Common questions for crochet beginners include ‘what’s the easiest thing to crochet?’ ‘Which is the best crochet stitch?’ ‘How do you crochet a shawl?’ and hopefully I can shed some light on the answers for you by showing you the best shawls and stitches for crochet beginners. 

1. Is a shawl the easiest crochet project for beginners? 

I would argue that a shawl is an easy beginner project. A shawl might seem fancy or out of your reach but let’s break it down: 

• It’s a straightforward shape, whether it be a rectangle, triangle, half circle or full circle. 
• There’s no seaming up (usually). 
• It eats up stash yarn no problem and gives purpose to a pretty yarn cake or a hand dyed skein. 
• You can make a shawl in any weight of yarn and still get something wearable. 
• You can make an entire shawl by using only one type of stitch, making it great practice for beginners. 

2. How do I crochet a shawl? 

There are many ways to make a shawl. You could start from one corner and work your way to the other with increase and decreases, start small and end big by increasing only or chain a long chain and make a rectangle shawl. 

For beginners, aim for a shawl that uses one of these stitches: 

• Double crochet (UK treble)
• Half double crochet (UK half treble)
• Triple stitch (UK Double treble)

These stitches are recommended because of how quick they grow. They’re also taller than the single crochet stitch (UK double) so you will be less likely to get tired of the shawl after a couple of weeks. 

3. Remember your increases and decreases. 

Depending on the shawl, you may need to know how to increase or decrease. For example, the Daphne shawl starts at the yoke (the small semi circle) and grows out widthways. 

To increase, simply make the stitch (in this case it is the double crochet stitch) twice into one chain instead of once. 

If you’d like something a little easier, the Aurora Nox shawl uses only one type of stitch after you’ve set up the yoke. It also has no edging, meaning you can just focus on the stitch pattern. 

Again, it looks more complicated than it actually is! You can read more about the shawl and the featured stitch pattern here. 

Decreases 

To decrease, you can either skip a stitch, or join stitches together. Unless otherwise specified, the decrease will usually be called “dc2tog” or “hdc2tog”. 

Example for double crochet stitch: 

1. Yarn over and insert hook into the chain. Yarn over and pull through. 2 loops on hook. 

2. Yarn over and pull through 2, leaving 2 loops on the hook. 

3. Yarn over and insert hook into the next chain. Yarn over and pull through. 3 loops on hook. 

4. Yarn over and pull through 2, leaving 2 loops on hook.

5. Yarn over and pull through 2, leaving 1 loop on hook. 

You will see that the 2 stitches have been joined together to make one stitch. 

The Titania shawl 

The Titania shawl is similar in concept but combines double crochet stitches to make v stitches. You start in the centre of the shawl and work your way out. 

A one skein beginner crochet shawl pattern: 

The Disturbia shawl is perfect for crochet beginners for a number of reasons: 

1. It requires only 1 skein of yarn. 

2. You can practice your crochet increases. 

3. It only uses 1 stitch throughout. 

4. You can practice joining pieces together, whether it be seaming or a slip stitch join. 

The Disturbia shawl was designed for knitters in particular who want to try their hand at crochet and for crochet beginners who want to practice creating a triangle shawl shape. 

Beginner resources:

Crochet stitch guide for beginners.

Crochet for beginners: US and UK hook sizes.

Where to put your hook in crochet.

Does your yarn split when you crochet? Can you easily pull the row out when you’ve made a mistake? Is fluff getting in your eyes? You could have chosen a bad yarn for crochet… or not. Read on to find out which yarns you should watch out for. 

Here I’ll show you my top 5 yarns that you should watch out for if you’re a beginner and ways to stop your yarn from separating when you work with it. 

1. Mohair or Suri Alpaca 

While mohair and lace work perfectly for knitting, it can be a nightmare for crochet. I think this is because of the amount of handling you do with the fabric. You always have the fabric in your hand while you work the hook. It’s also difficult to see the stitches beneath all of the fuzz. 

