Hello friends!
Inspired by my friend
who wants to learn how to crochet, I've decided to do a step-by-step
instruction of how to get started. What you are going to learn how to
make is a set of potholders. Potholders are something easy to practice
with so you can get the hang of crocheting. If you really want to make a
blanket, I recommend crocheting at least one pair, as I mentioned, to get the
hang of it. The more you crochet, the looser your stitches may become -
it just is a part of the practice.
Also, I am going to
slightly cheat. I really want to be approachable for beginners, but I'm
bad at describing how to hold a hook and how to hold the yarn, so I've hyperlinked the some
directions for your convenience.
You will need yarn and a crochet hook. Typically for something
like a potholder, you will use a G size hook (or 6-4.25mm). The type of yarn that I
normally use for potholders is Red Heart Yarn, which is your basic, bountiful yarn
found in most yarn carrying shops. For potholders, you don't need a nice
or expensive yarn, especially if this is your first project and you just want
to try your hand at crocheting.
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| Picture A |
First make a slipknot.
Then stick your crochet hook through the loop and tighten it slightly.
You don't want to make it too tight; you want to be able to move the loop
up and down the crochet hook. (Picture A).
Wrap your yarn around
your crochet hook and pull through (Picture B). This first stitch you
have done is what is known as a chain (Picture C). When you find patterns
online or in books, etc., it's usually abbreviated as chain. Chain 26
(Picture D), this is going to be your "base line" from which you will
make everything else.
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| Picture B Picture C Picture D |
Now take your
crochet hook and count back two chains and stick your crochet hook through.
Wrap the yarn around the hook, and pull it through the line. You
should have two loops over your crochet hook (Picture E). Wrap the yarn
around your crochet hook again, and pull it through both loops to make a single
loop on your hook (Picture F). You have just completed your first single
stitch (ss) (Picture G). YAY!!
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| Top Left: Picture E, Top Right: Picture F, Bottom Left: Picture G |
Continue with
your single stitch in a circle until you can fold your potholder over.
Eventually, you will want to flip your potholder inside out so the pretty
lines are on the outside (Picture H). When you fold your potholder over,
the two edges should come together seamlessly, you shouldn't have to stretch it
to fit (Picture I). From here you can either stitch it up, or add an
embellished top to place store them on hooks. I have both listed below.
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| Picture H Picture I |
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| Top to Bottom: Picture J, Picture K Top to Bottom: Picture L, Picture M |
Finishing:
From the top, take
your yarn down the length of the potholder, up halfway and then cut. If
you have made the embellished top, pull the yarn through the last loop.
Put your crochet hooks through the top two single stitches, wrap your
yarn around and pull through. Zig-zag down, until you have successfully
stitched up your potholder. When you get to the bottom, fasten it off by
making a loop, then pulling the stitch through. It's like you are making
a chain or a single stitch, but pulling the yarn all the way through. Now
take your end piece and pull it on the inside of your potholder.
As you can see from
the pictures of the final ones I posted, I use these all the time. They
are very durable and long lasting. I'm fairly sure some of the ones my mom
made are around 25 years old. You can also use more than one color for
fun effects, or for holidays. My orange and brown ones are my
Thanksgiving potholders. They also make great housewarming gifts or
stocking stuffers for parents. Oh, and in case you didn't figure it out,
the pink one I used to show you how to crochet a potholder is much smaller than
the actual one you will be making. So, besides the first few photos the
photos are not to scale. Thanks!
Feel free to ask any
questions.
-Stay creative!
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