Crochet Tips & Tutorials

Free Crochet Hanging Succulent Pattern: A Car Charm with Trailing Leaves
Free Crochet Hanging Succulent Pattern: A Car Charm with Trailing Leaves
The trailing leaves look like the fiddly part of this one. They are not. Each strand is a single long chain with small loops worked back along it, so a... Read more...
How to Start Amigurumi: A Complete Beginner’s Guide
What amigurumi is, the four things you need to buy, the five stitches it uses, and the mistakes almost everyone makes on their first crocheted toy. Read more...
How to Make Crochet Plants Stand Up Straight
A crochet plant that leans or sags is almost always fixable. The problem is nearly never your stitches - it is the wire, the weight and the stuffing. Read more...
How to Crochet With Raffia Yarn (Without Hating It)
Raffia makes bags and hats that hold their shape with no lining at all. It also fights you for the first hour. Here is how to make it behave. Read more...
Why Crochet Bags Stretch (and How to Stop It)
Crochet bags stretch because yarn has no memory and gravity never stops pulling. The fix starts before your first stitch. Read more...
Free Crochet Bee Pattern: Easy Honey Bee Amigurumi
Free Crochet Bee Pattern: Easy Honey Bee Amigurumi
A free crochet honey bee, small enough to finish in an evening and simple enough to be your first amigurumi. Full pattern on the page. Read more...
Free Crochet Lavender Pattern: Stems That Never Wilt
Free Crochet Lavender Pattern: Stems That Never Wilt
A free crochet lavender stem, worked in small pieces you can make anywhere. Full pattern on the page, including how the wire goes in. Read more...
Free Crochet Wall Organizer Pattern: Watermelon Hanging Storage
Free Crochet Wall Organizer Pattern: Watermelon Hanging Storage
A free crochet wall organizer shaped like a watermelon slice, with a deep pocket for the odds and ends that have nowhere else to go. Read more...
Free Crochet Basket Pattern: Round Storage Basket with a Scalloped Edge
Free Crochet Basket Pattern: Round Storage Basket with a Scalloped Edge
A free crochet storage basket that actually holds its shape, written out round by round, with notes for making it bigger or deeper. Read more...
Free Crochet Coaster Pattern: Flower Mug Rug
Free Crochet Coaster Pattern: Flower Mug Rug
A free crochet coaster that works up in under an hour, written out round by round. Good for cotton scraps, and a lovely little gift when you make a set... Read more...
Crochet Gauge: Why Your Cardigan Came Out Two Sizes Too Big
Gauge is the step everyone skips and the reason garments come out the wrong size. Here is how to check yours in fifteen minutes. Read more...
How to Join Granny Squares: 4 Methods Compared
How to Join Granny Squares: 4 Methods Compared
Four ways to put granny squares together, what each one looks like on the finished piece, and how to pick the right one for a blanket or a bag. Read more...
How to Block Crochet (and When Not To)
How to Block Crochet (and When Not To)
Blocking is the step that turns a slightly wonky finished piece into something that looks properly made. Here is how to do it, and when to skip it. Read more...
The Best Yarn for Amigurumi (and the Hook Size Nobody Mentions)
The Best Yarn for Amigurumi (and the Hook Size Nobody Mentions)
Cotton, acrylic or milk cotton? What actually matters when choosing yarn for a crochet toy, and the hook-size rule that fixes see-through stuffing. Read more...
How to Crochet a Magic Ring (and Why Yours Keeps Unravelling)
How to Crochet a Magic Ring (and Why Yours Keeps Unravelling)
The magic ring is the start of nearly every amigurumi. Here is how to make one, why it comes undone, and what to do instead if it refuses to behave. Read more...
Crochet Gifts to Make for Christmas: 8 Ideas to Start Now
Crochet Gifts to Make for Christmas: 8 Ideas to Start Now
Eight things worth crocheting as Christmas gifts, sorted by who you are making them for, with a rough guide to how long each one takes. Read more...
7 Amigurumi Tips for Beginners: Neater, Cuter Crochet Toys
7 Amigurumi Tips for Beginners: Neater, Cuter Crochet Toys
Seven simple tips for your first amigurumi: the magic ring, working in a spiral, the invisible decrease, stuffing, safe eyes and more. Read more...
How to Read a Crochet Pattern: Abbreviations and Symbols Explained
How to Read a Crochet Pattern: Abbreviations and Symbols Explained
New to crochet patterns? Learn the common US abbreviations, what the brackets and numbers mean, and how to read a round step by step. Read more...
US vs UK Crochet Terms: Free Conversion Chart
US vs UK Crochet Terms: Free Conversion Chart
A free US to UK crochet terms chart, plus an easy trick to tell which terms a pattern uses. Read more...
Halloween Crochet Ideas: 5 Spooky Makes for This Season
Halloween Crochet Ideas: 5 Spooky Makes for This Season
Five Halloween crochet projects to make this season: a mushroom witch hat you can actually wear, a witch hat door hanging, spiral wind spinners, a hanging pumpkin and a spider... Read more...