If you are reading this post, I am assuming you are just starting out with your crochet journey. Hopefully you can put these crochet tips for beginners to use. First let me say… Welcome to the tribe!! The crochet community is so much fun. It is such an amazing and useful skill to have and there is an abundance of support online from fellow crocheters. I know how much crochet has brought to my life and I hope you will embrace it and enjoy it’s benefits as much as I do. I love learning new things and improving on my crochet skills. Recently, I have found that I have a passion for teaching others to crochet. I have three daughters, two of whom are still babies, but I look forward to them being old enough for me to start teaching. Quality crochet time with momma sounds like a great idea!

But enough about me…. let’s get into some of the crochet tips for beginners I have for you. I have learned all these tips from personal experience and unfortunately, had to learn a few the hard way. But keep these 11 crochet tips for beginners ( I like odd numbers) in mind and it should make your life a little easier.

***This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you purchase the products I recommend, I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you, to help support this website.

1. Wind Your Yarn Into Balls

Tangling is a real problem. Trust me… I know! I have spent way too much time in my early crochet days untangling the most knarly knotted messes and to say it’s frustrating, is an understatement. You may be tempted to just start working on a project straight from the skein of yarn that is just how you purchased it, but winding it into tight balls has several benefits. It helps prevent tangling and knots that happen all too easily with normal skeins. It also helps you keep a more uniform and steady tension while crocheting, which makes your project look much better and helps you stay on gauge. To prevent the balls of yarn unraveling and becoming tangled when storing them, try using a bobby pin to secure the end of yarn to the ball. I sometimes even use baby barettes.

2. Always Do A Gauge Swatch

If you are like me, you are impatient to start working on a new pattern and are irritated by having to stop to make a gauge swatch first. But skipping the gauge swatch is a bad idea! Depending on the type of pattern you are doing, gauge is extremely important to get the sizing accurate. When I first started crocheting, I didn’t realize the importance of this. Now I do. People crochet differently with varying levels of tension. Some are more loose crocheters, some crochet more tightly. To get accurate sizing, you need to test to make sure that with the size hook and the type of yarn the pattern suggests, your tension allows you to get the same measurements as intended in the pattern. Just remember to make a gauge swatch larger than the 4 inch by 4 inch square (standard), and measure from somewhere in the middle, instead of from the edges to get accurate measurements. If you are wondering what all this talk of gauge really means and how to make a gauge swatch, I suggest you check out this video where Kristin Omdahl (love her) explains gauge swatches pretty thoroughly.

3. Count Your Crochet Stitches… And Rows!

It’s happened to all crocheters at some point… having to frog (unravel) a row, or even worse, several rows to backtrack and fix a mistake made by messing up the stitch count. If you skip even one stitch, or accidentally work the wrong stitch, it can throw your whole project off. Count those stitches! Compare it with the stitch count in the pattern you are working to make sure you are on track. Also count your rows to know exactly where you are in the progression of the pattern. If all this sounds like too much extra effort and energy, invest in a stitch/ row counter. They are inexpensive and very much worth it. You just hit a button, or a clicker every time you reach the end of a row. It will make following along with the pattern much easier. Try this one, which has worked for me so far….

4. Work Your Tails Into Your Piece As You Are Crocheting

If you are switching colors often in your projects, you will come to hate the part where you have lots and lots of little yarn tails that you have to weave in at the end. To save you the frustration, start working your ends in with the other stitches as you are crocheting them. It’s simple… just crochet around the yarn tail and it disappears into your stitches and becomes invisible. It also secures them better so that they are less likely to come loose and unravel.

5. Use The Magic Ring / Magic Circle

Oooh…magic!! Sounds exciting right? Not too exciting but definitely useful and a much more efficient way to begin a circular crochet piece. The magic ring (often called the magic circle) can be used in place of chaining and slip stitching to form the beginning ring. The great thing about it ….the “magic” part is that you can pull the tail end and tighten it up enough to close tightly the opening in the center of circle, which you cannot do if you use the other chaining method. For a step by step, with video, on how to do this, check out this tutorial by LoveCrochet.

6. Use Stitch Markers, Or Improvise With Objects You Already Have

When trying to keep track of certain places in your project, such as the first stitch in a round of crochet in the round, use stitch markers. It makes it so much easier than trying to eyeball it, or having to repeatedly count stitches to find your place. Stitch markers are cheap but I find it easier (and even cheaper) to use objects I already have, and that you probably have too. Bobby pins work great. So do paperclips. Or if all else fails, take a small piece of yarn, in a contrasting color, and tie it around the stitch you want to mark.

