Learn to Crochet: The Foundation Chain

When it comes to any sort of 'hobby' craft (even when I'm just playing with graphics, it isn't just a hobby), crochet rivals any other as being my favorite.

I was lucky enough to have a wonderful Grandmother who taught me how to crochet. Or tried, bless her. She was successful in teaching me how to do a foundation chain and turn for single crochet but I quickly lost the knowledge of how to do a single crochet (hey, I was pretty young). Later in life I was able to pick the art back up and was lucky enough to still have my Grandmother's patient help - even hurrying over when I had a yarn tension emergency - to reteach me the ways of crochet.

Learning crochet can seem mystifying. It doesn't have to be.

Pick up a single skein of whatever pretty yarn you like best (just get something inexpensive), a size F or G crochet hook, and start learning online!

I take absolutely no credit for the animated gif tutorials on learning crochet that I will be sharing. They have been created by and are fully copyright to Crochet Gifs on Tumblr. They are simply the most stunning way to learn crochet that I've yet found and when possible I will be continuing the collection with animated gifs that are either showing my hands or illustrated ... we'll see ;)

So. The most important stitch to learn and where you need to start: The Foundation Chain. This is where the largest number of crochet patterns you use will start.

First, Crochet Gif's beautiful work:

 

I love visuals. They help me more than almost anything else. Is there something better? Yup. Pairing visuals with good instructions.

Learning the Foundation Chain or Chain Stitch is the first thing you should get comfortable with when learning crochet. The real trick is to make sure that every time you pull your hook through a loop, as shown above, you don't tighten the loop made. If there is one common mistake beginners make, it's trying to crochet too tightly. What you want is to practice to the point that your loops (stitches) are even, evenly spaced, and that your crochet hook can easily slide in and out of each stitch without having to shove - or having it just slip right through. It's a fine line, but you can get there.

To create the foundation chain, you need to begin with a slip knot. Do not tighten your slipknot too much yet - your crochet hook needs to be inserted through the hole. With this done, pinch the slipknot between your thumb and forefinger and slide your hook though the loop to hook the yarn and wrap the yarn over the hook from the back to the front of the hook (this is called a yarn over and is often abbreviated YO). Not moving your fingers, draw the hook with its looped yarn back through the loop on your hook. Slide the new loop (stitch) to the shaft of your hook to complete one chain stitch.

Repeat this process: yarn over, hook and draw through the loop on your hook. You'll notice that you consistently rotate between 1 loop on the hook to 2 loops and back to 1 loop again with each stitch you make. 

Continue making chain stitches for as many as your pattern calls for - or, for practice, try doing them in sets of 40. This allows you to learn when the chain feels too tight or too loose. You will also be able to see where chain stitches are uneven. To fix this, you simply need practice.

Finally, let's talk about counting chain stitches in a foundation chain. Turn your chain so that the "V" shapes of the stitches are lined up along the chain. Do not count the slipknot or the loop that is still on your hook. Every "V" between the slipknot and the loop on your hook, though, is a single stitch. So if you're working 40 stitches, you should be able to count 40 "V" shapes when you're done with a set.