me through a few tricky parts in the instructions. I recommend using these video tutorials along with the kit (or a similar ‘crochet for beginners’ book) to pick up the craft yourself. Start by watching the video above with sweet Beth Essington as she shows you how to crochet a chain stitch. According to I Taught Myself Crochet, the “chain stitch is the beginning stitch in crochet. Almost all pieces of crochet start with a length of chain stitches which resembles a series of V’s, called the foundation chain.” Note: when counting the number of stitches in the foundation chain, do not include the loop on the hook.

Next, Beth will show you how to make a single crochet stitch. This is one of the four basic crochet stitches and the shortest in height. After making your foundation chain, insert your hook in the 2nd chain from the hook (under top loop, from front to back) and follow Beth for the rest. Once you get to the end of your second row, remember that your turning chain (she’ll explain in the video) counts as one stitch. Therefore, you’ll need to work your last double crochet in the top chain of the turning chain. After finishing a row, I always count the number of stitches–you’ll want the same number of single crochet stitches as you started with on your foundation chain.

Once you’ve mastered the single crochet, you’ll want o learn the half-double crochet and the double crochet. As you’ll see, they’re a lot like the single crochet, just a bit taller.

Are you picking it up pretty well? Feeling good about yourself? Well, you better try your hand at the treble crochet now!

After you’ve got the basic stitches down, you can create some simple accessories for staying warm and stylish! The cowl below was my first real project, which took me about 4-5 hours to complete. If I remember correctly, I used the half double crochet to create a rectangle that was about 11″ wide and 35″ long. Then I sewed the two ends together with the same yarn and a yarn needle. You can also play around with patterns by using different stitches in the same piece. See how fun crocheting can be? Now get out there and make me something pretty. Be sure to check out the rest of Beth Essignton’s crochet tutorials, and let me know if you have any questions. If any of you more seasoned crocheters know of some better resources, do share!