From Sandi Marshall,
Your Guide to Crochet.
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If you are someone who has never crocheted before, you can learn the very basics with the resources on this page. If it's been awhile or you are ready to learn more, there are also links to help you brush up on skills or to learn more about crocheting.

You may wish to bookmark the page to come back to when you are ready for the next step in learning how to crochet.

Learn to Crochet:

• How To Make a Starting Chain Step-By-Step Photo Tutorial

  Close-up photo showing what is meant by "2nd ch from hook", a crochet phrase used when beginning to crochet the first stitch made in a starting chain.

• How To Single Crochet - Learn In Easy Steps

Patterns Using Single Crochet:

• Easy Single Crochet Scarf Free Pattern

• Beginner's Dishcloth Free Pattern

• Easy Single Crochet Halter Top Free Pattern

The halter top is easy enough for a beginner. It's all in single crochet. There are some decreases but with my How To Decrease In Single Crochet Photo Tutorial, you should have no problem with that. I designed it after seeing some online messages from beginners who were wishing for some beginner patterns that would be more interesting to crochet than most starter patterns already out there.

Next Stitch - Double Crochet

• How To Double Crochet

• 2nd Double Crochet of the Row (photo shows a close look at the place where the second stitch is made in a row of double crochet, with the turning chain counting as the first double crochet of the row)

• Making 2 Double Crochet All in One Place

• Making 3 Double Crochet in One Same Stitch

First Patterns Using Double Crochet

After you have learned how to make a double crochet stitch, my Beginner Easy Afghan Square is a great learning pattern for beginning crocheters to use the photo links, along with the pattern, to easily learn things like: the meanings of certain crochet pattern directions, how to skip a stitch and how to crochet in a chain space. Stitches used are the chain, single crochet and double crochet.

A good learning pattern for some ways that double crochet stitches are used to make a design, is my Easy Lacy Baby Blanket or Lapghan free pattern ... there are extra photos on the pattern page with explanations marked right on the photos, plus links to even more photos showing how to do parts of that same pattern.

In my Beginner's V-Stitch Doll Blanket free pattern, the words are written out (no abbreviations), along with step-by-step photos for the stitches. This is a great small project for learning how to do the v-stitch. Larger version of that pattern: Easy Small Blanket Free Pattern

Another easy pattern using double crochet is the Quick, Easy Dishcloth Free Pattern. Scroll down that page to see my extra photos showing where to make the last double crochet of a row when the last stitches of the row are being crocheted in a chain space.

Common Beginner Problem

• Every Row Gets Narrower - If you find that the item you're making gets narrower as you go along, you are probably missing crocheting in the last stitch of each row (a common beginner mistake). Try counting stitches for awhile and you'll know if you are ending up with one less stitch on every row. Then you can correct that by making a special note to notice what the last stitch of the row should look like and being careful to crochet into that last stitch of the row each time. Double crochet rows: Photo Showing Chain at End of Row - see what that chain-3 at the end of the row looks like, to become used to counting that as the last double crochet of the row so you won't miss crocheting into it.

Getting Used to Abbreviations:

• Photo Showing Close Look at dc in ea of next 5 dc plus 3 dc in next dc for a shell. Seeing what it looks like can make it easier to understand what the abbreviations mean.

• Photo Showing Close Look at 3 sc in ch-1 sp (scroll down that page to see that photo)

Finishing

• How To Weave in Ends

• Ways of Joining Crocheted Pieces

Continuing To Learn New Crochet Skills

• Top Basic Crochet Stitches

My Directory page lists many tutorials on this site for learning both easy and advanced stitches and techniques.

• Stitch and Technique Directory

Teachers: If you are thinking that you would like to use any of my crochet patterns or tutorials as teaching material when teaching crochet classes, first read my Guidelines, Terms Of Use About Using This Site's Content For Teaching to see what to do.