I want to learn to crochet

[Crusoe]

I want to learn to crochet but don't know where to start and what to buy. Can anyone recommend a very basic book that will get me started? Thanks

Sorry I can't help as I've just came on to basically ask the same thing so I'll lurk if that's ok?!

I decided yesterday that as I've got no hobbies I'll have a go at crochet so df ordered me some hooks (get delivered tomorrow) and I've bought two balls of wool for my Mother's Day present. I've no idea what I'll get out of two balls of wool but I think a granny square is my first project.

I've watched a couple of YouTube videos for beginners and I'm worried it looks hard the thing is, even though they say the tutorial is for beginners the seemed to crochet quite quickly and I forget what the stitches etc are. Oh god it's going to be a disaster!

Attic 24 is a great crochet blog.

I learnt from youtube. I started off with granny squares, as I thought they were the easiest to get my head around.
I followed a video by Mickey from The Crochet Crowd (video called granny squares tutorial I believe) and paused it etc as I went along.
I also joined crochet groups on facebook to ask for help when I needed it. Good luck!!

I agree with pp, get yourself a size 4 hook, a couple of balls of cheap dk acrylic and sit in front of YouTube. Don't expect to get it straight away but it doesn't take long to pick it up. I started in October and have made a huge blanket, several scarves and cowls, some bunting and various other bits. Warning, it's very addictive.

it's a great hobby, very easy to pick up and put down

granny square are a great place to start, work on holding your yarn nicely, once you have that tension right it all flows a lot better.

one thing to watch for is American vs UK sites... stitches are the same but named differently, which can be hugely confusing

Attic 24 is really super for tutorials, very very clear photos...I have a crappy laptop so rarely watch youtube

Do try and have a goal in mind though, I taught myself to crochet as a child, but only recently came back to it seriously to make things, made odds and ends for the children when they were small, mostly novelty hats but now I am making ALL the blankets! And loving it!

Good luck with your new hobby. I only learnt a few years ago. You tube have good videos especially the crochet crowd with Mikey. Once you get the basics there's no stopping you. I love making blankets. If you have Facebook look into Loobys Loops she's really good too

I bought the magazine "Let's Get Crafting: Knit & Crochet" from tesco, as it came with wool and hooks and needles, as well as good stitch illustrations.

I love crochet. I taught myself just over a year ago. My favourite type is amigurumi. House is now full of little creatures, brooches, bags. It seems hard and awkward at first, but persevere and it soon becomes easier. I love how much easier it is to correct if you make a mistake. No dropped stitches unlike knitting

Crochet is great because you can redo and redo and redo again and nothing gets wasted

Ebay is fantastic For things like hooks, I have aluminium sets which were less than £3

I started crocheting about 18 months ago and I'm properly addicted! Agree with others recommending YouTube and a lot of patience and perseverance. Just keep using different tutorials until it clicks, which it will. I really wouldn't worry about books for now, the internet is a fantastic resource - sign up to Ravelry and peruse Pinterest for inspiration.

I learnt from a booklet called Crochet Unravelled. I followed all the sections up to treble crochet at which point I stopped and made a giant granny square blanket (when I say giant, it's only about 2ft square!). I found this was really good for getting a rhythm going as it was just doing the same thing over and over again.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I am really inspired to give it a go!

I feel your pain miaow but the other way round. I'm a leftie so trying to learn from right handed people, pictures and videos is a challenge. Fortunately I've been able to find cack-handed tutorials and videos but they're not as prolific as right handed ones.

Have you tried watching right handed videos in a mirror?

I tried on and off for years, but I've only recently got the hang of crocheting and I think it was this pattern that did the trick - Moogly's Simple Infinity Scarf

My problems were with the tension and holding the wool correctly so this pattern was so repetitive that it just helped me practice until it clicked into place while actually making something that I liked. Once I got the hang of that I found doing the other stitches much easier and I can actually read and follow patterns now most of the time anyway

Oh, I also bought myself some comfy hooks from amazon - they were only £7 when I got them so they've gone up a bit in price but they're these ones crochet hooks

I started with you tube tutorials and I found some were better than others. I just kept pausing the videos and rewinding if they went too fast. My first thing I made was a granny square, it got bigger and bigger until it turned into a blanket. It is very addictive. I started 2 years ago and so far I've made 2 blankets, 4 animal beanie hats, 2 hats for myself, 1 for ds, a scarf, fingerless mitts 2 crocodile stitch shawls and I want to try amigurumi next.

I love it

Just bought my first issue of let's get crafting knit and crochet and it's fab with all the wool and needles and patterns. There is so much choice of what to make. I'm attempting my first amigurumi. Yay!