periodically. I am so excited to share this awesome hobby with you. Crocheting is fun and a great
stress reliever (except when it causes stress because you mess up, lol, but it is still more relieving
than causing). You will soon be making items for friends, family, and yourself. I am offering these
lessons for free with one stipulation: you agree to make one preemie blanket to donate to a local hospital or family with a premature or terminally ill baby.
These lessons will teach you how to create a simple preemie blanket, and will give you the skills to read other patterns to make more items as well. You will start off with simple items, but with practice, one day you can make more complicated items. The item you will make will be to donate to your local hospital or Ronald McDonald House.
To get ready for your Crochet 101 classes you will need to go shopping. I will spend this lesson
describing what you need to buy and why. First things first - your most important tool in crocheting
is the hook. I recommend Susan Bates aluminum hooks. To see why I recommend this type of
hook, lets take a look at the parts of a hook:
The Susan Bates hooks (pictured above) are what they call inline style. They are referred to as inline because of the shape of the throat. Inline hooks maintain the same width throughout the throat,
while tapered hooks (Boye brand) get smaller as the throat approaches the hook. Many new crocheters have difficulty with the tapered throats because it throws off their gauge, which is very important in crocheting. Also, with Boye hooks the yarn tends to snag more, in my experience.
I recommend aluminum hooks because they provide a very smooth surface for the yarn to move
across the hook. Recently my mother-in-law and I both had to use plastic hooks and it drove us
nuts. They cause the yarn to vibrate the hook as you crochet and it slows you down. We quickly
found ways to get away from the plastic hooks. The plastic hooks may come in pretty colors, but
you will not be pleased with how they work. They are also far more fragile. They may be cheaper
up front, but in the long run you cannot beat an aluminum hook.
For this project you will need to purchase a US K 10.5/6.50 mm hook. If you are certain you will
love crocheting and want to go ahead and invest in nice hooks, consider buying a set, or buy Susan
Bates Bamboo Handle/Aluminum Head Crochet Hooks. The bamboo handles make holding the hook
easier and the weight is nice, not too heavy or too light. They are a bit more expensive, but they are
a good investment for any serious crocheter. I have bought mine one at a time from Hobby Lobby,
using a 40% off coupon.
I tend to prefer the larger size hooks. The smallest I ever use for crocheting is a G hook. I like the larger hooks because it makes a bigger stitch which makes your project get bigger faster. It does make the holes appear bigger, but I think it also makes any yarn feel softer than a smaller hook, and I think the bigger holes make it look more delicate and pretty. You may prefer a
smaller hook, and by playing around with a variety of hooks you will figure out what you like most.
Just remember, if a pattern calls for a certain size hook, the pattern may not work out correctly if you
change the hook size. I tend to enjoy living dangerously and change the hook size, but I always know
it may not work out.
Now that you have your hooks, you will need to purchase a few other things before getting started.
You will want a small pair of scissors and something to hold your hooks, scissors, and other
accessories. When I first wrote this lesson last year I was using a small zippered case I found at
Michael's:
Believe it or not, I probably have 15 hooks (including several bamboo handled ones) in there, a pair of scissors and a pack of yarn needles (for when you sew granny squares together). When at a second hand shop a few months ago, I found a really cute diabetes supply bag (I suppose for an injection pen
or something) that I use now (I'll try to get a picture of it added). It is great because it has several
zippered compartments, and two elastic straps which I use to hold one hook for my current project
and my scissors. It is designed to hold a cold pack, but instead I store all of my hooks in that section.
It was a steal at $2 and I would not trade it for the world. In the past I have also used a tennis ball
container (plastic with snap on lid) and my mother-in-law uses a small tin box that looks like a small
lunchbox that she also found at Michael's. I also love to save the zippered sheets packaging to use to carry a project in - all too often I have accidentally spilled a drink on my yarn or project and
regretted it. You can even save the comforter bags for bigger projects.
Remember, most hobby stores, like Michael's and Hobby Lobby, offer printable coupons on a weekly
or biweekly basis that range from 30-50% off (40% most commonly). I go with my husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law and we each use one coupon for one item, and I get 4 items per visit at 40% off. I am willing to go more than once a week if needed to get the items I need. I rarely buy much without a coupon - including yarn.
The last thing you will need is yarn. For this project (preemie afghan) you will need to pick two to three skeins of sport weight or worsted yarn. This type of yarn is good for beginners because it does not split easily (where the threads that make the yarn untwine and your hook goes in between the
threads). There are tons of pretty yarns out there, and when you are more advanced I encourage
you to explore the various options, but as a beginner you are best off with sport weight or worsted
weight. Save the soft fuzzy stuff or fancy stuff for later. But do look for a yarn that has a soft feel to it so it will not be scratchy against the baby's skin. I love the Caron Simply Soft of Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn.
You can find what type of yarn you are looking at by reading the label. Generally, sport weight yarn is size 4. The size is usually indicated in a box on the label. Pick two solid colors and one variegated (multicolored), or three solid colors. Variegated yarns tend to be slightly thinner than solid sport weight yarns, and to me, just slightly softer, but it can be used well along with solid colors. The frustrating part often is finding a solid color that actually matches the variegated yarn. You would think they would make it match perfectly, but they do not. I have often been surprised though at how well colors look with the variegated yarn even when it does not perfectly match, and I really like using a variegated yarn in my projects.
Now that you have all of your tools and yarn, you are ready to begin learning to crochet! The next lesson will teach you about chaining, single crochet and double crochet - the most common crochet stitches. We will also review basic abbreviations for pattern reading.
Crochet 101 Shopping List
• US K 10.5/6.50 mm hook aluminum Susan Bates hook
• small pair of scissors
• small case to hold all tools
• 3 skeins of sport weight yarn in different colors or 1 variegated and 2 solid color yarns
• STORE COUPONS! Save money!
