How to Teach Someone to Crochet

Teaching someone — even yourself — how to crochet is actually a lot easier than you might think. If you’ve been crocheting for a long time and all the stitches have basically become muscle memory, you may find it difficult to teach someone to crochet simply because breaking down crochet to easy steps can suddenly seem hard!

That’s why we’ve put together this helpful article — after all, who doesn’t want to welcome some more crocheters to the crochet crowd?

How do you start teaching someone to crochet?

We’ve found that learning how to crochet may differ from person to person — and when you’re teaching you soon learn to adapt to their style of learning rather than enforcing your own.

For example, while teaching a friend, we found that she struggled (at first) to work back and forth in rows, but immediately picked up the stitches when taught how to work in rounds. So, if you find that someone is struggling, try to look at the stitches from another angle, so to speak.

The easiest order to teach crochet stitches in, are:

Chain stitch — Chain stitches form the base of most crochet projects (unless you’re using a magic circle, but more on that later), so this is a good place to start. It is also good exercise to teach tension and how to best hold the yarn.
Single crochet — Teaching the single crochet stitch second is also important because all of the other stitches (half double crochet, double crochet, etc.) build in complexity on this crochet stitch.
Half double crochet — The next step in complexity when it comes to crochet stitches is the half double crochet. It’s easy to see how stitches build on each other and also build in height if you make one block (with about 15 stitches as a foundation row)and make all the different stitches on that same block.
Double crochet — The double crochet is used a lot in scarves, shawls, clothes, and doilies or mandalas and is also the stitch which can be seen as the “beginning” of all the treble stitches.

The treble stitches and advanced stitches can then be taught after these.

If you’re teaching, or wanting to learn, UK crochet stitch terminology, simply check out this blogpost about crochet terminology that we did a while ago.

Of course you need a crochet hook and yarn, but the way in which lessons are given may make someone choose to give up on crochet altogether. Here are some tips to keep in mind when teaching or planning to teach.

Instilling confidence is key

When starting to teach someone to crochet, giving them confidence is key to succeeding. We’ve found that first showing (slowly) how a stitch is done and even breaking down a simple design into it’s different stitches (for example chain and double crochet) does help. This is because it turns a larger project from something that you need to know hundreds of stitches for into a simple pattern that only needs two easy-to-learn stitches. The confidence that you can learn crochet and even learn it quickly is then there very quickly.

Praise as you go

Once you’ve started to teach any of the stitches or patterns, praise the person learning as you go. Not only do they then know that they are on the right track to become adept at crochet, but they also know that they are getting better with every stitch and every practice!

Share your own story

We’ve found that sharing the story of how you learned to crochet — for example how and when you were taught — can also help a lot as it shows that you weren’t just born with the ability or woke up one day being able to crochet. Sometimes we look at other crafters and wonder how on earth they do something, forgetting that learning and mastering a craft can take a lot of practice.

It also helps to tell of your projects that have turned out less than perfect or even those that was a complete flop.

Be patient and keep it informal

Just as you didn’t get a hang of tension and stitches immediately, so, too, the person you’re teaching will struggle at first. By not losing your temper or becoming impatient you may find that they will learn a lot faster than if put under a lot of stress. This is also why informal classes work better.

Start with an easy project

By starting with an easy project - whether working in rows or on the round — you’ll find that their confidence grows faster and that they are also more likely to keep on crocheting as they won’t get as frustrated or make a lot of mistakes.

Start with yarn, not thread

Thread (even number 5 thread) can be very tricky to work with and the thinner the yarn or thread, the more difficult it is to see and count stitches and keep your tension constant. Rather teach at least the first few classes and first project with yarn that is either Aran or worsted weight and the size crochet hook that suits the yarn you’ll be working with.

Don’t start with novelty yarn

Although novelty yarns can be very beautiful and interesting to work with, they are not the best yarns for a beginner. You want the person you’re teaching to be able to see and count their stitches clearly, after all.

How to give your first crochet lesson

Now that you’re ready to give your first crochet lesson, you can use some of the videos we’ve listed below as a way to see how fast or slow to work the stitches, how to explain the stitches, etc.

The videos start with the magic circle and chain stitch before starting with single crochet, half double crochet, and double crochet.

Magic Circle by MJ Carlos