To get started with crochet, all you need is yarn and a crochet hook. First, you need to tie a slip knot with the yarn, insert the hook through the loop, and tighten the yarn around the hook.
For a right-handed person, you will hold the hook in the right hand and the yarn in the left hand. I like to weave the yarn over my fingers so that it’s easier to maintain tension on the yarn. There are two ways to hold the crochet hook. You can hold it like a knife, or you can hold it like a pencil.
The first step in many patterns is to make a starting chain. Put the loop under the working yarn from the front and catch the yarn in the hook. Pull it through the loop on the hook. Continue until you’ve reached the number of stitches indicated by the pattern you’re working with. To turn and work back down the starting chain, skip one chain for single crochet, two chains for half double crochet, or three chains for double crochet, then insert your hook in the next chain and complete a stitch. Continue working stitches along the chain until you reach the end of the row.
For instructions about basic crochet stitches, see the next tutorial.