Essential Crochet Basics

1. Introduction: Hi, I'm Ashlyn and I'm going to be teaching the essential cruciate basics class her skull shape to me, Crow. She is about 20 my maternal and paternal grandmother's as well as their mothers and some of my and have all co shade, and some of them are still flourishing today. I absolutely love how well connected in this craft Kirsch is also really therapeutic, and it's a great way for you to create something with your hands that you can be proud of. Class will be covering the basic materials you need to get started encroaching. How to get started on a cruciate Ta jet. Three basic crochet stitches working around finishing techniques and tons of tips n tricks to help you along the way. By the end of the class, you'll have created this of index that used all the techniques that you learned in the class and also expands on a few other essential Kershaw techniques. I'm so excited. I joined this class queuing to get you hooked 2. Materials: for the materials. For this class you're gonna need about two intern 20 yards of yarn, a crow. She hook scissors, a tapestry needle of some insulated lining. And if you want to add a little hook to your oven mitt, you'll need a little piece of cotton takes for the Yar. I could spend several classes discussing yard, but the two main things you want to pay attention to as a beginner is the weight of the arm and the type of the arm when choosing your arm so the weight of the arm basically refers to health in, or how thick the arness on. There's a wide spectrum of your weights from really thin yard like a fingering early sweet yard. To really think you're like a bulkier, extra bulky. For this class, we're going to be using a nice, medium weight worsted weight yarn, which I think is great for beginners, because the thinner yarns tend to be a little finicky for beginners, and the heavier weight tend to be a little rough on the hands when you're just starting out . So I wouldn't really go too much of a thinner or too much thicker than a worsted weight yard and the weight of the arm will normally be listed on the packaging of the art as little of the amount that the certain type of your Compton and if you're buying online it will say it in the product description for the type of yard I chose this class I chose, but 100% a nice dirty wool yarn bull has in a bacterial properties and is also far resistant. So I thought I'd make a really great choice for working kitchen accessory. I think cotton would also make a really good choice for this project. Because most cotton yarn you can machine wash, you'll have to hand wash the whole of it. If you choose a whole arm, I would highly recommend checking out your local garden sort. You have one nearby just so you can get a fuel for the different types of yarn in the different weights and the workers. They're usually really helpful if you have any questions and also feel free to comment to me. If you have any questions for the freedom of using for this class, there are several different types of hooks. You can choose to work with have plastic wooden and metal. My personal favorite work with is a metal hook with a cushioned handle. I find it really easy to work with the metals really smooth and God's easily with the yarn and the rubber handles really comfortable for me. I also highly suggests wouldn't hook if you're a beginner because they're a little stickier and slower than the metal hooks are. So you have a little bit more control with your stitches. Thesis eyes were gonna be using for this class is a five millimeter or U. S H eight hook and the hook size you used is dependent on the size of your army used. So the smaller the arm of the smaller hook size you're gonna want to use bigger than yarn, the bigger the hook size, you're gonna want to use them. So this is a five millimeter Christian and our link the hook in the yard of the I suggest that I'm using in the resource is section so you can take a look at that 3. Getting Started: Okay, so now that we have our materials covered, we're gonna go ahead and learn how to start a Croce project to go ahead and grab your yard and your crew she took and we're going to start with a foundation chain. There's a few different ways to start cruciate projects, but about 95% of the way that acts are crucial project is with a foundation change. So what you're gonna do is make a slipknot. You're going, Teoh, take the tail, the arm and you're just going to wrap it around your pointer finger and kind of making X like this and you're gonna take the loop and you're going to put the armed through that loop behind and pull it tight, and then you're gonna take your Hirsch a hook and stick it through the hoop you just made and then pull to tighten it onto the hook. Now some people like Teoh hold their hooks like a pen, and that's kind of how I do it most of the time. And some people find it more comfortable to hold it like a butter knife. Whichever way is comfortable for you, if you find a different way. Just use whatever works for you the way I like toe hold my working yard, which is this guy. I like to wrap it around my pinky like this and they fold my hand over and wrapped my pointer finger, and then I kind of hold onto the