Help a beginner understand? Crochet

hi everyone. i need help understanding. i m extremely new to this and trying to get this. i go up to making chains and now i cannot count if there are 5 chains and u go in middle of the heart shaped there going to be 4 points to go in? am i counting right? how to do this i m so lost. can some pne help me how to count how many chains i made. and from what is the point that i should my hook in? is there a really good website explaining this.:??

HELP!:waah: Crossed Fingers

1 Like

I think there’s videos at crochetville.com that may help you.

i didnt find any videos at crochetville, do u have the url ?

I have some crochet videos on my website which you might find helpful. You can click HERE to get to a list of all my crochet information. The first section lists all the video tutorials I have done on crochet.

To try and answer your immediate question, each of the heart shapes you are talking about is one chain stitch. So if you count the number of heart shapes you have, that is the number of chains you have done. The loop on the hook does not count as a chain.

I hope this helps.

MGM

1 Like

No, I thought they might have. However I did a google search on ā€˜crochet videos for beginners’ and got these results.

Ooops, and that’s crochetville.org and I guess it’s mainly a forum with some online classes for advanced techniques.

The Lion website has some learn to crochet pages.

You may also do a search on YouTube. They may have some crochet videos as well. Good luck.

[color=ā€œ#330099ā€]
Sue, perhaps you were thinking of NexStitch?

http://www.nexstitch.com/v_crochet_videos.html

A chain looks like a string of ā€œVā€ shapes on the top and a ridge of purl bumps on the bottom or back. ( see http://www.fiber-images.com/Free_Things/How_Tos/free_how_to_crochet.html#FoundationRow )

Don’t count the loop on the hook nor the slip knot.
Below the ā€œOā€ is the loop on the hook. There are four chain stitches and the * is the knot and / the tail.

O
V
V
V
V
*
/

or

Most of the time you count moving away from the hook.

With a chain 4 you can DC in the 4th chain from the hook, then DC in the same chain 5 more times and join with a slip stitch. This is one way to start crochet in the round for doily or Amigurumi.

One great thing about crochet is how versatile it can be. Where you put you hook into a starting chain is actually a small variation so long as you are consistent.

The above image is from www.fiber-images.com page on How to Crochet which has some clear drawings on foundation chains and also where to insert your hook.

When you have loosely crocheted your foundation chain. The next step is to follow their link to ā€œChart for Crochet Turning Chains.ā€

If you get your crochet pattern from the Internet, please note that outside the USA crochet stitch names change.
[/COLOR]

I’d always heard crochetville.org was a good resource for crocheters, but had never been there. Now I see it’s mainly a forum. Lion yarns website has some How to Crochet and Knit pages which have both videos and drawings.

It is a forum. I used to be on there all the time until I found out about this site. Crochetville is a pretty good resource, but over here it’s much, much more informative. I love this site! :muah:

Count your chains by holding the hook sideways and letting the chains dangle down. Don’t count the loop on the hook, but start with the one right below it. The front of the chains look like V’s or heart shapes. One V equals one chain. If the directions say ā€œwork into the 5th chain from the hookā€, you would skip 4 V’s and work into the fifth one. Most people do this by inserting the hook underneath the two strands that make up the V, inbetween the V and the bump. I taught myself how to crochet, so I stick my hook between the V, into the middle of the heart, as you said.

The easiest way to explain this is in terms of knitting. If you take a string of chains and hold it out with the V side up, it looks like a column of stockinette stitches. The opposite side of this is a row of bumps.

1 Like

Thanks, MGM, for the link to your videos. They are great! I have been knitting for a while, and now I am starting to dabble in crochet. So far I have been using internet sources and books from the library to learn. I haven’t attempted a real pattern yet! LOL