Authors: Gunsan Svenson
If you have never tried crocheting before, you should try it now. You will be surprised to find out how much beneficial this activity can be for you. Its benefits actually go far beyond what you can imagine. In fact, many doctors advise their patients to engage in crocheting. Believe it or not, crocheting can help ease many symptoms of ailments.
When you crochet, you reduce your risk of depression. Depression is a serious mental health disorder that can be debilitating. If you do not do something about it, you may have difficulty leading a normal life. Through crocheting, you can help ease its symptoms. It can help you break negative thought patterns, reduce stress, release serotonin, and develop self-esteem. When you keep yourself happy and relaxed, you can prevent depression.
Crocheting is also helpful in reducing physical pain. Rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and multiple sclerosis are only some of the chronic pain conditions that you may have. Through crocheting, you can have a positive distraction that takes your mind off the pain that you feel. It also helps release serotonin, which is the natural painkiller in your body. It can even help keep your hands limber in order to reduce the pain caused by arthritis and other similar conditions.
If you are insomnia, crocheting may help you sleep better at night. Likewise, crocheting may help you manage your restless leg syndrome. Oftentimes, anxiety causes you to have difficulty sleeping. If you are anxious all the time, you will not be able to get sufficient rest and sleep. You can start crocheting to keep you busy at night and allow your brain to relax. Crochet patterns with repetitive motions can have a soothing effect on your mind and body. Crocheting can be a form of meditation that can help you sleep.
You have just read that anxiety can cause you to lose valuable sleep. What’s more, anxiety can lead to more serious health conditions. Anxiety is, in fact, a by-product of constant worrying. Through crocheting, you can effectively reduce your anxiety levels. This activity is beneficial for different types of anxiety disorders, such as social anxiety, generalized anxiety and panic attacks.
Whenever you find yourself stressing about people or situations, you can start to crochet. If you often get anxious while waiting for test results or other news, crocheting can help relax your mind so you can focus on the important details. Complicated crochet patterns are highly recommended to quiet your restless mind. What’s more, research has shown that crocheting is an effective way for coping with pregnancy-related anxiety.
When you have an illness, you can also feel grief. For instance, having an illness that diminishes your functionality can make you feel sad for losing a once productive life. Through crocheting, you can be more productive, creative, and useful, even when you feel that you are losing functionality in certain aspects of your life. Crocheting can also help boost your mood levels, so you can cope with grief more easily. If you do not learn how to overcome it, grief may paralyze you.
In addition, crocheting can unleash your creativity and other hidden talents. Through this activity, you can explore different aspects, such as techniques, colors, shapes, textures, designs, stitch patterns, finishing details and project types. Some people do not even get to finish their crochet projects because they are more interested in the process rather than the outcome.
Likewise, some people start crocheting because of the new knowledge and skill that they will acquire. For them, knowledge is as important as the finished project. Some enthusiasts also aim to pass on their knowledge to other people, as well as inspire them to start crocheting and making crochet projects.
If you have any physical limitations, crocheting can help you overcome them as well. It can challenge your hand-eye coordination in a productive, therapeutic, and manageable way. For those who are blind, crocheting is a great way to develop their other senses further, particularly the sense of touch.
Moreover, crocheting can foster friendship, community, charity and companionship. You can crochet with a group of people who also like the activity. For some people, crocheting is another way to give to charities, organizations and communities that may find their crochet projects useful.
Before you begin to crochet, make sure that you are in a comfortable environment. You need to have good lighting and a nice, comfortable chair to sit in. As with any skills, crocheting requires a great deal of perseverance and patience. You have to follow directions and be patient until you arrive at the finished product. Then again, crocheting should be fun and relaxing, so avoid putting unnecessary pressure on yourself and beating yourself up in case you are not able to do what you expect to do. In case you get stuck, just take a deep breath, relax and keep going.
Keep in mind that crocheting is a method of making fabric from thread or yarn with the use of a ball of yarn and a hook. You have to hold the hook using your right hand. If you are left-handed, you can choose to learn how to hold the hook using your right hand or hold it with your left hand. In general, there are two basic
holds
: holding the hook like a knife and holding the hook like a pencil.
When you use the first hold, put your right hand over the hook and hold it between your index finger and thumb. Use your left hand to control the yarn and hold your stitches as you create them. When you use the second hold, treat the hook as you would a pencil. Grasp it between your index finger and your thumb. You can use either of these holds, whichever you are more comfortable with.
