How to crochet

Last night, I sat down with a friend who instructed me in some basic crochet skills. While watching “Brokedown Palace” (somewhat bizarre movie, thought-provoking but… weird), I learned:

  • Chain: basic stitch, somewhat akin to casting on in knitting; just make a slip knot and iteratively pull a new loop of yarn through the one on your needle. Unlike knitting, there is only one stitch on the needle/hook at any given time.
  • Single crochet: insert hook through the top of the next stitch, wrap the yarn around it, pull it through to yield two stitches on the hook. Wrap the yarn once more and pull that through both stitches, leaving only one on the hook, and you’re reading to go again.
  • Double crochet: wrap the yarn around the hook, then insert it into the next stitch as to do a single crochet. Wrap the yarn again and pull it through to yield three stitches on the hook. Wrap the yarn again and pull it through the first two of those stitches, then wrap it again and pull it through the remaining two to leave one stitch.

  • Double crochet results in a lacier, more open stitch (and a wider fabric, at least in what I produced) than single crochet. I also observed that unlike knitting, crocheting appears to produce a symmetric fabric — there was no obvious “right” or “wrong” side. When you reach the end of a row, you just turn around and do the same thing back the way you came. Handy!

    I’m pleased to augment my knitting skillz with some crochet know-how, since this opens up new territory in terms of adding decorative edges or hems or frills to items you knit. By the end of the movie, I had crocheted enough to produce a headband, which I wore home (to the disappointment of my friend’s one-year-old, who had it on and kept saying “Mir! Mir!” because she wanted to admire herself. :) ).