2. Very fine yarn e.g. cobweb or lace. 

As well as the stress of chaining such a fine yarn, you can miss stitches easily. You will also find that your tension is uneven with lace yarn as you accidentally loosen your grip to focus on getting into the chains. Leave it til later and stick with it for things that ask for motifs and lace stitches rather than a solid block. 

3. Eyelash yarn

I get it. It’s fun. It’s on special offer in Aldi. This is great for making teddies in particular but if you can’t see the stitches, you’re doomed. Best avoided for beginners. You’ll knot yourself into so much regret. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

4. Single ply or roving types. 

The problem with this is that, if you have really tight tension, you could pull it apart or split it. It’s a pain. If you have accidentally knotted it at the wrong point or messed up a crochet stitch, it can be awful to try and get out of. Best avoided. 

5. Dark coloured yarns 

Can you think why I am saying black and dark yarns are best avoided if you are a beginner? I don’t think I need to explain why. 

What yarns should I use then? 

It’s all well and good me showing you what you shouldn’t use but here’s a list of yarns that you should use. 

Acrylic DK 

Now this depends purely on your preference of what you like to use and hold. Most beginners are fine using a DK acrylic yarn such as Stylecraft Special DK. It comes in every colour of the rainbow and is the top choice for blankets, scarves and other practical beginner sized projects. 

If your acrylic cushion cover ends up on a 40 degree wash by mistake, you don’t have to experience the trauma of shrinkage or felting. It’s a good starter yarn. 

Cotton DK 

This is great if you are learning to make toys or spring/summer projects. Cotton can be quite hard on your hands as it isn’t as bouncy as acrylic and wool, so adjust your crochet hook accordingly. Because it’s not fluffy, it retains its shape well when stitched up. You can therefore see clearly where you’re supposed to be putting your hook. 

How can I stop yarn from splitting? 

Yarn is blamed for splitting all of the time. You can prevent it splitting by the way that you hold it. If you have the yarn in your hand you can untwist it unknowingly. It can also depend on which end of the ball you are using. It’s true that some yarns are just splittier than others and this is because of how it is spun. We can’t help that if that’s the case but I’ll show you how to stop it from splitting here. 

It may not always be the fault of the yarn 

I once had a crochet tester pull out of the test because I’d chosen a “cheap, splitty yarn” for the design. It’s quite a common misconception to think it is always the yarn that is at fault. Even the most luxurious feeling hand dyed yarns can separate and split. 

Think about how yarns are spun. We have several strands (ply) of fibre that are twisted together over and over again to make a thicker, stronger yarn. They are twisted in one direction. If the yarn has been spun and twisted in a clockwise direction and you grab the end of it and start untwisting it as you work, what do you expect to happen? 

Look at this yarn here. One end is from the inside of the ball and the other is from the outside of the ball. The one that came from the inside of the ball (right) is significantly looser than the one that came from outside of the ball. If I was to then start working with it as it is, it will be likely to separate and I’ll split it with my hook. The yarn on the right is already on its way to being separated and therefore difficult to work with. 

Both strands of this yarn are in the S twist direction (The opposite is the Z twist). I will still be working with this yarn but I have to be careful that I don’t untwist the S twist. If you are lucky enough to work with a Z twist yarn, you will most likely add twist when you crochet. 

You can’t do anything about the direction of the twist unless you are also a spinner. I do not expect you to walk into a yarn shop and ask “where are the Z twist yarns? I only like those” I just want you to be aware that the direction of the ply will affect each project. Look out for it and be conscious of how you are working the yarn. 

How can I avoid untwisting? 

Because you are handling the yarn a lot as you work, you need to pay attention to your hand movements. All of us work the yarn in slightly different ways but some of us are guilty of accidentally twisting it in an anticlockwise direction.

Knitters will say it is because of how you are throwing or wrapping the yarn but in crochet we have an extra problem: no unified crochet hold. Some people barely touch the working yarn when they crochet while others have it held between forefinger and thumb. Other factors include the hand we use and how active our hand movements are. The more you touch it, the more it will twist or untwist. 

