What is Your Favorite Crochet Tip?
Discovering a new crochet tip is like… finding gold! Crochet tips can help us keep organized, create straighter edges, prevent gaping holes in the center of our hats and circular creations, keep track of our projects, remember which row or stitch we’re on… and more.
Please scroll down to share your favorite crochet tips. There is so much we can learn from one another. FYI – Please reread your tip before posting, to make sure it’s as clear as possible.
Here are a few tips previously submitted by member’s of our crochet community.
Enjoy these tips, then please scroll down to share your tip or your favorite crochet quote.
Make it Your Own
Don’t be afraid to make it your own. Each pattern starts as the designer’s vision, but the real magic happens when you bring your personality to it—whether that’s through color choices, striping, embellishments, or creative twists.
Let patterns be your guide, not your limit. Use them as a launchpad to celebrate who you are as a maker, and don’t shy away from trying something new. That’s where the fun (and the growth) begins.
~Pam Grice, Made with a Twist
You’re Creating Fabric
You aren’t making individual stitches, you are creating a fabric. So pay attention to the fabric you are making and make sure it is appropriate for the item. If it’s too stiff or too loose, change your gauge by changing your hook size.
A good FABRIC is the key to a successful project. How do you know if you are going to be making an appropriate fabric? That’s what a swatch is for.
~Edie Eckman
Don’t Ditch It
If something doesn’t work out for you after you try a few times, don’t ditch it at the first try!
Just put it aside for a few days and then come back to it with a fresh mind. You’d be surprised how often that helps!
~Agat Rottman, Made by Gootie
Take a Picture
When starting a new project I take a picture of the yarn, pattern and hook.
This is to help you remember what you need, to finish a project, if it gets set aside. Make sure you can read the pattern name and the hook size.
~Penny Smith
Frogging Tip
Frogging is not drudgery. Its really a mindset. Its an eraser in crochet that means I can fix my missed stitch.
It can be just as cathartic as other kinds of therapy. I have frogged entire WIPs and recreated something I loved and was proud of making.
~Debbie Taylor
Stick with One Project
I have learned to stick with one project to the end. I always had multiple WIPs but now I only have one crochet and one knit.
It has made me feel more productive and it’s the only way I will ever have enough product to start selling. I see other stuff I want make but I save them and write a note in a journal.
~Michelle Logan
Granny Square Tip
My favorite crochet tip is when I am making a granny square, I don’t do the chains at the corners. Instead, at the end of round 1, I make a hdc into the top of the first ch 3 so I end up in the middle of the corner.
Then, I ch 3, work 2 dc to make the last 3 stitches in the first corner so when I come to the end of the round I make 3 dc into the first corner, work a hdc into the top of the first ch 3 and continue in this manner. On the last round I work the regular chain instead of the hdc. The hdc works for a ch 2 or a ch 3 in the corner.
~Roberta Duley
Pattern Reading Tip
If pattern shorthand isn’t making sense (especially as a beginner – it’s like an alien language!), try writing it out in full sentences.
This helped me significantly when I learned to crochet and helped me understand what the instructions were actually telling me to do.
Learning to “read” patterns as if they were in a full sentence was an absolute game changer for me and I still read patterns this way (though I don’t have to write them down anymore (: ).
~Shannon Holding, The Loophole Fox
Turning Chain Tip
Make sure to check whether the turning chain counts as a stitch or not for your pattern.
Another tip is to tap into the power of a loving community of crafters to cheer you on and learn with. There’s nothing like having a place to expand your skills, have fun, and discover all the possibilities yarn has to offer with people who just get it.
~Hortense Maskens, Knitting with Chopsticks
Change Your Mind
Creativity isn’t linear. Sometimes we start a crochet project full of energy, only to find halfway through that it no longer feels right. Maybe the colors don’t spark joy, the yarn doesn’t match the vision, or the project simply isn’t what we need. That’s okay. Changing direction isn’t a failure—it’s a sign that you’re tuning into your creative intuition. Crochet, like life, is a process of exploration. Give yourself permission to pivot, frog, or start fresh. The beauty of crochet is that every stitch, kept or unraveled, teaches you something valuable.
~Sandra Regev, Sandra Stitches
Lay it Down & Admire It
Make sure to check whether the turning chain counts as a stitch or not for your pattern.
Another tip is to tap into the power of a loving community of crafters to cheer you on and learn with. There’s nothing like having a place to expand your skills, have fun, and discover all the possibilities yarn has to offer with people who just get it.
~Betty McKnit
Have Fun with It
Whether you follow the ‘rules’ making sure to gauge swatch, use stitch markers and know what you want your project to turn out like, you’ll throw caution to the wind, crochet should be fun!
Use the yarns you want to use, the colour combinations that appeal to you, make those tweaks to a designer’s pattern to get exactly what you want, make that outlandish idea that no-one else is making, express yourself in your projects.
~Helen Wilkinson, Sunflower Cottage Crochet
Keep it From Unraveling
My husband just told me of a new crochet tip he read about recently… He doesn’t crochet any more, but he keeps an eye out for tips and tricks for me. ~Lisa Brown
Take a twist tie and run it through the loop you’re working on, then wrap it around the hook and twist it so it won’t come loose easily. That way you don’t lose your hook, and it also keeps the loop from pulling out as well.
~Charly Brown
Ways to Remember…
I have 2-3 crochet hooks of the commonly used sizes, so I leave the crochet hook with the WIP. When I can’t leave the hook with the project, I use a bread tab and a sharpie to write the hook size & what row or stitch I’m on. I print out my patterns & write on them or outline with highlighter pens. Or, I view them on Google Drive and make notes on the pattern. I use canvas beach bags to keep the needed yarn, hook/s and pattern together.
~Lisa Brown
I did not create this tip, but I found it useful when I read it a few years ago. To remember the hook size used on a project, slide a small letter or number bead (found in jewelry-making supplies) onto a safety pin or locking stitch marker and attach it to the project. This can also be done to remember the yarn weight classification, date the project was begun, row/round number, or any other sort of info that can be reduced to a few numerals and/or letters.
For tension you need to practice, practice, practice. Start with single crochet and make a swatch like a washcloth. Next go onto half double crochet and onto double crochet until your stitches and tension are nice and even. It’s like anything you want to learn and achieve. Before you know it you’ll be creating pure joy.
I’m sort of a newbie, so when I start a new pattern I often use old yarn to make at least one repeat of the pattern to get the hang of it. If I have to frog it several times, no harm done.
For a new pattern, I usually use old yarn to do at least a one row repeat to get the hang of it, and if I have to frog it several times, no harm done.