yard with my other fingers as I'm working. And this helps with the tension. So I'm working. It's got a nice tension on the working yard. Okay, so we're going Teoh grab hold of are working on. And I hold kind of the tail or whatever piece that. I've already finished with my other fingers, like I said earlier. So now we're just going to take the hook to make a foundation chain. You're gonna take your hook, and you're gonna grab your working yard with your hook, and you're going to pull it through the loot that's already on your hook. Okay, so you're just gonna go under the working yard and grab it with your hook and you're gonna hold on to the tail to keep the tension nice. And attention helps with the evenness of your stitches. So you're taking your working art and you're just pulling it through the loop that's on your hook. Great. Here. Okay. And we're just going to keep doing this until we get the number of chains desired. So if you're working on a crochet pattern, it will usually say at the very beginning of the pattern, chain X amount of stitches. And so that's how many you know how to change. And usually it will say chain of many stitches plus one. And that is because Teoh, start your first row of your project. The extra chain helps turn your project, and that is your foundation change. 4. The Single Crochet: So now we have our foundation chain. We're going to have to turn our work, which is what I was talking about in the last video. So what we're going to do ISS. We already changed a number of stitches and had mentioned changing one extra. And that is because when we turn our work, we're gonna need something to lift our work up toe work back in the other direction. So that's what we're gonna be doing. So we're going to learn how to do a single crochet stick, which is the basic cursed A stitch. It's the first ditch that you really should learn how to do as a new crow share. And what you're gonna do is your going Teoh, skip this extra chain that made and you're going to insert your hook into the second chain on your foundation change so it's inserted and you're gonna take your working yard and grab it and pull it through that chain. So now you have two loops on your hook and you're going to go under your working on again and grab it and pull it through both loops on your hook, and that is your first single kirsch a stitch, and you're just going to repeat this down the length of your foundation change. So you're gonna insert your hook into the next chain stitch. If you can see there's kind of like a it almost looks like a braid, and you have your top and bottom loops. You insert it into that top chain loop and you're going Teoh, grab your working yard and pull it through, giving two loops on your hook and you're gonna take your working yard again. Put both loops, and you're just gonna continue this process until you get to the end of your, um, foundation Shane. And that is how you make your single crash a stitch. 5. The Half Double Crochet: So we finished our very first throw up single crochet stitches. So now we're going to want Teoh, turn our work toe work our next row of crushing. So all you're gonna do is just flip your work over and we're gonna be crashing from left to right. So you're always gonna want your working arm to be on your right side. So if we were doing another row of single Cochet, we would chain one and then continue with single crow shays across. But we're gonna go ahead and learn the half double crochet stitch now. And since the half double crochet is a little bit bigger stitch than a single Cochet, we're gonna chain, too. And then go ahead with our half double crochet. So the chain to usually counts as the first stitch of the roads. Your skin This first it right here and you're gonna work into the second stitch off the road. And if you look at the top, it kind of looks like the original foundation chain that we made. And when you're working a long stitches, you're going to want to insert your hook into both loose at the top unless the paddock specifies toe Onley. Insert your stitch into the front or back blue. You're gonna want to insert it into the loops. So for the half double crochet we've changed you. And instead of answering our hook directly into the sticks, like with single crochet, we're going Teoh yarn over. So you're just gonna take your hook, go under and over that's called yard over, and then you're any certain hook into this ditch, and then you're gonna grab your working yard and pull it through the sticks, just like with the single Croce. And instead of having Onley tulips on the hook like the single Croshere, we have three because of the yarn over. And then you're just gonna grab your working on with your hook and pull it through all three loops on your hook. And that is how you make 1/2 double cursing. So you gonna yard over and in, start your hook into that next ditch, making sure go through both loops, crafty arm and pull it through and then grab the arm once more and pull it through all three loops on your hook, and you're just gonna continue until you get to the end of your arrest. Once you get to the end of your road, the very last stitch is gonna actually be the top of your the top of your chain stitches