This is what I mean by ‘untwisting’. The yarn will separate and untwist. What you have to do to avoid this is to pay attention to how you work with the yarn. which end of the hank or ball did you grab the yarn from? What kind of yarn is it? Loose or tight? 

When winding your own yarn out of a hank, pay attention to which end seems to be looser. Wind it in a way that the tighter end is the end you work with. 

When opening a new ball of yarn, inspect the end that comes out of the centre and the end that is on the outside of the ball. Choose the tighter one. 

You can also move your fingertips in a way that adds twist to the yarn as you work. 

This is what we are aiming for. We need to hold the yarn in a way that compliments the direction in which it is twisting. Working against it won’t help. 

I’ve tried this but it still doesn’t work 

If you seem to split yarn no matter what you do, try looking out for yarns that specifically say “high twist” in their descriptions. This way, they will at least be harder for you to untwist. 

There will always be yarns that we don’t like and won’t work for us. I’m not saying that there are no “cheap, splitty” yarns out there but we can at least try to identify if we are the problem first. 

I hope this helps! 

Hanna 

 See also: 

How to join granny squares

How to block granny squares

Crochet stitch guide for beginners

Here I will debunk several crochet myths and misunderstandings that I have encountered on social media. 

1. Crochet is just like knitting but with one needle. 

Lies. It is a completely different craft. Firstly, crochet requires a hook, not a needle. The hook is used to pull loops through chains. Do not let anyone mansplain crochet to you. It’s a hook!

2. You can’t crochet if you’re left handed. 

False. You can crochet if you’re left handed. Crochet is worked right to left if you are right handed and left to right if you are left handed. I’ve taught left handed crocheters as well as a right handed. If you’re working in the round, there’s no wrong side most of the time so work anti clockwise and enjoy yourself. 

3. Crochet is hard to make garments with because it creates really dense stitches. 

Not true. Take a look at my blog post How to create crochet fabric that drapes and you’ll see that it is not dense. If you use chunky yarn and a small hook, it will be dense. You’d get the same thickness problem with small needles and a thicker yarn, so use common sense.

4. Crochet is an old lady hobby.

While I do not doubt that older ladies may like to crochet, this isn’t exclusive to that demographic. Crochet is enjoyed by people of all ages. The more you believe that kind of mythical trope, the more likely your work colleague who was thinking of taking it up to help with their stress and anxiety is not going to bother. Crochet is for everyone.  Now, please excuse me while I scroll through my Instagram feed and like all of the amazing crochet bikinis and dresses that the gen z makers are wearing in their photos. 

I was really saddened to learn that my aunts didn’t ever share their crochet knowledge with me because they worried “it’s an old lady thing”. I was sad because they felt they had to hide it. There are still people out there who you might come across at work, at the park or in coffee shops who wink as though you’re in some kind of secret club that isn’t allowed to take centre stage. In the bin with that!

5. Crochet can be machine made 

Not true. Crochet can only be done by hand. Machinery would help justify the criminally low wages that the crocheters who make your high street clothing are paid but it doesn’t exist. Those people sit there all day and make a top that might end up in landfill a few months later. Knitwear can be made using a machine but crochet cannot. 

People will try and tell you that crochet machines exist but you’re going to go on Google and search for a ‘crochet machine’ and find several results for rocking horse poo first. I’ll wait… 

6. Crochet is tacky. 

This is based on opinion. While some crochet is tacky I’m not going to piss on somebody else’s chips. What might not appeal to me will appeal to someone else. Nicole Scherzinger was doing a little dance on Tiktok wearing a bikini and cute granny square skirt. I thought it was quite nice but there were plenty of comments saying “My Nan has this on her couch”. I can only think that those ladies were jealous of either Nicole or the crochet… or both. 

We have to keep it real here. Not all crochet is appealing to everybody. It is purely subjective. Don’t force people to agree with you based on your crochet ideals. Just be happy for the tacky and be thankful that it’s not in your living room, ok? 

