Crochet Resources

🧶 Welcome to Crochet — From the BZBs

New to crochet? We’re so glad you’re here!

Whether you’ve never held a crochet hook or you’re picking it up again after years away, crochet is something anyone can learn — especially with a few basic skills and some good beginner resources.

Crochet is a wonderful way to relax, be creative, and make something useful (or just something cute!). So grab your yarn, find a comfortable chair, and take it one stitch at a time.

Below are some of our favorite beginner-friendly resources to help you get started.

🧺 Supplies to Buy First

You really don’t need much to begin.

Start with:

  • One skein of smooth, light-colored yarn
    • A medium-weight #4 worsted-weight yarn is a great place to start.
    • Avoid very dark, fuzzy, or novelty yarn until you’re comfortable seeing your stitches.
  • One crochet hook
    • A 5.0 mm (H-8) hook is a good all-purpose beginner size for worsted-weight yarn.
  • Small scissors
  • Tapestry needle
    • You’ll use this to weave in your yarn ends.
  • A few stitch markers
    • These are especially helpful when working in rounds.

That’s it!

You do not need to buy a giant collection of hooks and every color of yarn before you make your first project. Start with a few basics and add to your supplies as you discover what you enjoy making.

🧵 Getting Started — The Basics

Start Here: Learn the Core Skills

Before jumping into complicated patterns, concentrate on these basic skills:

  1. Making a slip knot
  2. Making a chain
  3. Single crochet (sc)
  4. Double crochet (dc)
  5. Half double crochet (hdc)
  6. Slip stitch (sl st)
  7. Fastening off and weaving in ends

Once you’re comfortable with these stitches, you’ll be surprised at how many projects you can make!

Helpful Resources

Sister Margaret’s Crochet Tutorials — YouTube
YouTube has many excellent crochet teachers who demonstrate stitches slowly and clearly. Search for the specific stitch you’re trying to learn and look for videos that allow you to see the hook and yarn up close.

Ravelry
A wonderful resource for crochet patterns, both free and paid. You can search for projects by difficulty, yarn weight, hook size, and more. A free account is required.

🔤 Crochet Abbreviations

Crochet patterns can look a little like a secret language at first!

Here are some of the abbreviations you’ll see most often:

  • ch — chain
  • sc — single crochet
  • hdc — half double crochet
  • dc — double crochet
  • tr — treble crochet
  • sl st — slip stitch
  • st / sts — stitch / stitches
  • sk — skip
  • inc — increase
  • dec — decrease
  • rep — repeat
  • rnd — round
  • RS — right side
  • WS — wrong side

Don’t worry about memorizing these. Most patterns include a list of abbreviations, and you’ll quickly become familiar with the ones you use most often.

🧶 Yarn — What Do All Those Numbers Mean?

Yarn comes in different weights, from very fine yarn to very bulky yarn.

For beginners, #4 worsted-weight yarn is an excellent choice because it is easy to handle and the stitches are easy to see.

You’ll usually find the yarn weight and suggested hook size printed right on the yarn label.

A good beginner combination:

#4 Worsted Weight Yarn + 5.0 mm (H-8) Crochet Hook

Once you’re comfortable with the basics, experiment with different yarn weights and hook sizes. That’s where crochet gets really fun!

📏 What Is Gauge?

You may see the word gauge in a crochet pattern and wonder, “Do I really need to do that?”

Sometimes yes — and sometimes not.

Gauge tells you how large your stitches are. It becomes especially important when you’re making something that needs to be a particular size, such as:

  • Sweaters
  • Hats
  • Garments
  • Blankets
  • Bags

If you’re making a simple scarf, dishcloth, or other project where the exact size isn’t important, gauge may not matter as much.

Tip: If your stitches are too tight, try a larger hook. If they’re too loose, try a smaller hook.

📖 How to Read a Crochet Pattern

Crochet patterns can look intimidating when you’re first starting out.

Don’t try to understand the entire pattern at once.

Start by looking for:

Materials
What yarn, hook, and other supplies do you need?

Gauge
Is a gauge swatch required?

Abbreviations
What do the shortened terms mean?

Finished Size
How large should the finished project be?

Instructions
Work through the pattern one line at a time.

A few important things to watch for:

  • Parentheses ( ) may contain instructions or stitch counts.
  • Asterisks * usually mean that a section should be repeated.
  • Numbers in parentheses at the end of a row or round usually tell you how many stitches you should have.

And remember: Read the whole pattern before you start. It can save you from surprises later!

🎥 Prefer to Learn by Watching?

Videos are wonderful for learning crochet because you can:

  • See exactly where the hook goes
  • Watch how the yarn is held
  • Pause and rewind
  • Slow the video down
  • Practice along with the instructor

Crochet is a muscle-memory skill. The more you practice, the more natural it becomes.

If a particular video doesn’t make sense to you, try another one. Sometimes you just need to see the same stitch explained a different way.

🌼 Easy First Projects

Once you’ve learned your basic stitches, resist the temptation to immediately tackle a complicated sweater!

Start with something small so you can practice without getting frustrated.

Good beginner projects include:

  • Dishcloths
  • Washcloths
  • Simple scarves
  • Mug cozies
  • Headbands
  • Simple hats
  • Small baskets
  • Granny squares

Helpful tip: Choose a project that uses one or two basic stitches. Finishing a small project feels great — and gives you the confidence to try something more challenging.

Looking for Free Patterns?

Ravelry is one of the best places to search for crochet patterns.

Try searching for “beginner crochet” or “easy crochet”, and use the filters to find free patterns.

🛠️ When You Make a Mistake

You will make mistakes.

Everyone does!

And the good news is that crochet is very forgiving.

Made a mistake three rows back? Sometimes the easiest solution is simply to “frog” your work — rip it out and try again.

Need to undo just a few stitches? Carefully pull the yarn back one stitch at a time.

Common things beginners need help with include:

  • Counting stitches
  • Finding the first stitch of a row
  • Finding the last stitch of a row
  • Understanding where to insert the hook
  • Fixing a missed stitch
  • Fixing an extra stitch
  • Working in the round
  • Changing colors
  • Weaving in ends

If something doesn’t look right, stop and look at it before continuing. Fixing a mistake now is usually much easier than fixing it ten rows later!

And remember — your crochet doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.

🐝 Crochet With the BZBs

Bring your yarn.

Bring your hook.

Bring your questions.

And definitely bring those projects where you say, “I have no idea what I did here!”

We’ve all been there.

Crochet is about learning, creating, and having fun. Take it one stitch at a time — you’ve got this!

— The BZBs 🐝 🐝 🐝