from the previous row that you many and as a new Croshere. It's easy, Teoh, overlook these chain stitches and not even crashing into them. And if you do this, you're gonna miss that last stitch in your work with Shorter in Shorter. Just because you don't realize I missed that stitch. So you're gonna want to make sure and stitch making stitch into those chain stitches. So this was the chain one made. When we go back across, we're gonna get to the change to that made and you'll just crow shit into the top of the changes that you made. And it could be a little finicky, but you just want to make sure that you do get that stitch made at the end, and that is your half double crochet stitch 6. The Double Crochet: So the final stitch that we're gonna learn is the double crash A stitch. So we're gonna turn our work. So we're working right to left, and we're gonna change Teoh to start our road, and then we're gonna start working into the second sit from the previous round because remember, our chain too counts as our first ditch. So we're gonna skip the first it from the hook and work into the second stitch And just like the half double Cochet we're gonna yard over and insert our hook into the stitch, making sure to go through both The top loops we're gonna grab are working yard and pull it through the stitch. And just like the half double crochet, we have three loops on a hook and instead of pulling it through all three loops on the hook like the half double crochet A, we're gonna take our working our with our hook and pull it through on Lee the 1st 2 loops leaving two loops on the hook, never got are working yard once more and pull it through the last two loops on the hook. And that is your double Kirsch a stitch and you can see from our very first. If we learned the single Cochet, the stitches get a little bit bigger each time. So you have are small single Cochet, then are half double crochet A and finally, our double kirsch a stitch. So you're gonna yarn over, Insert your hook into the stitch, grab your working on and pull it through. So there's three lips on your hook. Grab your working on and pull it through the 1st 2 lives and then grab your working yard once more and pull it through the last two weeks on the hook, and then you just want to continue across the right. And when you get to the end of your bro, remember Teoh, make a stitch into the top of the chain to that we made at the beginning of the previous red, and that is your double kirsch a stitch. I would definitely suggest completing a few rows of each of the stitches. We just learned just to give yourself some practice, holding the hook and holding your working yard and practice with each of the stitches. It can feel a little weird at first if you've never worked with any fibre crop before, and that's totally normal. So don't get too aggravated with yourself. And don't be too hard on yourself. It just takes practice. And I have faith in you. So just work a few rows, each of the stitches before you start on the project and you back here seen. 7. Class Project Side Panels: now that we've learned the three basic rochet stitches and had a little practice with, um, we're gonna go ahead and start on our class project, which is this oven mitt? The oven mitt project is made up of 2/2 double crochet a side panels which have a single Croce border and are seen together with the insulated lining in between them. And then we've also seemed on this double crashing Granny Square, which is worked in the round, and we'll talk about that and a little while how to do that. But first, we're going to start with our half double crochet a side panels, so go ahead and grab your yard, your crow shake hook. And if you haven't done so already, go ahead and print out the crow shape pattern in the resource is section for the project. When you're looking at a crow shape pattern, it will give you some details about the pattern. Like the type of yarn you'll need. Different materials the hook size. It'll go over some construction nodes, which we just talked about, and normally it will have an abbreviation section, usually crucially patterns air written in shorthand. For example, the single kirsch. A stitch will be designated with an SC. The double kirsch. A stitch will be designated with the D. C just to make it a little bit easier, and I think it's flows a little better like that to go ahead. Familiarize yourself with the abbreviations so you'll understand as you're reading through the pattern to go ahead and grab your yard and make your slipknot, and we will start with the half double crochet a side panels. So our pattern tells us Teoh make a foundation chain. It says to change 27 to go ahead and get started on your foundation chain. So now that I have my foundation chain of 27 we're going to start with our very first row. So Rose Wine says toe half double crochet A into the third chain from the hook. So if you remember, we would make extra chains at the end of our rose to account for the first stitch of the road. So we're gonna skip the 1st 2 chain stitches from the hook, and we're gonna have double crow shape into the third chain stitch. And remember, we're doing the two chains instead of the extra one chain because the half