Back to Crochet Basics – Slip knots, chaining and single crochet

Crochet has improved my life so much that I wanted to be able to spread the crochet love as far and wide as I can.  Part of this means introducing new people to the craft.  

March is all about renewal and beginnings so it seems a perfect time to go back to basics and introduce my guide to the basic crochet stitches.

Crochet is essentially built on only a few basic stitches.  Once you have these down, you have the tools to make pretty much anything.  Of course, it will take practice to learn get your tension even and understand where your hook goes with each stitch but that really is as complicated as it gets.  One of the reasons I love crochet is because it really is that accessible and quick to learn!!

You can see an overview of the basic crochet stitches in Dora’s stitch directory, but I’ve also listed them below in both US and UK terms.

Today we are going to focus on the Chain and Single Crochet stitches which are the first stitches you need to learn and practice when starting out with Crochet.

The tutorial below talks you through this process from making the slip knot to learning how to count your stitches and rows.  

Some people are visual learners but others like written instructions so I have added those below the videos which come in both right and left handed options.

In these tutorials I also give suggestions on how to hold your yarn, as well as talking through turning chain options.

One thing that I would like to emphasise right from the start is that there is no one right or wrong way to work.  So long as the yarn is ending up in the right place, it doesn’t really matter how it gets there!  What is important is doing what you do consistently!!

Have a look at these and see what you think.  Please leave a comment or connect with me if you get stuck.  I’d be happy to help you out!

Chain stitch and Single Crochet Tutorial – Right Handed

Chain stitch and Single Crochet Tutorial – Left Handed

Written Instructions:

To Make a Slip Knot:

Make a loop with the yarn.  Turn it over and thread the longer (ball end) piece of yarn up through the loop.

Insert your hook / finger into this second loop and pull both ends of the yarn tight to create the slip knot with a loop over the hook.

To Make a Chain Stitch

With one loop on your hook, yarn over hook (from back to front) and pull the yarn through the one loop on the chain.

Chain stitch made!

To Make a Single Crochet

Insert your hook into the chain (or stitch) you are working into, yarn over hook (from back to front) and pull up a loop (2 loops on hook).

Yarn over hook and pull through 2 loops.

Single crochet made!

If you want a simple single crochet pattern, check out my free “get your pin on” pin banner.  It’s made almost entirely from single crochets!

A lot of my garments are also made just using single crochets and chain stitching.  The Upsidedown Pullover and Indian Summer tank both use something called moss stitch (also known as granite stitch) which is one of my favourite stitch patterns and is made from just single crochet and chains.  I’ll get a tutorial out on it soon as it’s such an awesome versatile and attractive stitch pattern.

Next time we will look at the double and half double crochet stitches which form the other basic building blocks of crochet.

Until then, you can go ahead and look at the other basic crochet stitches in Dora’s stitch directory

Happy Hooking

Dx