7. Crochet is harder than knitting. 

This is another common misconception about crochet. It is not harder it’s different.  Knitters will approach crochet and forget that it takes weeks, months or years to get good at it. If you were a level 7 in Piano, would you start learning guitar and expect to enter at a grade 6? Hopefully not. It’s the same principle in crochet. Although they both work with identical yarns, knitting and crochet are cousins, not twins. 

I always think to myself ‘if young Irish girls could learn it using only a basic steel 1.5mm hook and thread, how hard can it be?’ I don’t know how they could do that as I can barely see a 2mm but they did, somehow. There’s a knack and you have to find it. Some of you may have the knack for Irish crochet and others, like me, will not. That’s ok. Try another form of crochet instead. If you’re of Irish descent, like me, you may have wanted to honour your fore mothers (or great grandmother in my case) and try and keep the tradition going but sometimes it’s not possible. 

Crochet can be hard but that’s not always the crochet’s fault. Try changing up your hooks, expectations, yarns, patterns and skill set. Maybe you need to stick with pot holders for a while longer. That’s ok. These things take time. 

You have to be patient with yourself. You’re learning a new skill. You went to school for years to learn to read and write to a good standard, didn’t you? Why should crochet be any different? 

Can you think of any other crochet myths? What have you come across?

Further reading:

A Brief History Of Crochet

Crochet Stitch Guide For Beginners

Crochet Hook Conversion Chart

Do you ever wonder where crochet comes from? Here’s a brief history of crochet. 

Crochet is everywhere right now if you open social media but do you ever wonder where crochet comes from?

If you’re a participant in this magnificent craft or know someone who is, you may have once wondered where crochet comes from. Here’s a brief history of crochet.

If you know nothing about crochet, let me clarify a few things:

• It wasn’t invented by Sh**n, that’s for sure.
• You may be able to buy a crochet tank for £15 from the high street but if you knew what work goes into it, you might think twice. 
• Crochet is an art form. One person has done that with one hook. It could have taken them hours, weeks or months to make. 
• Crochet cannot be made by machine. It is just not possible to crochet using machinery. There are knitting machines but not crochet machines. It can only be done by hand. How many other things can you think of that can’t be made by a machine? 

Where does crochet come from? 

Crochet is thought to come from Asia originally.

Crochet is thought to have originated in the Middle East, China and South America a very long time ago. It is theorised that it was pre-1700s but the exact dates are unknown (possibly because it was the work of lower class women? Not worth documenting, right? Thanks Patriarchy). It bears a close relation to the ancient art of Chinese embroidery. I’ll show you how this links up to what crochet looked like when it reached Europe. 

This piece is taken from the Tang Dynasty (618-906). It’s an embroidered shirt that once belonged to someone of the upper classes. Embroidered garments were worn according to wealth and the stitches used were a combination of chain stitches and straight stitches. It’s the chain stitches that are of interest here, as they resemble modern crochet chains. 

Like with one needle, we work with one hook for crochet. We don’t thread anything through the hook but we do make chains and build on what has previously been laid out. Think of the granny square: we start in the centre after making chains and we build on every stitch to create more stitches. They have to connect with chains. 

Crochet in European history.

When crochet came to Europe in the 1700s, the main reason was lace. Lace was a luxury item. It was expensive, sought after and worn by the elites of European nations. Think cuffs, veils, collars, neckerchiefs and gowns made of delicate silks and fine cotton. 

Image shows a mid-1800s shawl made with Blonde bobbin lace, France (Collection of Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles, Berkeley, CA) 

There were two types of lace used in Europe: Needle lace and bobbin lace. Both were a way of creating see through embroidery-like fabric. 

Lace, a decorative openwork web, was first developed in Europe during the sixteenth century. Two distinct types of lace making—needle lace and bobbin lace—began simultaneously. Needle lace is made with a single needle and thread, while bobbin lace entails the plaiting of many threads. Lace thread was typically made from linen, and later silk or metallic gold threads, followed by cotton in the nineteenth century. 

