**Getting Started with Crochet: Understanding Slip Knots**
When it comes to starting any crochet project, the first thing you need to do is make a slip knot. A slip knot is a fundamental concept in crochet that serves as the foundation for all your projects. To create a slip knot, begin by leaving yourself a tail - some people leave a shorter tail, while others prefer a longer one. It's essential to remember that you can always cut off excess yarn, but it's not possible to add it back on. I like to leave a longer-than-normal tail, usually between 8 to 12 inches in length, as this allows me to weave it back in and lose the tail after completing my project or when making flower embellishments.
To create a slip knot, place two fingers out and wrap the yarn around your fingers. Bring your fingers in towards your palm and then tuck the yarn under. This is crucial - if you were to make an actual knot by pulling the yarn through the loop, it would be incorrect. Instead, you want to put two fingers out, wrap the yarn around, close your fingers to your palm, bring the end of the yarn out, and tuck it under. Looping the yarn over your hand will create a slip knot. Now, take the remaining tail and do not pull it through - this would give you a knot. Instead, tug on the two fingers that are holding the yarn, and the slip knot should disappear.
**Holding Your Crochet Hook and Yarn**
When working with crochet, it's essential to learn how to hold your hook and yarn correctly. The way you hold these two tools can vary from person to person, as different instructors may demonstrate techniques in different ways. In my case, I've learned how to crochet when I was eight or nine years old, and this is the way I've always held it. To create a comfortable grip on your yarn, wrap the tail around your pinky finger with the other two fingers on top. This allows you to maintain tension on the yarn without causing discomfort in your hand.
Now that we have our slip knot and know how to hold our crochet hook and yarn, let's move on to the chain stitch - a fundamental concept in crochet that serves as the foundation for most projects. The chain stitch is called "chain" because it looks like a chain. To create a chain stitch, take the yarn and pass it through your slip knot. Then, dip your crochet hook into the yarn and bring it out of the loop on the other side. Pull the yarn gently to tighten the stitch.
Now, repeat this process several times until you've created the desired length for your project. As you work, pay attention to how your fingers are holding onto the yarn and the direction of the hook. This will help you develop muscle memory and ensure that your stitches are even and consistent.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey it's Vanessa The Crafty Gemini I post weekly howto video tutorials right here on my YouTube channel and in this video we're getting started with crochet I'll be teaching you how to do a slip knot and the most basic chain stitch for the worsted weight yarn I'm going to be using in this video I'm I'm going to start off with a size G crochet hook so here's what I'm starting with I have my size G crochet hook a pair of scissors and my worsted weight yarn so to get started for every project you're going to start in crochet the first thing you need to do is make a slip knot first thing you want to do is leave yourself a tail some people leave a shorter tail some people leave a longer tail remember that you can always cut off excess but you can add back on so I like to leave a longer than normal tail usually uh 8 to 12 in or so because I never know what I'm going to need it for I can weave it back in and lose the tail after my project is complete or sometimes when I make like the flower embellishments I need that extra tail to help me sew it on to whatever the finished project is so just leave yourself a tail now we're going to come here I put two fingers out and I'm going to wrap the yarn around my fingers bring my fingers in towards my palm now this one I'm going to tuck it under here now I'm going to show you something wrong this is if if I were to make an actual knot right you know how to make a knot if you pull that like that it's going to be a knot well that's not what we want you want to put two fingers out wrap around close your fingers to your palm bring this end tuck it under and loop this out do not pull this remaining tail through there that would give you the knot this is going to give me a slip knot however if I leave it in a loop and tug on these here now you see I have a little slip knot and the way you know you did it correctly is if you pull on these two it doesn't knot up instead it just disappears okay so let's try it again so here's our slip knot insert your crochet hook and pull the cut tail right the tail that we left pull it to tighten up the knot a little bit and you want it not to be super tight but you see you want the crochet hook to slide in and out easily with a little bit of room but not not too loose to where it just pops off like that okay now before we get into the chain stitch let me show you how I hold my yarn and my crochet hook this is going to vary from person to person whenever you take a crochet class or if you watch the millions of other video tutorials on how to crochet everybody holds it different Some People wrap it around their pinky and this and that I don't do any of that I learned how to crochet when I was eight or nine years old and this is how I've always done it I grab this tail with these three fingers and this is what puts tension on the yarn for me these three and then I go like this so I just grab it with my three fingers and slip my pointer under this is going to take some practice and you need to basically hold it start doing some chain stitches and see if it's not working for you are your fingers cramping up does it feel uncomfortable until you find a way to do it that works for you and now I'm going to teach you the chain stitch this is the basic basically the foundation of all your crochet projects so often times when you read a crochet pattern it's going to tell you chain 20 change 150 chain seven whatever it is this is what it means you need to do that many numbers of chain stitches and a chain stitch is called a chain stitch because it looks like a chain so this is the