One useful step at a time

Learn crochet

Start from the first loop, follow a pattern and finish an object. Return here when a stitch, yarn choice or uneven edge needs a closer look.

Start and make your first project

Move from the first loop to a finished, washable square.

Learn to hold the yarn, make a starting loop, and crochet a small, straight practice strip.

Buy enough to learn comfortably. Add specialist tools when a project gives them a job.

Find the stitch language, follow repeats and check your count before a small misunderstanding becomes a whole row.

Make a small cotton cloth in single crochet, count every row and stop when its measured height matches its width.

Understand the stitch placements that change the fabric, then recover when a count goes wrong.

Shape fabric by changing how many new stitches come from the old row. Keep insertion points and loops on the hook separate.

Choose a center, mark the first counted stitch and decide whether each round joins or continues in a spiral.

Secure the last loop, hide the tails and match two motifs without pulling their edges out of shape.

Use the fabric, stitch count and insertion point to find the first wrong step. Undo only as far as you need to.

Use removable markers to keep row edges, round starts and repeated groups easy to find.

Connect your pattern to suitable materials, measured gauge and care.

Choose diameter for the fabric, then choose a handle and head shape that fit how you work.

The number on the yarn label describes a thickness category. It does not describe the weight of the ball.

Match the fabric and the finished gauge, not just the number on the yarn label.

A swatch is a small trial of the fabric you intend to make. Measure stitches and rows after the care that the finished item will receive.

Set the shape without asking the yarn to tolerate heat or washing that its label does not allow.

A winder turns yarn into a manageable package. A swift keeps a hank open while you wind it.