7. Get Creative With Your Yarn Storage

I have quite an extensive yarn stash, and if you don’t already, you probably will too at some point. The yarn addiction seems to be a totally normal, and acceptable, part of being a crochet enthusiast. There is never enough yarn! My husband doesn’t quite understand this. But you do I’m sure.

So get creative with your storage options. The clear bags with zippers that bedding comes in works great and is what I use to keep together all my yarn balls of a certain color, or of a certain type. The ability to zip these up also keeps out tiny little fingers, as I have toddlers who like to explore, and occasionally wonder into my yarn corner. I have a shelving unit that has the little cubby like square shelf sections and I slide canvas or plastic bins into them to separate and organize my yarn stash. This shelving unit works great and is available in multiple colors…..

However you choose to store your yarn, make sure the ends are secured and not just tossed in loosely with other balls/skeins because you will, most likely, have a tangled mess to deal with eventually.

8. Wind Yarn Around DVD Cases To Make Tassels Or Fringes

Many crochet patterns, of course, have tassels or fringes added to the bottom. Who doesn’t love some fringe here and there? I know I do. To help make cutting yarn quicker and easier, as well as helping you to cut yarn sections of equal lengths, try winding yarn around and around a DVD case or a thin book. Anything that is square or rectangular and not too thick. This will save you the time from eyeballing or actually measuring out section after section of equal length yarn for your tassels or fringe.

9. Use Foundation Stitches Instead Of Chains To Begin A Project

Depending on the type of pattern you are working, foundation stitches can make the beginning edge of your piece look neater and more uniform with the rest of your rows. Instead of chaining a number of chain stitches to begin your first row of crochet, replace it with the foundation stitch technique. It doesn’t matter if you are doing single crochets, half double crochets, double crochets, and so on. The same concept applies to all of them. I actually plan to do a video on my YouTube channel on foundation stitches, but since I have not gotten around to that quite yet, check out my blog post on foundation stitches with tutorials.

10. Softening Your Yarn

Occasionally, you might have a yarn that is a bit too stiff or scratchy for your liking. Or maybe your finished project is just a bit too stiff. I make it a regular habit of softening my projects after they are completed. It is, of course, easier to soften yarn after your piece is complete, instead of trying to soften yarn first and then wind it back into a ball before using. The easiest and most effective way I have found to do this, is to use hair conditioner. Hair conditioner softens yarn fibers the same way it softens hair. I have used several different brands and most are equally effective. I use Pantene most often because I soften a lot of yarn projects and it is inexpensive and works pretty good.

To soften your yarn this way, just fill a sink with hot water and a generous amount of the conditioner and work the crochet piece into the water. I will add that you should check the yarn label to see if you can get the yarn wet/wash it as some yarns and wool you cannot. If it is safe to wash, swish it around so it works the conditioner throughout, and then let it soak for an hour or so. Make sure to rinse it, so it doesn’t dry with a funky smell if conditioner isn’t fully rinsed out. Then either air dry your piece, or throw it in the dryer on low heat (if the type of yarn you used is dryer safe….so make sure to check the label). Your finished crochet project should now be much softer and have more of a drape to it.

This is one of my favorite crochet tips for beginners and one I wish I had known right from the beginning

11. Block Your Projects

I admit that I do not block every finished piece that I make. It all depends on the item itself. However, some crochet pieces look a lot better when blocked. Blocking is a technique to get your finished piece to lay flat (fixes curling issues) and even to stretch a little to a more desired shape. There are several ways you can block a project, the easiest of which, is to spray it generously with water, pin it down to a foam board or something similar and let it dry. Heart Hook Home has a good article on some different ways to block your crochet pieces. Check it out here.

Some awesome blocking mats I came across that have useful grid lines and come with pins to make your blocking more efficient….. Hephaestus Crafts Blocking Mats for Knitting – Pack of 9 GRAY Blocking Boards with Grids for Needlepoint or Crochet. 150 T-pinsH

So there you go. Plenty of crochet tips for beginners that you can use to avoid running into problems and crochet more efficiently. I hope you found them helpful. I will be posting articles here on the blog, with more tips tricks and resources to help the budding crochet artist in you. So check back often! And if you would like to be notified of new posts, or to get exclusive content from The Stitch Vixen, subscribe to the newsletter so I can stay in touch.