Basic Crochet Items and Techniques for Beginners

Crochet is probably one of the cheapest hobbies around that you can easily learn at home. You also don’t need a lot of materials to start practicing, but it can be a great business idea if you want to sell your creations. You can also create home decorations, clothing, and gift items once you know all the techniques.

Here are all the basic materials and techniques you need to get started.

Crochet Materials

Crochet Hook – Beginners are advised to start with an aluminum crochet hook, because they are cheaper and easier to use than wooden and plastic crochet hooks. You can buy a set of different sizes or you can start with the H-8 and I-9 sizes for comfort. Look for the size indicator on the middle of the hook.

Yarn – Choose the cheapest worsted weight yarns made from wool fiber or acrylic that you can find in hobby shops (look for the label number 4 on the yarn). Any brand will do as long as you pick quality material. Artists will also advise beginners to start with a single solid color so it’s easy to distinguish the patterns while practicing.

Yarn or Darning Needles – These look like regular sewing needles, but are bigger to make the yarn fit in the hooks. They come in plastic and metal varieties, so pick one you’re most comfortable with.

Scissors – The scissors made for crocheting should have short and sharp points. Usually, they also come with caps on the tips so you can place them in your crochet kit.

Stitch Markers – These look like small clips that you can attach while stitching. They are helpful in making sure you have the right number of stitches.

Patterns – You might want to start with small and simple patterns made for beginners, which come with chain stitches and single crochet. These are usually sold at craft shops in Singapore.

Crochet Techniques

Before you can begin a major project, you need to master these 6 basic stitches.

Chain Stitch (ch) – Chain stitch is the most basic technique you need to learn, because it is used for beginning any project, in between rows of stitches, and to connect chains.

Slip Stitch (sl) – This stitch is used to join two different crochet elements, such as motifs, color, and form.

Single Crochet (sc) – Once you have mastered the chain stitch, you can use it to create the single crochet patterns. Later these can be modified depending on the loops you want to use.

Half Double Crochet (hdc) – This technique will use single crochet and double crochet stitches plus another step to make it look like it’s halfway between the double and single crochet.

Double Crochet (dc) – This stitch is used to combine with other stitches listed above to create filet, granny square, v-stitch, and others.

Treble Crochet (tr) – The pattern is similar to the double crochet, but it’s much wider. They are used to create circles, triangles, and other shapes.