Crochet History & Basics

Crochet for absolute beginners

When you learn any art form, it is good to know some facts about it. It is also good to know its origin and its history, that way you can relate to it not only physically but also emotionally, in a better way, I guess..! This post tells few things about crochet history, crochet in India and few basic stitches that you should know or learn if you want to go to a crochet Adventureland.

Crochet History

While evidences of knitting and other forms of handwork can be found during ancient times, the origin of Crochet and where or how or when it started is unknown. The word Crochet comes from French word croc, or croche for hook. But it is believed that Crochet established itself as a form of Craft somewhere during the late 16^th century.

Unlike today, earlier people used whatever they could get their hands on, to crochet but now we have wide range of hooks for different types of yarn/thread. Earlier Crochet was mostly used to create laces now you can use Crochet to create almost anything from toys to garments to home décor to home furnishing.. ohhhk, for now I think this will suffice…!!!

Crochet in India

I think, Crochet in India is still evolving. Knitting is more popular than Crochet, Crochet is limited to Toran ( kind of door hanging – it is believed to be very auspicious), prayer mats and rugs and coasters. But beyond this you will not find anyone creating beautiful afghans or throw or blankets or texture rich cushion blocks. I think this is mainly due to the climate (India's overall climate being hot and humid, the average temperature is around 32⁰ to 40⁰ C ) and also due to unavailability of premium quality crochet yarn like Scheepje’s stone washed or stylecraft special DK or Red heart with love, again, you will find knitting yarn more easily. But still you can use yarn from Ganga Acrowools or Vardhaman and make all beautiful crochet projects.

Basic Stitches:

Today we are going to learn few basic stitches.

Chain Stitch – ch

Chain stitch is the foundation element of crochet and mostly all the crochet projects start with chain, unless you are comfortable making and using magic ring.

To make chain, start with a slip knot, place your hook in the slip knot, grab the long end of the yarn, pull the yarn up and over the hook (also known as yarn over “yo” in crochet terms).
Pull the yarn through slip knot loop.. Congratulations…!!! You have just made your first chain..
Repeat until you have desired number of chains to start your project.

Single crochet stitch – sc

Single crochet is very basic stitch, it is also known as double crochet in UK terms, I will always be using US terminology in this blog unless otherwise specified.

To make sc, with one loop on the hook, insert the hook in the indicated stch (from the front to back under the two loops of the indicated stch), draw the yarn through the stich, yarn over again, draw yarn through both the loops on the hook. That’s your first single crochet stich. Single crochet stitch is shortest of all the stiches (I am not counting slip stitch here..!!). In any crochet project beginning single crochet will be chain 1.

By just using single crochet stich you can make variety of items from coaster to blanket. There are variety of stitches which uses sc to create a different patterns and textures like long single crochet, Moss stitch. We will discuss this later.

Half Double Crochet Stitch – hdc

Half Double Crochet is little taller than single crochet and is denoted as hdc. There are two types of HDC, simple half double crochet and Herringbone half double crochet.

To make simple half double crochet, with one loop (from previous stitch) on the hook, yarn over, insert the hook in the indicated stch (from the front to back under the two loops of the indicated stch), draw the yarn through the stich, yarn over again, draw yarn through all three loops on the hook. That’s your simple half double crochet.

To make herringbone half double crochet, with one loop (from previous stitch) on the hook, yarn over, insert the hook in the indicated stch (from the front to back under the two loops of the indicated stch), draw the yarn through the stich, draw the yarn again through the first of the two loops on the hook, yarn over again, draw yarn through all the loops on the hook. That’s your Herringbone half double crochet.

Half double crochet is very versatile stitch, not too short and not too long, not to compact and not too lacy. You can make nice beanie just using the half double crochet (in the back loop) which also gives nice ribbed effect. I made mine using herringbone hdc. Simple and easy..!!

Double Crochet Stitch – dc

Double Crochet is another very basic stitch which you will need to learn in your journey to Crochetland. This is, as you would have understood by now, taller than half double crochet. In most of the crochet projects, the beginning dc will be chain 3.

To make double crochet, with one loop (from previous stitch) on the hook, yarn over, insert the hook in the indicated stch (from the front to back under the two loops of the indicated stch), draw the yarn through the stich, yarn over again, draw yarn through first two of the three loops, now you’ll have two loops on the hook, yarn over again, pull through all the remaining loops. And that’s your double crochet.. Yay..!! you have done it.

Double crochet fabric is not dense as sc fabric or even hdc but it is fairly solid which make it a great choice for afghans, throws, blankets, sweaters etc.

Half Treble Crochet Stich – htr

The height of the half treble crochet is same as double crochet so the chains for beginning stitch or the turning chain for this stitch is chain 3 only, the difference is how it is made and the texture produced by htr.

To make half treble crochet stitch, with one loop (from previous stitch) on the hook, yarn over twice, insert the hook in the indicated stitch (from the front to back under the two loops of the indicated stitch), draw the yarn through the stitch (you will have four loops on the hook), yarn over again, draw yarn through first two of the four loops, now you’ll have three loops on the hook, yarn over again, pull through all the remaining loops. And that’s your half treble crochet stitch.

Treble (Triple) Crochet Stitch – tr

Treble crochet stitch is little taller than the double crochet or half treble crochet and works up easily. Treble crochet creates nice longer openings between the stitches which makes very loose fabric when crocheted continuously. Number of chains used for beginning stitch or for turning chain is 4.

To make treble crochet stitch, with one loop (from previous stitch/chain) on the hook, yarn over twice, insert the hook in the indicated stitch (from the front to back under the two loops of the indicated stitch), draw the yarn through the stitch (you will have four loops on the hook), yarn over again, draw yarn through first two of the four loops, now you’ll have three loops on the hook, yarn over again, draw yarn through first two of the three loops, yarn over again, pull through all the remaining loops, and this completes your treble crochet stitch.

Double Treble Crochet Stitch – dtr

Double treble crochet stitch is the tallest among the basic crochet stitches. It is often used to give height to the project or when you are changing the shape of your project from round to square. This stitch also make very loose fabric and number of chains required to make beginning stitch or for turning chain is 5.

To make double treble crochet stitch, with one loop (from previous stitch/chain) on the hook, yarn over thrice, insert the hook in the indicated stitch (from the front to back under the two loops of the indicated stitch), draw the yarn through the stitch (you will have five loops on the hook), yarn over again, draw yarn through first two of the five loops, now you’ll have four loops on the hook, yarn over again, draw yarn through first two of the four loops, now you’ll have three loops on the hook, yarn over again, draw yarn through first two of the three loops, yarn over again, pull through all the remaining loops, and this completes your double treble crochet stitch.

Summary: Remember the following when you are making sc, dc or tr or even dtr.

While making sc, you simply insert the hook in the indicated stitch and pull through all the loops (insert & pull up a loop, pull through all)
While making hdc, (yo, insert & pull up a loop, yo, pull through all)

While making dc, (yo, insert & pull up a loop, yo, pull through 2, yo, pull through all)
While making htr, (yo, yo, insert & pull up a loop, yo, pull through 2, yo, pull through all)

While making tr, (yo, yo, insert & pull up a loop, yo, pull through 2, yo, pull through 2, yo, pull through all)

While making dtr, (yo,yo,yo, insert & pull up a loop, yo, pull through 2, yo, pull through 2, yo, pull through 2, yo, pull through all)

Lastly, I would like share some WoW (Words of Wisdom)..😃

Love,

Life is worth living, it's about being happy anyways...!!!

Happy Crocheting..!!

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