double Cochet stitch is a little taller than the single kirsch a stick. So we made our first half double crochet stitch, and now our pattern tells us to have double crow shade into each chain across. So now that we have completed our first half double crochet row, our pattern tells us to turn our work and we're gonna start on our road to now. Our pattern tells is that Rose to 3 24 are going to be the same. So you're just gonna work this road for a total of 23 times? So for road to it tells us to change too. And this will count is our first half double kirsch a stitch. And then we're gonna have double crow Shea into each stitch across and to remember, you're going to skip that first half double crochet a stitch and crashing into the 2nd 1 Since our chained to you counted as our first half double crochet then there's gonna continue toe have trouble Cochet into each stitch across And remember, Teoh, when you get to the end to have double Curuchet into that change into the top of the chain to space and you should have double crow Shea on this road 25 times. That should have 25 half double Kirsch A's And that's not including the chain to that we made at the beginning of the road. So once we get to the end of our road, Teoh are pattern tells us to turn. So we're gonna turn our work. We're just going to continue working road, Teoh 22 more times and you should have completed 24 a total of 24 rows. So I have just finished my room 24 of my half double crochet a And now we're going to work one more row of half double crochet A which will be Road 25. And then we're gonna put the edging around the half double kirsch a side channel. So we'll just change you And where one war across, one more row across and this will be were 25. So now that we've completed the 25th road, the very last row on our half double crochet a side panel, we're going to go ahead and put the edging on the piece. So you're gonna turn work to the side instead of turning it to work Another road and you're just going toe Work along the edge of your piece You're gonna chain one And then you're gonna make to single crow Shays into the side of the stitch The last stitch that you made on your last road So you're just gonna make to single crashes into that side? And then our pattern tells us Teoh, make 28 single crow shays along the side of your work. So you're just gonna want Teoh kind of work into the sides of your of your stitches on the ends of your road and just kind of evenly spaced out the 28 single cursing that you're gonna work along here and you're just gonna work down the side. And when she worked 28 single crow Shays down the side of your work Once you get Teoh, the very last corner stitch this waas the first stitch you made on Road one, you're gonna single crow shayt to into that into the side of that stitch. So you should have a total of 32 single crow shays down the side of your work. You have 28 then the two on each and edge corner stitches. So now you're just gonna turn your work again toe work along the first road that you made And this will be the chain stitches that you actually made And all your gonna do is single Crow Shea just all the way down in each sticks. So we just finished our border along the top of your work And you should have a total of 26 single Chris Shays going across right here. And then you're just gonna turn your work and continue along of the other side edge and then along the other, the last side of your work. So when she worked around all the edges and you make it back to the chain one that you made to start your border you're just going to answer your crochet hook into the very first single crow Shea he made and slip stitch your stitches together. So you're gonna grab the working yard and pull it through and then pull it through once more to slip stitch those stitches together. And you just completed your first side panel. So now you're just gonna want to fasten off. You're just going to take your scissors and leave a little bit of a tail and cut your working yard and then take your crochet hook and grab the working yard and pull it through the loop on your hook and then pull it tight and then we'll leave those ends and later. So now you're just going to want Teoh. Make a piece identical to this one, so you'll have to side panel, so you'll just repeat the process so you should have two identical side panels. 8. Class Project Granny Square Motif: Now that we've completed our half double crochet a side panels, we're going to start on our Granny Square motive. Now, the greatest square motive is gonna be worked a little differently. They in the side pales instead of working and rose back and forth. I'm going to show you how toe work in the round. And this is a really basic working in the round example. So it's great for beginners, and working in the round simply means instead of turning your work, you're going to join to the first that you made and just continued toe work and around, um, on one side of the work. So go ahead and make your slip moment and our pattern tells us to change six and then join with the slip stitch What I was talking about earlier to form a ring. So we're gonna change six and I are gonna do is take your crochet hook and insert it into the