The Dapple Apple

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Helpful Sites

Here are some helpful sites to get you on your way with Crochet!

Ravelry

Once you complete the free sign-up, this is a great resource where you can organize all of your supplies and yarns, keep track of patterns, projects, etc. I love EVERYTHING about Ravelry.com!

     Lion Brand Yarns

This is a yarn company, but they have lots of lovely, fun, retro, and useful patterns. You have to register for the site, but there is no charge and you can opt out of receiving their weekly emails. (However, I find many of their weekly patterns helpful and great!)

Caron Yarns

This is another yarn company site, but with a totally different style of patterns! 

Below are just a few other sites I have found helpful in the past and still look to for patterns and inspiration:

Crochet Pattern Central

Lily: Sugar & Cream

Free Crochet

I hope that some of these help you on your way to learning more and growing in the art of crochet!

Welcome to Basics for Beginners!

Most crochet projects for beginners begin with a very simple stitch called the Chain Stitch.

It is the foundation for most projects and therefore must be even and uniform. As the base for your project, is the most important stitch to learn first. The stitch is not complicated to learn and with a little patience you will be crocheting amazing chains in no time.

These links will help you learn your first crochet stitch, the Chain Stitch!

Chain Stitch in step-by-step pictures and written instructions from About.com

A fantastic "How to Chain Stitch" video from The Knit Witch

Marie from "Make and Takes" has an excellent Intro to Crochet Chaining

The most important thing to remember it to relax, breath, and have FUN!

Well, as I get ready to teach my first group crochet lessons, I feel compelled to start with an overview here. There are many others who have set out before me to explain the art of Crochet, the stitches, the techniques, and the amazing variations. Below you will find introductions with links that are very helpful and informative!

If you are planning to join my lessons, these links will help you prepare, assist you, and refresh your memory. If you aren't attending my lessons, from these links you can teach yourself to crochet with the information provided here.

I will include each of the following in their own post for easy referencing! Happy Beginnings!

Begin at the Beginning

Supplies for Getting Started

Back to Basics

The art of Crochet uses yarn and a hook to create a myriad of things... Below are some examples collected from various places around the internet.

For a brief overview of the history of crochet, please check out this wiki article on Crochet.

These are examples of beginner projects:

These are examples of some more advanced projects: