Introduction
CROCHET is really quite easy to learn. As in any handicraft, there just a few simple rules to follow during practice. Soon, you will be able to make all the things here , for yourself or as presents for your family and friends. Later you will be able to work more difficult patterns , or even think up some new ones by yourself.
For your crochet you will need:
1. A crochet hook size 5.00
2. Several little balls of bright coloured double crepe ( or similar thickness) wool for practice
3. A small pair of sharp scissors to cut the wool
4. A blunt-ended wool needle with a big eye , for sewing up your work
5. A ruler, or tape measure, marked in centimetres.
6. A workbag, or box, to keep everything together, neatly and tidily
A few words of advice:
Always remember:
1. Wash your hands and dry then well before crochet word begin
2. Keep your fingers , hands and wrist quite relaxed, never stiff.
3. Reverse the instructions if you are LEFT HENDED. That is, where the directions say RIGHT hand , use your LEFT , where the directions say LEFT , use your RIGHT. If you prop up this manual and place a small mirror opposite each picture the difference will be easier to follow.
4. Keep the hooked-end facing you as you work. Never twiddle the hook around as you make a stitch.
5. Form the habit of counting the stitches every row.It is so easy to miss one, especially the last stitch.
6. Learn the shortened terms in crochet, called abbreviations, as you work through these pages. You will find a list of them on the inside back cover. Later on in the the manual, they are shown in brackets(…) against the full word.
First steps
Crochet begins
with a slip loop which can be moved easily along the stem of the hook.
To make the slip
loop
1.
In the left hand, take the end of a ball of wool and form it into a ring. Hold
the ring between your thumb and first finger, and drop the part leading to the
ball down the back of the ring as shown(picture 1)
2.
Take the crochet hook in the other hand, holding
it as you would a pencil, between thumb and first finger and at the flattened
part of the stem (picture 2)
3.
Put the hooked end right under the middle thread in the ring,
catching the wool in the hooked end (picture 3)
4.
Now, keeping the loop on the hook, pull this
middle thread through until the loop closes over the stem and slip easily along
(picture 4 )