very first chain stitch that you made. Grab hold of your working yard with your crush a hook and pull it through that chain stitch and then pull it through again on the last week. That's on your hook and you have just joined in the round and made a ring. So once your ring is made, we're gonna go ahead and start on round one. So the pattern says for round one to change three. And this is going to count as our first double crow Shea Okay. And now we're going toe work to double crow shays into this ring. So you're gonna yard over to dear double crochet. So you guard over and then you're gonna insert your hook into the center, the big center of the ring, and that's what you're going to crush a into. So we're one double crew Shea and then one more. Next, Our pattern says to change three and then work. Three more double crow shays inside the ring. And it's got little Asterix around it. Um and then it says three times next to that pattern. So you're gonna work the chain 33 double Crow Shea inside the ring three more times. Okay. And then our pattern tells us to change three once more, and it says to join with a slip stitch to the top of the chain three at the beginning of the round. So remember the chain three that we made is our first double crow, Shea. At the very beginning of our round one, we're just gonna slip stitch to the top chain of the chain three. So you're gonna insert your hook into the top of the chain three. Grab hold of your working yard and just pull it through the chain and the loop on your hook , and you have joined for working your next round to finish up our around one. We're gonna make three more slip stitches to get us Teoh this change three space to start our round two. So just insert your hook into the next double, crash a stitch and pull your yarn through and then pull it through the loop on your hook and then you'll do that again with the next double crush a stitch, and then you're just gonna stick your hook into the big Chain three space and grab hold of your working yard and slip stitch into that big space. And now we're ready to get started on our round two. So for round two, we're gonna change three and I don't count as our first double crow Shea of the rooms and then we'll work to double Crow Shay's into that chain three space. You're just sticking your hook into that big space you don't have Teoh put the hook into those tiny chain stitches, Just pull it through the big space, and then we're gonna change three. And we're gonna work. Three more double Crow Shays into that same space, if you can see that is forming our corners on our grainy square. Okay, so now we're going to chain one and we're going to work. Three more Double Crow Shays into the next big chain three space. This whole right here, we're gonna change three and work three more. Double kirsch A's into the same space. See, That's formed another corner on our grainy square. Okay, now we're gonna just change one, and then we're going to slip stitch into the top of the beginning. Chain three of the round that counted as our first double crashing just like that. And then just like the Indian of the previous round, we're gonna slip stitch into the next to double Crow Shay's, and then we're gonna slip stitch into the next big change. Three space to start are around three So we're going to work four more rounds for our grainy square motive. But they're all gonna follow the same pattern. They're gonna be the same for rounds three through six. So you're gonna change three. And for all the corner chain three spaces, you're going toe work. The, um three double Crow Shea Chain 33 double crow shape pattern. So that this change three counts is our first double crow Shea. So we're going Teoh work to more double Kirsch A's, and then we're going to change three and work three more. Okay, so you should work this pattern. The three double crow changed changed 33 Double Crow Shay's a total of four times for each of the next four rounds, and you'll just work that into each of the corner spaces for the other spaces. After you do your corner and pattern, you'll chain one and you'll just work. Three. Double crow shays into those other spaces on each side. So every round you'll get another space on each side and you're just gonna work. Three. Double crow Shay's into those spaces, and then you'll chain one, and we've gotten to our next corner stitch so we'll work our corner stitch pattern of three Double Kirsch A's change three and three more double cruciate into the same corner space, and then we'll chain one and will work just three. Double crow shays into our side state. And so, for the next round, you'll have to spaces on the side so you would chain one again and then work. Three. Double Crow Shays into the next side space. And just whenever you reach your corner space, you'll chain one and then you'll work that three. Double Crow Shea Chain three three Double Crow Shea to form your corners After you completed your six grainy square rounds, you're gonna want to put the border on your Granny Square. Motive. So to do this, it's kind of similar to the side panels. But since we have spaces, you'll just crashing into those spaces. So you're gonna take your crochet hook and chain one. And for