DIY Crochet Tutorial

Crochet, pronounced as krowshey, is a technique of creating a piece of fabric using yarn and a crochet hook. The word crochet is derived from a French word which means a hook. If you know knitting, then learning crocheting will be easier as it is similar to knitting; the only difference between the two is that in a crochet only one loop is active at a time.

Afghans Stitch
Special hooks are used for making afghans, so that there is more space for the large number of stitches. For Afghan or Tunis crochet, you need to keep the right side of the work always facing you, and work on a base chain, and then make rows by looping the yarn first from right to left and the second half left to right. By learning these easy crochet patterns you can make scarves, blankets, and other easy patterns.

Scarves
For this pattern you need to first practice making a basic chain and learn single crochet stitches. To learn how to crotchet a scarf, use bulky yarn and J size or larger crochet hook. For making the scarf, first make a slip knot and base chain which is around 14 stitches to get the length of the scarf. Then make another extra stitch and turn, then insert the crotchet hook in the second chain, and make another single crotchet stitch. This way make a row by turning the stitch and keep making these, till you are satisfied with the size of the scarf.

Baby Blankets
Select soft yarns that feel nice to your skin, like cotton yarns, for making a baby blanket. Then using a similar stitch pattern like the above mentioned scarf pattern, you can make the baby blanket. However, when learning how to crotchet a baby blanket the size of the blanket will be bigger than scarf, so instead of making around 14 inches for length make 36 inches for length and then work it to form rows to complete the blanket.

Hats
To crotchet a hat, select a yarn of your choice. To make the hat interesting you can use 2 or more colored yarns. Again the above similar stitch can be used for making a crochet hat. The only difference is that you have to work in a circular pattern. So start crocheting in a round, till it is as large as the top of your head, keep working in the round stitches and increase the number of stitches slowly till the hat is large enough, and reaches your ears.

There are many illustrated tutorials and videos online, following which you can learn the basic stitches and the above patterns. So learn 1-2 simple stitches and then make any of the above mentioned pattern to create your very first crochet knit fabric.