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Hi and welcome to the Learn to Crochet series part 1. This is going to be all
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about the single crochet. This video is entirely in US terms so if you want the
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UK terms please click on the link on the screen or in the description below. In
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this video I'll show you everything you need to know including how to finish it
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off at the end. So you're going to need some yarn and a crochet hook. Don't worry
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what sort of crochet hook you've got. If you've got access to one have a go with that one but if you're going to buy some I recommend the ergonomic ones with the
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nice handles. It makes crocheting so much more pleasurable especially if you're going to sit there for hours and of course you'll need some scissors. If
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you do decide to buy ergonomic crochet hooks you can just get a set of them
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very cheaply on Amazon like I've bought here and then you've got various
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different sizes and you can tackle lots of different projects but as I say if you've got access to a hook don't rush out use the one you've got have a go and
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make sure it's for you first. So let's get started. You're just going to need
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your hook and your yarn and we need to make a slip knot and that's the very
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start in fact it's the start of any knitting or crocheting. So make a loop
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around your fingers and then from the long end of your yarn from the ball make
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a little loop and poke it through the large loop and then pull it through and
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then take the short end and pull that so the very end of your yarn you're pulling
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and you ended up with that nice loop and put it onto your hook and there you go
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and now you've got your loop that you're starting with. Make sure your length that
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you've got off there is at least a few inches long because you're going to need it to weave in at the end which I will show you I promise. So now you need to
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take hold of your yarn. Now there are lots of different ways you can wrap it
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around your fingers and I am no expert I'm just going to show you how I do it
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I wrap it purely around that first finger and I know a lot of people use
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their small finger and keep that one free but that's how I do it. So
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long as your yarn is taut that's all that matters and then you're going to
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hook and through the loop. So put your hook through that yarn, hook it on and
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pull it through the loop that's on the hook and this is forming a chain which
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is how you start your crocheting with a whole row of chain. So you need to keep
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that yarn so there's some tension in it and then you twist the hook so that it
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catches onto that yarn and then pulls it through the loop that you've got on the
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hook and you'll see I'm developing a rhythm and once you're able to do this
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you'll just keep going and I keep moving my fingers up the chain so that it's
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nice and easy to hold and then if you stop and have a look you should have a
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nice chain like that and they should all be a very similar size and if they're
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not pull it back and have another go. When you look on the back you're going
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to have all those ridges so the front is covered in V's and the back is
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covered in ridges so you can tell which is the front and the back of your chain
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then it's time to start the exciting bit of your single crochet and what we'll do
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is work our way back down that chain. So the little chain that the actual loop
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through that's on your hook we don't use that one we're going to go straight to
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the next one and you're going to push the hook through and then hook your
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yarn again like you were doing before and pull it through that one loop that's
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on your hook and now you'll still have two on there hook it again and pull it
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through both loops this time so let's do it again go through the next chain stitch
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hook the yarn pull it through one loop hook it again pull it through both
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loops through the next stitch hook the yarn pull it through one loop hook it
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pull it through both stitches through the next stitch hook the yarn pull it
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through one loop hook it pull it through them both and you'll see you're forming
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that first row of single crochet and you just keep going all the way to the
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start now how many stitches you're doing depends on what you're crocheting if
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you're just doing a sample like me and having to go 10 is not a bad number but
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it's absolutely unimportant and if you find in this a bit of a struggle don't
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be put off the first row into that row of chain stitch is the absolute hardest
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you will ever do it gets easier and easier and easier it's always a little
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bit tricky going into your chain especially if you've got your chain a little bit tight so if you want to just put it all back and go again and make
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your chain a little bit bigger I've left this here so you can sit and work
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alongside me and you can keep seeing that stitch over and over that single
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crochet because I'm going to work all the way along back to where I started a
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little tip when you first start is to count your stitches so if you know
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you've got 10 on there count those 10 as you work your way along because then you
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won't start finding it's getting shorter or longer and you don't really know why
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it'll make sure you work in every stitch so when we get back to the beginning
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we've produced a nice little row like that and it's looking good and then we
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need to turn and go back the other way so you simply turn the work and then do
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one chain stitch just to give you the height to then start your single crochet
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so look for that first stitch push your hook through the stitch hook the yarn
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and pull it back through hook the yarn again take it through both loops so when
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I say go through the stitch you're going under those two loops along the top
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you'll see that there are two loops and you're going under them both and then
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hook the yarn through hook it again pull it through both loops so you're doing
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exactly the same stitch as you were going the other way the only difference
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is that instead of struggling with those chain stitches at the start you're
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now going straight through that stitch under both of those loops on the top of
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that last stitch and it's a lot easier and you'll find hopefully you're
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starting to get into a rhythm and working your way along so if you're
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enjoying this video and finding it helpful please do give me a thumbs up
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below so it spreads to more people and this is part one of a series so if this
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is the only one on YouTube so far bear with me the rest are coming but I am
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building up a library of all the basics for crochet so you should be able to
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develop your skills and start making some items so I've got all the way back
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to the beginning and you can see it's the same length on each row you would
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turn and then go back the other way in exactly the same way so you do one chain
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and then do a row of single crochet and just keep going but what I'm going to do
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is say okay I'm done I've had enough I'm going to finish off here so that I can
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show you how you finish off make sure you leave plenty of yarn for your
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weaving in so a few inches pull your hook so that it opens the loop up a
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little bit feed that free end of yarn through that loop and then pull the loop
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tight and that's a little knot that will just hold it you don't want anything
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coming undone now here's a sample piece I've made that's a little bit bigger so
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you can see how it builds up with that single crochet it's actually a really
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tight stitch that gives you a really solid piece of work you can see it's the
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same width all the way and I've got a nice tidy end and it's complete so what
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we'll do now is finish off completely because obviously we don't want those threads hanging off it forever and we will weave the ends in so all you're
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going to need is a needle that your yarn will fit through the eye of I'm going to
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use a metal needle because I have one and I prefer it used to call them bodkins
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I don't know if they still do but you'll find lots of people now have these plastic ones very very cheap to buy and they work perfectly well so if you've
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got one of those or you've got one in a kit use that so take your yarn and
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thread it through the eye of your needle when you look at your single crochet you
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will see at the bottom of each row stitching there are lots of little loops
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so I'm just going to go down through the crochet in to those loops it's just a
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bit tidier than running the thread where it's visible and then we're going
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to go through those pairs of loops so at the bottom of each stitch there are two
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loops and you're going through it and then you're going to go through the next
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two and then the next two and then the next two and I recommend going along
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four stitches so it's like through eight little loops there are no hard and fast
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you do what you want but I find that works for me and then just pull the work
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so that you haven't pulled the thread too tight you don't want to know it's there afterwards and then you're going to go back the other way but you're
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going to go over a loop first so it doesn't just unravel and come back and
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like you haven't achieved anything so make sure you go over one loop and then
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back under all the others back to the edge of your work and then when you pull
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that out it's nice and secure so then just pull your work so it's not too
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tight we don't want it drawn up at all and then cut the end and do the same
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with the other one so now you're off and running and ready to work so please do
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move on follow on with this series develop your crocheting and practice
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thank you for watching and enjoy crocheting