tail and then this is what's connected to the skce so here's how I do it remember I'm holding it with these three and the pointer goes under and what I do notice how I hold the crochet hook I just hold it right here with these two two fingers and then I just dip in notice the direction of the hook it's to my left I go under the working yarn notice the hook is catching the yarn right there and I'm going to bring it through that Loop that's my first chain again here look at my three fingers I'm holding on to the yarn there pointer fingers out hook of the crochet hook is to my left I dip under grab the yarn pull it through dip under pull through dip under pull through and that you can see is your chain stitch this is going to be the way you start all of your crochet projects okay and that's it for this video now that you have it down you know how to do your slip knots and your chain stitches you are ready to jump into your first crochet project make sure you click right here if you want to jump into the next section where I'll be teaching you how to do a single crochet and double crochet which are really the basics of a ton of different projects that you can start working on right away if you enjoyed this video make sure you hit it with a thumbs up below share it across the different social media sites and thanks again for watching I'll see you all next time byehey it's Vanessa The Crafty Gemini I post weekly howto video tutorials right here on my YouTube channel and in this video we're getting started with crochet I'll be teaching you how to do a slip knot and the most basic chain stitch for the worsted weight yarn I'm going to be using in this video I'm I'm going to start off with a size G crochet hook so here's what I'm starting with I have my size G crochet hook a pair of scissors and my worsted weight yarn so to get started for every project you're going to start in crochet the first thing you need to do is make a slip knot first thing you want to do is leave yourself a tail some people leave a shorter tail some people leave a longer tail remember that you can always cut off excess but you can add back on so I like to leave a longer than normal tail usually uh 8 to 12 in or so because I never know what I'm going to need it for I can weave it back in and lose the tail after my project is complete or sometimes when I make like the flower embellishments I need that extra tail to help me sew it on to whatever the finished project is so just leave yourself a tail now we're going to come here I put two fingers out and I'm going to wrap the yarn around my fingers bring my fingers in towards my palm now this one I'm going to tuck it under here now I'm going to show you something wrong this is if if I were to make an actual knot right you know how to make a knot if you pull that like that it's going to be a knot well that's not what we want you want to put two fingers out wrap around close your fingers to your palm bring this end tuck it under and loop this out do not pull this remaining tail through there that would give you the knot this is going to give me a slip knot however if I leave it in a loop and tug on these here now you see I have a little slip knot and the way you know you did it correctly is if you pull on these two it doesn't knot up instead it just disappears okay so let's try it again so here's our slip knot insert your crochet hook and pull the cut tail right the tail that we left pull it to tighten up the knot a little bit and you want it not to be super tight but you see you want the crochet hook to slide in and out easily with a little bit of room but not not too loose to where it just pops off like that okay now before we get into the chain stitch let me show you how I hold my yarn and my crochet hook this is going to vary from person to person whenever you take a crochet class or if you watch the millions of other video tutorials on how to crochet everybody holds it different Some People wrap it around their pinky and this and that I don't do any of that I learned how to crochet when I was eight or nine years old and this is how I've always done it I grab this tail with these three fingers and this is what puts tension on the yarn for me these three and then I go like this so I just grab it with my three fingers and slip my pointer under this is going to take some practice and you need to basically hold it start doing some chain stitches and see if it's not working for you are your fingers cramping up does it feel uncomfortable until you find a way to do it that works for you and now I'm going to teach you the chain stitch this is the basic basically the foundation of all your crochet projects so often times when you read a crochet pattern it's going to tell you chain 20 change 150 chain seven whatever it is this is what it means you need to do that many numbers of chain stitches and a chain stitch is called a chain stitch because it looks like a chain so this is the tail and then this is what's connected to the skce so here's how I do it remember I'm holding it with these three and the pointer goes under and what I do notice how I hold the crochet hook I just hold it right here with these two two fingers and then I just dip in notice the direction of the hook it's to my left I go under the working yarn notice the hook is catching the yarn right there and I'm going to bring it through that Loop that's my first chain again here look at my three fingers I'm holding on to the yarn there pointer fingers out hook of the crochet hook is to my left I dip under grab the yarn pull it through dip under pull through dip under pull through and that you can see is your chain stitch this is going to be the way you start all of your crochet projects okay and that's it for this video now that you have it down you know how to do your slip knots and your chain stitches you are ready to jump into your first crochet project make sure you click right here if you want to jump into the next section where I'll be teaching you how to do a single crochet and double crochet which are really the basics of a ton of different projects that you can start working on right away if you enjoyed this video make sure you hit it with a thumbs up below share it across the different social media sites and thanks again for watching I'll see you all next time bye\n"
