Do I need to know them all?

Yes and no!  Hehe helpful aren’t I?!?!

But, seriously, in ALL crafts, there are many many techniques to achieve the same thing, and this is most certainly true of crochet.

For example, making a loop of chains, using a magic ring or working into the furthest chain from the hook – each one of these is a great method for starting a circle!  But, each of them also has a certain style or appearance that may make them a more suitable choice.

Another example is foundation stitches versus a traditional row of stitches made into a chain. Neither method is necessarily better than another but, there are times when one method will sometimes be more appropriate.

And, what about turning chains?  Or, more particularly, the stitches and methods we use to represent them?  It seems not a month goes by that I don’t see another method of substituting the initial UK treble/ US double crochet.

The fact that there are so many choices can be confusing for a new crocheter (or, old, for that matter) so how do you decide what crochet technique to learn or use?

Well, if you’ve bought a pattern from a designer, hopefully, he/she has done that experimentation for you and made the best choice for that pattern.   That said, none of us is perfect and I’m pretty sure some of my early patterns used chain loops when a magic ring would have given a superior finish ;)

But, if you’re free-styling a pattern, it’s all got to come from you and you will possibly need to try more than one method to find the best.  Luckily, the key to successful experimentation is having a fully stocked arsenal at your disposal and the Internet is overflowing with some of the best for you to stock up on!!!

For hints, tips and tutorials, you can’t beat YouTube…yup, that link is a shameless plug for my sparse but slowly growing channel :O Here’s a much better link to some awesome video tutorials :)

The other great way to find out about different crochet techniques is by joining groups or forums where you can chat to people who share your enthusiasm for hooks and yarn – while I seem to be plugging my own stuff, there are some crackers on Ravelry and Facebook ;)

So, do you need to know them all?

My answer is still an indecisive yes and no!

But, what I will say is that learning them is never going to hinder you in any way so you may as well try as many as you can, find out what you like, what you don’t like and don’t be frightened to ask questions ♥  You don’t need to know every technique but some of them are sure going to make your life easier so start filling that portfolio with awesome ♥

To start you off, here’s a quick tip from me.  I call this the no-knot start.  It’s great when you need to start any time with chains – pull the tail tightly after you’ve worked your first row of stitches and it’ll lock into place easily – the finish will be as sturdy as a slip knot but without the knotty bump.  Weave the tail in as you normally would ♥

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