Complete Beginner's Guide to Crochet: Everything You Need to Start

What you actually need to start

Ignore everything you see in beginner kits with twenty pieces. To learn the foundational skill, you need three things and nothing else.

Supply	Specification	Why this one
Hook	5.5 mm (US I/9) aluminium	Big enough to see what you're doing; matches worsted-weight yarn
Yarn	1 skein worsted-weight (CYC #4) acrylic, light colour	Affordable, washable, light colour lets you see your stitches
Scissors	Any household scissors	To cut the yarn at the end of your first project

Skip variegated yarn, dark colours, fancy fibres, and ergonomic hooks for now. Variegated yarn hides the stitches. Dark colours hide them in different lighting. Fancy fibres (mohair, wool blends, eyelash yarn) are harder to work with than basic acrylic. Ergonomic hooks are wonderful for long sessions but unnecessary in your first hour. Once you know what you're doing, you can upgrade — but learning is easier with the basics.

Holding the hook and yarn

There are two standard grips for the hook: the knife grip (hook in your palm, like holding a butter knife) and the pencil grip (hook between thumb and index finger, like writing). Both produce identical stitches; the difference is purely ergonomic. Most beginners find the pencil grip more intuitive at first. If your wrist starts to ache, try the knife grip — it transfers more of the work to your forearm.

The yarn hand (the hand not holding the hook) controls tension. Wrap the working yarn over your index finger from front to back, then under your middle and ring fingers, and into your pinky. Your pinky is the tension regulator — squeeze tighter for firmer fabric, looser for drape. Don't overthink this; whatever feels stable is fine. You'll refine the grip over hundreds of stitches without consciously trying.

Your first stitches: chain and single crochet

Every crochet project begins with a slip knot, then a chain. The slip knot is the loop that goes on the hook to anchor everything else.

The slip knot

Hold the yarn in your left hand. Make a loop by crossing the working end over the tail end. Reach through the loop with the hook, catch the working yarn, pull it through the loop, and tighten gently. You should have a single loop on the hook that slides if you pull either end. That's your slip knot. It doesn't count as a stitch.

The chain stitch (ch)

With the slip knot on the hook: wrap the yarn over the hook from back to front (this is called a yarn over or yo), then pull that yarn through the loop already on the hook. You just made one chain stitch. Repeat 19 more times. You now have a chain of 20 stitches. Lay it flat — it should look like a series of connected V shapes.

The loop currently on the hook is your working loop. It is never counted as a stitch. To count your chain, count the V's between the slip knot and the working loop.

The single crochet (sc)

Now you'll work back across the chain. Insert the hook into the second chain from the hook (skip the one closest to the hook — that one becomes the turning chain). Yarn over, pull up a loop (you now have two loops on the hook). Yarn over again, pull through both loops (you're back to one loop on the hook). That's one single crochet. Continue all the way across — you'll have 19 single crochet stitches at the end of the row.

Single crochet is the shortest, tightest basic stitch. It produces dense fabric ideal for stuffed toys (amigurumi), dishcloths, and the body of structured items. Once you've worked one full row, chain 1 (this is your turning chain; it doesn't count as a stitch), turn the work over, and single crochet across the new row.

Your first project — the beginner dishcloth

A 9×9 inch dishcloth is the ideal first project: small enough to finish in 1-2 hours, useful enough to actually keep, and the perfect size to make every common beginner mistake at least once.

1. Chain 28. This produces a dishcloth about 9 inches wide in worsted weight on a 5.5 mm hook.
2. Row 1: Single crochet in the second chain from the hook, and in every chain across (27 sc).
3. Rows 2-30: Chain 1, turn. Single crochet in each stitch across (27 sc). Repeat until the dishcloth is approximately square (about 9 inches tall).
4. Fasten off. Cut the yarn leaving a 6-inch tail. Yarn over and pull the tail all the way through the loop on the hook. Use a yarn needle (or your fingers) to weave the tail into the fabric.

If your stitch count drifts (you end up with 26 or 28 stitches instead of 27 on row 5 or row 12), see the next section. This is by far the most common beginner issue and there are three usual causes.

Beginner mistakes everyone makes

Every crocheter has made these. Don't be discouraged — be aware.

• Counting the slip knot as a stitch. It isn't. When you count your chain, skip the slip knot. When you count your row, skip the loop currently on the hook.
• Skipping the last stitch of a row. The last stitch of a single-crochet row is worked into the top of the previous row's stitch — easy to miss because the turning chain at the start of the new row sits right next to it.
• Working into the wrong loop. Each stitch has two loops at the top, forming the V. Standard practice is to insert the hook under both loops. Inserting under just the back loop produces ribbing, which looks different.
• Splitting the yarn. When the hook goes through the yarn ply instead of through the gap, your stitch is unstable. Slow down and watch where the hook tip goes.
• Tension changes through the project. Most beginners tighten up after a few rows. Try to maintain the same yarn-hand grip throughout — it gets easier with practice.

Where to go next

Once your dishcloth is done, you have the foundational skill. Three natural next steps:

1. Learn double crochet — the taller cousin of single crochet, faster to work and great for blankets. The technique adds one extra yarn-over at the start. See our advanced stitches guide.
2. Make a scarf — same single crochet, just keep going for longer (you'll need about 80 stitches wide for an adult scarf, and about 250 yards of yarn).
3. Learn to read patterns — patterns use shorthand like "ch 28, sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc across (27 sc)" that looks like code at first. Our abbreviations reference decodes it.

From there, the craft opens up: amigurumi, granny squares, sweaters, lace, colourwork. Every single one of those uses the same basic technique you just learned, with variations. Welcome to crochet.

Sources & further reading

• Craft Yarn Council — Standard Yarn Weight System
• Crochet Guild of America (CGOA) — professional standards
• Edie Eckman, The Crochet Answer Book (Storey Publishing) — technique reference
• Clara Parkes, The Knitter's Book of Yarn (Potter Craft) — fibre properties

YouTube — slip knot and chain stitch video tutorials