To maintain a bit of tension in the yarn, you can wrap it around the fingers of your other hand. Having some tension in the yarn is good because it helps you make stitches more easily. Your left hand is mostly used for holding the fabric and at the same time controlling the tension in the yarn. The middle finger of your left hand is mostly used for manipulating the yarn while your thumb and index finger is mostly used in holding the fabric.
Some people say that it is easier to control the yarn using their index finger. Likewise, they say that it is easier to hold the fabric using their middle finger and thumb. If you feel uncomfortable when you crochet, you can try to switch hands or try other ways until you find something that suits your preferences and comfort level.
Beginning to Crochet
To start crocheting, you have to make a loop, particularly a slip knot, on the hook. Then, pull the strand of yarn from the center of the ball and make a five- or six-inch loop from the tail. You can do this by putting the end part of the ball of yarn in front of it and allowing the rest of the yarn to fall behind the loop that you created. Insert the hook into the loop and pick up the yarn using this hook. Then, pull it through the front part of the loop and pull the end part gently in order to tighten the loop. Make sure to tighten the loop around the hook. Take note that the slip knot is not considered as a stitch when it comes to crocheting.
In order to make a chain stitch (ch), you should hold the hook with your right hand. Create a loop using the yarn by passing it over your index finger. Wrap it around the hook’s shaft and use the hook to draw it through the hook’s loop. You should be able to create a chain. Continue doing the process until you have created as many chains as you need. These chains are your foundation chain, which you have to use to build your crocheted fabric off.
The number of chains you need depends on the pattern that you are following. Aside from the slip knot, you should not regard the loop on your hook as a chain stitch. You can also use the chain stitch to produce loops and spaces in the fabric.
Keep in mind that every crochet stitch has two loops over the stitch. You have to insert the hook under the loops of the stitch from the row before it. If you wish to create a decorative effect, you can use a pattern to indicate work in either the back loop or front loop of the stitch.
Turning Chains
The stitches involved in crochet have various heights. Start at the base of the row when you start making a row of stitches. In order for you to reach the height of the stitches you are working on, you have to begin with a chain that has the same height as the stitches on the row that you are working. Such chain is referred to as the
turning chain
. You can work on it before or after you turn your work. With a single crochet, you have to use one chain. With a half-double crochet, you have to use two chains. With a double crochet, you have to use three chains. With a triple crochet, you have to use four chains.
More often than not, the turning chain at the start of the row takes the place of the first stitch; thus, after you work the turning chain, there is no more need for you to work about stitch in the first stitch. Once you reach the end of the row, you have to treat the turning chain as a stitch and work on it. However, remember that things are different when it comes to a single crochet. When you work on the turning chain at the start of the row of the single crochet, you should not count that as a stitch. Once you work your turning chain, you also have to work a single crochet in the stitch beneath your turning chain. You must not work on your turning chain on the return row.
Once you reach the end of the row, you have to turn your crochet work. To do this, just rotate the piece clockwise. Do this halfway around in order for the last stitch to become the first stitch in the row.
Single Crochet Stitches (sc)
If you are a beginner, you will find the single crochet to be the most basic of all the stitches. In fact, all other stitches are merely variations of the single crochet. Create a foundation chain with one chain more than the number of single crochet stitches that you need. Just insert the hook from the front to the back at the center of the second chain from the hook then wrap the yarn from the back to the front, and around the hook. This is what you call the
yarn over
(yo). You have to draw your yarn through your chain, with two loops on one hook. To yarn over, you have to draw two loops on the hook. Doing this completes a single crochet.
Insert the hook at the center of the succeeding chain. Then, yarn over and draw the yarn through the stitch. Do another yarn over, draw the yarn through two loops on the hook and repeat across to the end of the foundation chain. To start the next row, simply turn your crochet work. You have to chain one for your turning chain. Remember that this stitch is not counted. Insert the hook from the front to the back beneath the top two loops of your first single crochet. Yarn over and draw the yarn through the stitch. Do another yarn over and draw the yarn through two loops on the hook. This completes your first single crochet. Keep repeating these steps for every single crochet that you see.
Half Double Crochet Stitches (hdc)
The height of the half-double crochet is practically halfway between that of a double crochet and a single crochet. You should create a foundation chain that is one chain more than the amount of half double crochet stitches that you need. Skip the first two chain stitches, yarn over the hook once and insert the hook from the front to the back at the center of the third chain from your hook. Then, yarn over and draw your yarn through the chain, with three loops on the hook.
