How to Half Double Crochet

Not going to lie. When I first saw the need for a half double crochet stitch on a pattern I decided to just use a double crochet. It didn't exactly work out.

Good news, this is an easy stitch and if you alraady know how to double crochet, it's in the bag. For those of you who don't need the pictorial, I'm not going to have you sifting through this post trying to find a quick answer... The only thing that is different between the double crochet and the half double is the fact that you take off all three loops on the first pass. That is seriously it.

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How to Double Crochet

I love to crochet, especially in winter. Crochet is definitely right up there with my favorite crafts of all time. Not only do I like that repetitive nature that lends itself well to doing while watching television and travelling, I also like that I can make gorgeous and useful things. Give somebody a handmade afghan and you're going to be on their good side for quite some time. Plus, your lap will be warm while you work on it.

Moving right along with showing you the basics of crochet, we're tackling the double crochet. When I was younger it was my favorite stitch for two reasons. 1- it works quickly 2- it is a long stitch so that you get your piece done more quickly.

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How to Ball Your Yarn

When I wanted to learn how to ball my yarn some years back I had a really hard time finding a resource online showing me how to do it. I had asked my grandmother, my sensi of crochet and she didn't have a clue. In the end, I wound up getting a book from the library. For real...

It's not a huge deal and some don't even like working with balled yarn, but I sure do. It's a lot of work up front, but in the end it is so, so amazing becaue you never, ever run into a nasty knot in the middle of a piece. Any knots you encounter, you'll get taken care of while balling the yarn.

I don't always ball my yarn. On some occasions I get home really excited with my new yarn, color, etc. and, more often than not, I wind up having a mess of yarn at the end that is essentially unusable. Once it breaks the skein shape, with my moving it around and cats diving at the pile it's a bad situation that only gets worse and worse.

Luckily, balling yarn is quick and easy. My assistant Max a.k.a. Dummy and I will show you how it's done:

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How to Single Crochet + Great Gifts for Beginners!

This has nothing to do with anything but I actually just ate a handful of these little blow-pop individual candies. It wouldn't be that big of a deal if they didn't have gum in the middle but I totally chomped those suckers down like I hadn't eaten in hours. Then I began to worry about the gum in the guts (for years, right?) and now I'm a bit irrationally panicky. I say irrationally because I can totally surmise how ridiculous this is even in my odd state. Just had to get that off my chest, we can move on now.

Are you one of the many wanting to get in on the crochet fad? I hear from people all the time how lucky I am to be able to do it and that they wish they could. Which is why a while back ago I decided to start my online instruction of crochet my way.

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How to Crochet a Chain

So, are you one of the many wanting to learn how to crochet? Well, I'm here to help.

First let's cover a little bit about yarn. See in the image above how there are little icons with info on them? The one on the left shows you the weight of the yarn. Some patterns will call for a certain weight. Medium or 4 is a really good yarn to start working with. You can purchase it at superstores and hobby stores. My favorite is Red Heart but I also like the store brand from Michael's.

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