Lace: A Sumptuous History 1600s–1900s

Lace was so popular that in some European courts, the wearing and importing of lace from particular countries was banned. It was heavily sought after and inevitably smuggled. As lace making was painstakingly time consuming and expensive, tatting and crochet were born in the 1800s.

This was a way of making lace-like items in a quicker, more cost effective way. Working class girls could take it up as a way of earning a living. It was a domestic skill rather than industrial and it would benefit women most. Throughout 18th century Europe, women were crocheting behind closed doors as a way of boosting their household income. It was one of the only jobs a woman could do in a time before equal rights and flexible working. As it was difficult to get a job if you had to care for several small children, a household and a husband, lace was worth investigating. 

Crochet in the 1800s

Crochet could not have come to Europe at a better time. It was during Ireland’s potato famine that it particularly brought benefits to Irish girls and women. They could earn money by making beautiful motifs, shawls, tablecloths and much more. 

Irish crochet basically mimics lace. It is constructed from a main motif that is repeated several times (in this case, a flower) and is joined by mesh stitches. This is all done with a small, steel crochet hook and crochet thread. Isn’t it amazing? There’s no crochet quite like it. If you laid this on to some plain fabric, it would resemble embroidery. 

In the book Masterpieces of Irish Crochet Lace Mary Carolyn Waldrep writes: 

The delicate three dimensional flowers, leaves and sprays that characterise Irish crochet are considered by many to be the finest example of that crocheter’s art. This beautiful craft was originally developed mid-19th century Ireland as a method of imitating expensive Venetian point laces. Within a few years it was being taught in almost every convent in the country and by the 1880’s there were at least 12,000 women in Cork and its surrounding area alone engaged in making crochet lace.

Irish crochet lace enjoyed fame into the late 19th century until competition from machine made lace pushed it to one side. It did not die off though! It is still being enjoyed to this day. 

Modern crochet

As lace was taking a back seat into the 20th century, crochet developed more and more. Patterns that had been shared in women’s periodicals were still being shared well into the 20s and 30s and crochet enjoyed significant prominence in the 60s and 70s. The threads got thicker and as it was a fast activity, trends could be kept up with. Here’s a timeline of iconic crochet garments from the 1930’s to the 1980’s. 

1930’s 

1940’s 

1950’s

1960’s 

1970’s 

 1980’s 

Think about it: some of the most stylish garments that you could get your hands on could be made by you.

Crochet in 20th century history.

In the 20th century, fabrics and yarns were significantly cheaper than buying ready made garments on the high street. Even with the boom of cheaper synthetic clothing and textiles in the 1960’s, you could save money by making your own clothing. 

Crochet in the modern world.

We live in a different world today but with a bit of encouragement (and the existential crisis we face with pollution and planet destruction thanks to our titanic internet fast fashion brands), slow fashion and DIY wardrobes are making a comeback. Did you notice that there’s not a granny square or toilet roll cover in sight here? Yes, me too. 

Contemporary crochet

I won’t share 90’s to now because I think over the last 30 years we have been revisiting, redesigning and embracing the retro. In the 90s, some cardigans were still very much all about the bat wing or man-sized fit to billow or hang off the female form (think Princess Diana). In the late 90s and early 00s it was very much fitted and sometimes barely there (Britney had a knack for sweet girl-next door wearing hardly anything). I love that from the 2010’s to the 2020’s you can have any style of crochet that you like. We really celebrate the differences in taste, body shape, body size and colour preferences. It’s a good time to crochet!

The 60s and 70s were very much documented as the “crochet boom” of the 20th century but I think we are in a boom right now. It’s not just about granny squares or imitating lace; crochet has evolved. 

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of crochet. I certainly did.

Hanna Gough is a crochet and knitwear designer from Liverpool, UK. She published knitting and crochet patterns on her blog as well as tutorials and blog articles on knitting, crochet, hobbies and crafts.

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Now, where did I put my hook? 

Further Reading: 

How To Get Started With Crochet

Crochet stitch guide for beginners

Why you should try the granny square

A Short History of Chinese Embroidery