Hi, my name is Harley Hermansen, and ever since I was little, I always wanted to be a crafty person. However, I was not very artistic in any way. One day, I wanted to try to make a knitted blanket, so I went out and bought all of the supplies necessary to make that happen. Little did I know, knitting was pretty difficult to pick up on. My mind was already set on making a blanket, so I had to find a way. Browsing the internet, I came across crocheting, and I instantly got very excited. Crocheting is a lot easier than knitting, and can still be an artistic craft. Today I will be teaching the basic steps of crocheting a chain.

Step 1:

To begin crocheting, first, gather all of the supplies that are needed. The nice thing about crocheting is only two items are needed, one of them being yarn. When choosing yarn, of course, pick the color of choice. Also, I would recommend getting a thinner yarn that is 100% acrylic. Now, it depends what is being made, but whatever yarn is bought, there is a chart for what size hook to be buying along with it. When purchasing the hook, I would recommend getting 100% aluminum.

Step 2:

Once the purchasing of the supplies is done, the first step into actually making your craft is to make what is called a slip knot. To do this, first pull the end of the yarn so there are about 2-3 inches of a “tail” left. Then grab the yarn where the 2-3 inches would end leaving the “tail” still hanging out. With the same hand that is holding on to the yarn at the end of the 2-3 inches, grab the tip of the yarn at the end with that same hand. With the other hand, take the pointer finger, pointing downwards put the pointer finger through the yarn and pull away from the hand that is holding on to the tip. There should now be somewhat of a triangle made with the yarn. After completing this, take the pointer finger that has the yarn around it, and twist upwards then put the thumb on the same hand through the same loop that was just made. Next, with the pointer finger and thumb, grab the tail of the yarn while still hanging on to the tip, and at the end of the 2-3 inches, pull the yarn through the loop that was made with the pointer finger and thumb. A slip knot should now have been created.

Step 3:

After the slip knot is created, next take the crochet hook and put the hook through the loop that was made from the knot, then pull on the end of the tail to tighten the yarn to fit perfectly around the middle of the hook. Leave the yarn resting on the middle of the hook. The easiest way to hold both the yarn that is being fed off of, and the crochet hook is to have the crochet hook in the preferred dominant hand, and have the yarn in the non-dominant hand. Hold the hook with the pointer finger and thumb, almost like how a knife would be used. In the non-dominant hand, hold the yarn in a fist form, and take the pointer finger and point it towards the hook. Next, take the pointer finger and push that finger away from the body and wrap around the yarn and come back towards the body.

Step 4:

Next, it’s time to learn the actually chaining portion. Keeping the yarn and hook the way it was in step three, first twist the crochet hook so it is facing away from the body, and then place it on the left side of the yarn. Next, turn the hook clockwise so it wraps around the yarn, and comes to face towards the body. Next, turn the hook a little bit more so it is almost facing your non-dominant hand. Still having the yarn wrapped around the hook, start to pull the yarn that is wrapped around, down towards the loop that was made earlier that should be resting on the middle of the hook. Keep pulling the yarn that is under the hook itself, and pull it through the loop on the middle of the hook.

Step 5:

Finally, once the yarn is pulled through the loop, another loop should have replaced the first loop that was previously there. Once completed, repeat step four until the desired length of the chain is completed. The chain can continue for however long the project that is being made requires.