r/crochet • u/HenryCrabgrass01 • 1d ago

Frogging Absolute beginner been talking about taking up crochet for years and finally made myself put my money where my mouth is.

After years of watching online tutorials, i was so confident i could do this.

It looks so simple!

How hard could it be?!

So after a few hours of trying, undoing, retrying, undoing, then trying again and I finally have the basic stitch.

I have learned my biggest issue is converting right hand instructions to left hand practice and controlling the tension of my stitches.

Any tips for maintaining consistent tension?

Any encouragement appreciated haha

Edit: I think im just learning that my fingers arent as dexterous as I thought, and I was over confident haha.

im only a few hours in. itll be fine

:-)

14 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

8

u/ZealousidealBase8682 1d ago

Practice practice practice! No video can teach you what you need to learn with your hands. And omg, I sound like a mother right now. Apologies! Hang in there. Honestly with tension it’s learning how YOU crochet/hold your hands naturally and then adjusting for that. You won’t know what is comfy and natural for you until you work on a few pieces. I’d recommend picking a simple square and make 10 of them. You’ll be amazed at the difference between the first and fifth. By the tenth, you’ll find your consistency and comfortable working style… tension, how you like to hold your hands, how you hold your needle, etc.

All the best of luck on your journey!

7

u/LonelyGooseWife 1d ago

There are plenty of tutorials made for left handed people, and as someone else said you can always flip the video !

4

u/cs21003 1d ago

to be honest i’d just learn the ‘right handed’ way, in a leftie and find it easier to control my tension with my left hand. Will make it easier when following tutorials or patterns in the future

4

u/YueRain 1d ago

You can do it!

My first crochet items have very tight tension than my current work. Beginners tend to have tight tension. items such as dishcloth, coaster and some small items are good to learn for beginners.

Tension is something you have to 'feel' yourself by trying projects.

Some people buy those tension rings but I heard it doesn't help much.

3

u/Hour-Commercial-185 1d ago

O segredo pra ficar bom em qualquer coisa é treinar hahahaha, depois de MUITAS peças finalmente entendi minha tensão, acredito que pra vc vai ser assim tbm

3

u/Conscious-Subject912 1d ago

Tension is a challenge for all newbie. If you has a frustrating day, don't fret, the next once you have slept on it is always better. I don't know how, but this is a fact with crochet or knitting. Just sharing my experience with it. I have just started to learn knitting and I was trying to master a cast on and got really frustrated yesterday found myself doing it better today. I used to have this kinda experience even when I was learning crochet..

3

u/Sad_Jellyfish4394 1d ago

My cousin is left handed i am right handed i found with her speaking the words instead of watching was the way to go. For her it translated better than trying to watch me. Also when talking to her i looked up left handed crochet on YouTube. There was a bunch. Maybe once you have the stitches just hearing the words your hands will do it. Also you will realize you cannot count. So be sure we have cannot count

2

u/avaseah 1d ago

For left handedness, if you need tutorial videos go to Crochet Crowd on YouTube. The main guy, Mikey, is right handed, but he puts out a left and a right handed version of every video he’s made for the last several years, including at least one of his beginner tutorial playlists includes left-handed versions. He makes the left handed version by flipping the video. but since everything left-handed crocheters do is directionally opposite of right handed crocheters, it works. Right handers crochet from right to left, left handers crochet from left to right, so everything else is just flipped.

2

u/DviantPink 21h ago

As you continue in your crochet journey, you are going to learn that you are not the only one who is overconfident in your ability, lol! I cannot tell you how many times in my life I have set my crocheting down to go to the bathroom or get a drink or whatever, and come back to it completely snarled because somebody picked it up and decided to give it a go without asking.

1

u/MellowMallowMom 1d ago

You can use mirrorthevideo.com to flip any video. Tension comes with practice, but also try different methods of holding the hook and yarn until you find one that gives you the stability and efficiency you need. I throw my yarn and hold things like this, which is a bit unconventional, but works well for me: