Table Of Content

W Crochet E N Learn to read crochet patterns Master essential techniques Perfect the basic stitches Great starter projects 45 techniques inside Everything you need to know to get started with crochet Welcome to Crochet Crochet as a hobby has boomed in recent years, with the art being passed down to younger generations. Making your own garments, gifts and decorations has become all the rage. In Crochet for Beginners, we will show you all the different techniques, stitches and starter projects you need to get started with Crochet, from foundation chains to your first single crochet, from adding embellishments to making your first unique project. Crochet isn’t all about hats and scarves either. In the starter project section you will find easy-to-follow patterns on how to make your own vintage bunting, fetching bag and pretty triangular shawl. So what are you waiting for? Grab your hooks, yarn and buttons and get started with your long-awaited Crochet projects today! Enjoy the book! Crochet Imagine Publishing Ltd Richmond House 33 Richmond Hill Bournemouth Dorset BH2 6EZ (cid:8) +44 (0) 1202 586200 Website: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk Twitter: @Books_Imagine Facebook: www.facebook.com/ImagineBookazines Publishing Director Aaron Asadi Head of Design Ross Andrews Production Editor Fiona Hudson Senior Art Editor Greg Whitaker Senior Designer Sarah Bellman Written by June Gilbank Printed by William Gibbons, 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XT Distributed in the UK, Eire & the Rest of the World by: Marketforce, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HU Tel 0203 787 9060 www.marketforce.co.uk Distributed in Australia by: Gordon & Gotch Australia Pty Ltd, 26 Rodborough Road, Frenchs Forest, NSW, 2086 Australia Tel +61 2 9972 8800 www.gordongotch.com.au Disclaimer The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of Imagine Publishing Ltd. 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The content in this book appeared previously in The Idiot’s Guide to Crochet, published by Alpha Books, a division of Dorling Kindersley Limited Crochet for Beginners Second Edition © 2016 Imagine Publishing Ltd ISBN 978 1785 463 228 Contents Getting started 10 Choosing your yarn 32 M aking a foundation chain 12 All about crochet hooks 34 W orking into the foundation chain 14 The tools you need 36 W orking into subsequent rows 16 Holding your yarn and hook 38 Single crochet 18 Crochet for left-handers 40 Double crochet 20 Identifying and counting stitches 42 Half double crochet 22 Gauge (tension) 44 Triple (treble) crochet 24 How to read a pattern 46 Turning chains 26 Abbreviations 48 Slip stitch 28 Making a slipknot 50 Fixing mistakes 30 Making a yarn over 52 Basic edging 31 Drawing up a loop 54 Weaving in ends 40 62 116 6 Crochet for Beginners The next step 124 Flowers 126 F ringe 124 58 Joining new yarn 128 Reverse single crochet 130 P icot edging 62 Changing colors 132 Intermediate stitch gallery 66 Reading charted stitch diagrams Starter projects 68 Increasing 70 Decreasing 140 Three simple washcloths 72 Chain start 144 C ircular coasters 74 Magic ring 146 T riangle bunting 76 Working in the round 148 P retty headband 80 Standard increases 150 Puff stitch scarf 82 Invisible inish 152 F lecked scarf 84 Blocking 154 C ozy cowl 88 Joining 156 H andy baskets 92 Easy stitch patterns 158 Placemat and coaster set 160 Rolling waves blanket Going further 162 Solid stripes bag 166 Double diagonal shawl 98 Shells, Fans and V stitches 168 Front-and-back hat 100 C rossed Stitches 172 F ront-and-back ingerless 140 102 Post stitches mitts 104 S pike stitches Reference 106 C hainless Foundations 108 L inked stitches 174 Crochet glossary 110 C luster stitches 176 Q uick reference 112 P uff stitches 114 Popcorn stitches 116 All about motifs 118 Solid squares 120 Circle in a square 144 150 122 G ranny squares 123 Granny triangles Crochet for Beginners 7 Getting started Get to grips with the basics of crochet 10 Choosing your yarn 34 Working into the foundation chain 12 All about crochet hooks 36 W orking into 14 The tools you need subsequent rows 16 Holding your yarn and hook 38 Single crochet 18 Crochet for left-handers 40 Double crochet 20 Identifying and counting 42 Half double crochet stitches 44 Triple (treble) crochet 22 Gauge (tension) 46 Turning chains 24 How to read a pattern 48 Slip stitch 26 Abbreviations 28 Making a slipknot 50 Fixing mistakes 30 Making a yarn over 52 Basic edging 31 Drawing up a loop 54 Weaving in ends 32 Making a foundation chain Top Tip For thread crochet, ine steel hooks are available in a range of very small sizes, numbered from US 00 to 14 (from 3.5 to 0.75mm). 8 Crochet for Beginners Crochet for Beginners 9 Getting started Choosing your yarn One of the many nice things about crochet is the wide variety of yarns you can work with. With so many choices, however, it can get overwhelming sometimes! S o which yarn should you use, especially when and washcloths. Mercerized cotton has been processed to you’re new to crochet? A smooth yarn that feels make it strong, smooth, and shiny, but it is also less absorbent. good in your hands is the best choice when you’re Wool is light and stretchy and makes warm winter clothes. just starting. Choose a plain, soft yarn in a color you Check the care instructions carefully; most wool shrinks when love, but avoid very dark colors at first. Your stitches will show washed. Superwash wool has been treated so it can be more clearly with lighter-colored yarn. Novelty yarns with machine washed without the fibers felting, or binding together. loops, bobbles, fluff, or glitter might be tempting right now, Acrylic is inexpensive and easy to care for, but it can’t tolerate but they’re more difficult to work with. Because the texture heat. It’s often available in a wide range of colors that make it obscures your stitches, wait until you have a thorough grasp of particularly suitable for blankets and toys. the basics of crochet before you attempt to work with one of Yarn can also be produced from a blend of fibers, which these yarns. combines the properties of each. For example, acrylic can Whatever yarn you choose, it will likely come wound in be added to cotton to give it some stretch or to wool to make a skein, ball, or hank, most often with a paper ball band it washable. surrounding it. The ball band contains useful information about How Much Yarn Do You Need? the yarn, including its weight, fiber composition, yardage, care instructions, and more. When crocheting from a pattern, you need to know how much yarn to buy. Each pattern tells you approximately how Yarn Weights much length (yardage) of which weight of yarn is required to The weight of a yarn refers to its thickness, not the weight of a complete the project, so look for a yarn that’s the same weight, ball or skein. Yarn varies in thickness, from very thin lace weight and check the ball band for the yardage. Calculate how many that you can crochet gossamer-fine shawls with, through balls of yarn you need by dividing the yardage specified in the to super bulky, more suited for thick blankets and oversized pattern by the yardage of one ball and rounding up to the chunky scarves, and every thickness in between. Lighter nearest whole number. yarns need smaller hooks and take more stitches and rows to Yarn is dyed in batches, all of which have slight color produce the same sized piece of crocheted fabric you’d get variances from other batches. To be sure all the yarn you buy is with a heavier yarn paired with a larger hook. exactly the same shade, check each ball band to ensure every When you’re just beginning to learn to crochet, a ball comes from the same numbered dye lot. medium-weight yarn is a good choice. Perfect for a wide range of projects, it’s thick enough that you can easily see You can crochet using the yarn tail found on your stitches. Look for a worsted weight yarn. Depending the outside of the skein or fish out the tail on the manufacturer, it could also be called medium, #4, aran, from the middle of the skein (a center-pull or 10-ply. skein). Some higher-end yarn is packaged in Yarn Fibers a hank – a large loop of yarn twisted into a Yarn can be made from plant fibers (such as cotton, linen, coil. To avoid tangles when you crochet with and bamboo), animal fibers (such as wool, alpaca, mohair, and a hank, undo the twisted coil and hand-wind angora), and man-made fibers (such as acrylic, nylon, the yarn into a ball, or use a yarn winder to and microfiber). Cotton is strong, inelastic, and absorbent, which makes it a wind it into a center-pull skein. good choice for kitchen and bathroom items such as dishcloths 10 Crochet for Beginners