Do another yarn over and draw three loops on the hook, with a half double crochet. Then, yarn over and insert the hook in the center of the next chain. Do another yarn over and draw the yarn through the stitch. Then, yarn over once more and draw the yarn through three loops on the hook. Repeat this across the end of the foundation chain.
To start the next row, you should turn your work. You have to chain two for your turning chain and miss the first half double crochet beneath your turning chain. Do another yarn over and insert the hook from the front to the back beneath the top two loops of the succeeding half double crochet in the row beneath it. Yarn over and draw the yarn through the stitch. Yarn over again and draw the yarn through three loops on the hook. Repeat these steps in every half double crochet and at the top of your turning chain by the end of the row.
Double Crochet Stitches (dc)
The double crochet is twice the height of the single crochet. It is a well-known stitch that produces a loose fabric. You should create a foundation chain, which has two more chains than the number of your double crochet stitches. Skip the first three chain stitches that count as your turning chain. You should yarn over your hook once and insert the hook from the front to the back at the center of your hook’s fourth chain. Yarn over again and draw the yarn through your chain. Yarn over once more and draw the yarn through the two loops on the hook. Do another yarn over and draw through the two loops on the hook.
Yarn over and insert the hook at the center of the succeeding chain before yarning over again and drawing the yarn through the stitch. Do another yarn over and draw the yarn through the second row to turn your work. Then, chain three for your turning chain. Miss the first double crochet beneath the turning chain and yarn over. Insert the hook from the front to the back beneath the top two loops of the succeeding double crochet in the row beneath it. Yarn over and draw the yarn through the stitch. Again, yarn over and draw the yarn through the two loops on the hook. Do another yarn over and draw the yarn through two loops on the hook. Repeat these steps in every double crochet across it as well as at the top part of your turning chain in the end of the row.
Triple Crochet Stitches (trc)
The triple crochet is taller than the double crochet. Make a foundation chain with three more chains than the number of triple crochet stitches that you need. Skip the first four chain stitches, yarn over the hook and insert the hook from the front to the back at the center of the hook’s fifth chain. Yarn over and draw the yarn through the chain. Yarn over and draw the yarn through the two loops on the hook. Yarn over and draw the yarn through the two loops on the hook. Yarn over and draw through the two loops on the hook. Yarn over and insert the hook at the center of the succeeding chain. Yarn over and draw the yarn through the stitch. Do that three times and repeat the steps until you reach the end of the foundation chain.
To start the next row, you should turn your work. For your turning chain, you should chain four. Skip the first three crochet stitches beneath your turning chain. Yarn over two times and insert the hook from the front to the back beneath the top two loops of the succeeding triple crochet in the row beneath it. Do this three times and repeat the steps in every triple crochet across it and at the top part of the turning chain at the end part of the row.
Slip Stitches (sl st)
The slip stitch is very short. It is generally used to combine stitches that are worked in rounds like the granny square. Also, you can use it to go to another part of the row without producing visible stitches. In order to work the slip stitch into the chain stitch, you have to create a foundation chain of proper length. Insert the hook in the last chain of your foundation chain. Then, yarn over and draw the yarn through the chain as well as the loop at the hook. Do this in one motion. To work your slip stitch, insert the hook beneath the top two loops of the succeeding stitch and yarn over. Finally, draw the yarn through the stitch and the loop at the hook with a single motion.
Fasten Off
Once you finished a crocheted fabric, fasten off the yarn and make sure that it is secured in order for the stitch to keep from unraveling. Cut the yarn and leave several inches of the tail. Using the hook, draw the tail through the hook’s loop. Remove the hook and pull the tail for it to be tighter. Using the needle of your yarn, weave the tail through your fabric stitches to keep it hidden.
Seaming Techniques
Scarves and other crochet projects require no seaming. Then again, there are certain projects that are made of pieces that have to be joined together in order to form the finished product. Sewing is the simplest way to join two pieces of fabric together. It produces a seam without bulk and is ideal for garments. To obtain a sturdy seam that is ideal for joining afghan squares, you should work a row of single crochet stitches or slip stitches.
Gauge
It is the term used to define the proper tension that you have to work to ensure that the crocheted piece is the right size once it is finished. The hook size mentioned in the pattern is the size you need to work at the right gauge. You may have to change the size of the hook for it to work at your given gauge. Keep in mind that working to the right gauge is highly crucial when it comes to making garments.