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Learn With Step-by-Step Tutorials

Pick a project and follow along at your own pace.

Crochet Basics
Hold your hook, make a slip knot and work your first chain.
Your First Amigurumi
Magic ring, single crochet in the round and simple increases.
Reading a Pattern
Abbreviations, stitch counts and US vs UK terms, explained.

Follow along at your own pace. Each step builds on the last, so you always know what comes next.

Step 1: Make a slip knot
Make a loop with the yarn, pull a second loop of the working yarn through it and slide it onto your hook. Pull the tail to snug it up.
Tip: Keep it loose enough to slide along the hook.
Step 2: Crochet a chain
Wrap the yarn over the hook from back to front and pull it through the loop on your hook. That's one chain. Repeat until you have the number the pattern asks for.
Tip: Count the V shapes on the front, not the loop on your hook.
Step 3: Work a single crochet
Insert the hook into the next stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop (two loops on the hook), then yarn over and pull through both loops.
Tip: UK patterns call this stitch a double crochet (dc).

The same stitch can have a different name in US and UK patterns. Every pattern says which terms it uses.

Crochet Terms, US and UK
Abbreviation	US term	UK term	What it means
ch	chain	chain	Yarn over and pull through the loop on your hook.
sl st	slip stitch	slip stitch (ss)	Insert the hook, yarn over and pull through the stitch and the loop on your hook in one go. Used to join rounds and move along without adding height.
sc (US) / dc (UK)	single crochet	double crochet	The shortest basic stitch: insert, yarn over, pull up a loop, then yarn over and pull through both loops.
hdc (US) / htr (UK)	half double crochet	half treble crochet	Yarn over, insert, pull up a loop, then yarn over and pull through all three loops.
dc (US) / tr (UK)	double crochet	treble crochet	Yarn over, insert, pull up a loop, then yarn over and pull through two loops twice.
inc	increase	increase	Work two stitches into the same stitch to add one.
dec	decrease	decrease	Work two stitches together so they become one. Amigurumi patterns often use the invisible decrease.
MR	magic ring	magic loop	An adjustable loop you work the first round into, then pull closed so no hole is left in the center.
FLO	front loop only	front loop only	Insert the hook under the front loop of the stitch only.
BLO	back loop only	back loop only	Insert the hook under the back loop of the stitch only. It leaves a ridge on the front.
st(s)	stitch(es)	stitch(es)	One stitch, or several. The count at the end of a round helps you check your work.
sk	skip	miss	Leave the next stitch unworked and move on to the one after it.

A 4 mm (G-6) hook with medium-weight yarn is a comfortable place to start. Each pattern tells you exactly which hook and yarn to use.

Our patterns use US terms. The glossary above shows the UK name for every stitch.

An adjustable loop you crochet into and pull closed, so the centre of your piece has no hole. It is how most amigurumi start.