every Chain three space, you're just going Teoh single crushing three stitches into the chain, three spaces. And then, when you get to the double cursing stitches, you'll just single crow Shea into each one of those stitches. And then for the chain one space. You'll just a single question one stitch into their, and you'll just do this around until you make it back. Teoh your chain one in your first single crocheting when you make it back to your very first chain, the chain one. In the very first single Kirsch, a stitch of your border you're just going Teoh slip stitch, just like the side panels into the very first single Cochet Stitch that you made. You'll just insert your hook into that first stitch, grab your yard and pull it through the stitch and then through the loop on your hook, and then you'll take your scissors and leave a little bit of a tail and pull your working yard through the last loop on your hook and pull it tight. 9. Class Project Assembly: Now that you've made all your pieces, it's time to assemble everything. Pretty assembly. You'll need your Granny Square motive. In two side panels, you're insulated. Insert a tapestry needle, some scissors and about a yard two yards of yarn that's cut, so the first thing you're gonna want to do you'll see that you'll have some some of the ends of the pieces from when we fastened off. You'll have some. You are pieces that you need toe we've in. So to do this, you'll take your tapestry needle and thread the tail of the yarn through the tapestry needle. And then all you're gonna do you is thread the extra yard through the backs of the stitches kind of in a center like this, just for I would say, 3 to 5 stitches to secure it, and then you'll pull it through. And sometimes if I wanted to be extra secure, I'll thread it through back the opposite direction through the next road, just to make it a little bit extra secure. If I feel that it needs it and you'll just take your scissors and cut that extra piece of yarn, being careful not to cut your work and make sure it's nice and tucked into you Can't see it , and so you'll just do that for all of the dangling pieces off the remainder of your work. Now it's time to seem your two side panels together. So what you're gonna do is place your cut insert in between the two panels just like this, and then you're gonna take your tapestry needle and your extra yard to yard that you cut, and this is what you're gonna use to seem those pieces together. So you're gonna threat your tapestry needle with the arm, and then I like to start in a corner. You're just gonna line it up as best as you can. And if you see there's the two loops, like when you would crush you a crow shape for both loops to seem, we are going to just take our tapestry needle and insert it into the two loops that are closest together from each of the side panels. So those outside loops were not going Teoh seem together. It's just gonna be the two loops that are closest together, and we just pull our thread through there and then we'll go on to the next stitches. Well, just threat it just like that. Seen it together, and it creates kind of a little bit of a visible seem, but I like this look especially for the oven mitt. I think it adds a little character to it, but you'll just go down each stitch and just stitch those two closest stitches together, and you'll just work around until you get back to the first stitch that you stitched together. So I made it around. Um, all the edges of my side can't seem them all together. And once I made it back to the beginning of my scene, I just tied my two ends together and woven there's ends to secure it. So now we have a nice seemed of admit in the last part we need to do is Teoh Attach are grainy square motive for our hand insert. And so we're going to start on the bottoms corner of our Grady Square and just seem this Saad in the top and the other side and leave the bottom for our hand insert open. So we're gonna take about another yard of yarn and attach it to our tapas genial and then line are grainy square up our oven mitt and we're gonna start on the bottom edge and we're going to be working through both loops on the grainy square. And we're going to be attaching that to the outer loop that we left unseen on our oven mitt . And we're just gonna go and seem that together. So we'll go to our next stitch on our granny square and go through both loops And in that one outer, um, loop that we left unseen on our oven mitt. Now we're just gonna do this all the way around the grainy square. We'll just do this all the way around leaving that bottom edge of the grainy square open for our hand insert. Once you have completed seeming on the Granny Square motive and you've made it around both sides and the top, just go ahead and wheat in your loose ends. And if you want to, you can take a piece of cotton tape and attach it to the corner to make a little finger for your oven mitt like this one and then you are all done. You completed this really great Croce project and I hope that you can use it or gift it. Um and I hope that you enjoy the class and learned a lot. Thank you so much for crushing along with me. And I hope that you create many more Kirsch A projects in the future.