New to crochet.. please help me not give up!

[BabloHoney]

I’ve wanted to learn crochet for absolutely ages, not hugely crafty though I can sew. I’ve watched some of the YouTube videos of the basic stitches over and over so I can “get” how they work if that makes sense.. that always works better for me learning something new then just trying to watch and copy. I can chain stitch ok but with everything else I end up in a knotty mess.. my yarn always seems to split and I get my hook in the wrong place and tangled up. Not sure if I need a bigger hook, better quality wool (it’s just cheapy craft shop wool) or if it’s all just a bit too fiddly for me?! In my head I understand how to do the stitches, I just don’t seem to be able to do them in practice.

Having flashbacks to 30 odd years ago and my dear old grandma offering to teach me to crochet, and me saying no chance and running off to play Thundercats. Maybe this is payback

Don't give up op! I taught myself just over 10 years ago now. I used a combination of a book from the library and discovering attic24s blog.

Use a dk yarn, Stylecraft is good and cheap, and a 4.5mm or 5mm hook and just keep trying. I used to do chains and chains of just chain stitch and undo it all (frog it) and redo it all. I then tried out other stitches by doing a granny square.

Good luck, and enjoy!

@Hazelmazel

Fool I just read your comment and thought, AHA that must be the secret! But then I read the next one 😆 I do go clockwise but I think it still ends up being inside out, I must hold it weirdly. To be honest, how to hold it is a big blind spot, I think because I'm so used to knitting and I try to crochet like I knit which just doesn't work!

Have the work hanging down below the hook and you crochet to the left. I sometimes prefer the wrong side with the texture, but the right side is important when doing ears and other details. As for counting, some patterns are written so appallingly I really have to concentrate and sort of interpret what they mean. Stitch markers are a must. I often rewrite the pattern and suddenly an instruction I'd missed suddenly appears! I think I get number blind after a while.

Good to see you're still enthusiastic!!

Have a think about your lighting if you're going to try learning at night. It's much easier if you can actually see what you're doing! 🤓

I absolutely love crochet! Read Stitch n Bitch: The Happy Hooker! It's a fabulous book, it really helped my analyse my stitches and where the hook is supposed to go etc.

I took to crochet like a duck to water but somehow I've never been able to get to grips with knitting!

The hardest thing for was getting the foundation row - I could NOT get that. I had to get someone to show me where to put the hook.

Suggest you start a granny square. Chain 4 and join up. Then you can do the stitches into the centre and focus on the stitch. This really helps to understand the structure of the stitch which will help when you go back to doing a foundation row.

I was trying to work out what I do last night. I think I start off going anti-clockwise until I have the first two or 3 rounds, then I flip it over and have it hanging under the hook.

One of the things I found hard was knowing which is the first stitch, I used to go into part of the one that is on the hook thinking it was the first stitch.

Can I jump in here and ask a question? I'm trying to teach myself - I did a half day course to get the basics but of course I didn't keep going so it's all a bit vague now. But like some of you, I'm left-handed. I have knitted in the past and just done that right-handed because it seemed easier. But for crochet I'm in two minds.

So if you're a left-handed crocheter, do you hold the hook in your left hand? And how does that work when you try to follow a pattern? Do you need to change anything or can you just follow instructions? This feels like a really obvious question but I can't work it out!