Beginner's Guide to Crochet - UK (2019-10)

BASIC TECHNIQUES
BASIC TECHNIQUES

O

nce you can make chains, it’s a

good idea to get to know your

chain length better. To be able to

work stitches into a chain length, or follow

a crochet pattern, you need to be able to

count your chains and understand which

part of the chain is which. Once you can do

this, the world of crochet patterns will be

your oyster! You’ll see below that the front of

a chain length has a neat series of v-shaped

stitches (see below left), while the back has

a row of bumps along the row of chains. You

can either work your crochet stitches into

the front or back of the chain length (we’ll

have more about this on page 33 as each

has advantages and disadvantages).

When you’re crocheting from a pattern,

you’ll often be instructed to make a certain

number of chains, so you’ll need to be able

to count them. Follow our guide below to

counting each chain stitch, ignoring the

slipknot and the working loop. When you

count chain stitches, have the front-side

facing you.

CHAIN ANATOMY

Get to know your chain length and start counting

The back of a chain has a row of bumps down

the centre of the length. Sometimes it’s easier

to crochet stitches into each bump on the back

of the chain, rather than the front of each chain.

Back

Here you can see the front of a chain – you’ll

see that it looks like a plait. Have your chain this

way round to count the stitches. Stitches can be

worked into the centre of each chain stitch.

Front

When you’re counting a chain length, make sure

you don’t count the slipknot or the loop on the

hook (called the working loop). You can count

in either direction, but most crocheters prefer

to count backwards from the hook towards

the slipknot. Each ‘v’ shape in the yarn counts

as one chain stitch. Make sure that the chain

isn’t twisted and that the front is facing you. As

you can see, there are nine chain stitches in the

length above.

Counting

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