It’s easy to forget that everyone was a beginner once. No one is born knowing how to crochet. Wouldn’t that have been great if we were though?

If you’re reading this post then it’s likely that you wish to learn how to crochet. That’s great if so! But before you get learning, it might be a good idea to see some mistakes that you should avoid making…

1. Confusing UK and US crochet terms.

One of the things that didn’t make any sense to me was the UK and US having different terms for each crochet stitch. I would be following a beginner pattern on a blog and suddenly realised it looks completely wrong, and that would be because I was using the US terminology rather than the UK. Honestly, I still get confused by this sometimes. The best way for me to combat this mistake was to create a UK/US Term Chart.

2. Not leaving a long enough yarn tail.

One of the things I thought about when learning to crochet was waste and the effect my hobby would have on the planet. I didn’t want to waste any yarn so I decided to cut my yarn tails as small as possible. Yes, I was saving an inch or two with each project, but it was making it extremely difficult to weave in my ends. It wasn’t even like that tiny bit of extra yarn was going to make a difference to any waste, so just leave yourself a long yarn tail.

3. Relying on my memory a little bit too much.

I just want to scream at past Eleanor to grab some paper, a pen and some stitch markers. Simply noting onto the paper what row or round you were on makes it so much easier to follow patterns and keep things looking the correct size. Adding a stitch marker to your rounds helps you not have to keep counting each and every stitch too.

4. Putting pressure on myself to learn EVERYTHING

When you start learning how to crochet, it’s easy to get swept up in the moment and think you need to know everything right away. Well this is a reminder that it’s okay to be a beginner. Learning something is a process and learning how to crochet is no different. Start with some simple stitches and go from there. You’ll pick up new skills as you spend time crocheting.

5. Being too nervous to try something a bit more complicated

If you’ve already learnt the basics, then it can be pretty tempting to just keep creating similar projects so you don’t have to expand your knowledge. Although you could do this, I always recommend that you keep on growing and learning. With crocheting, there’s always something new to learn. Don’t be afraid to look through books, magazines, the internet or anything else to find new ways and patterns for your next project. It might turn out to be a disaster but you never know, it could just be your greatest project yet.

6. Not weaving your ends

I did mention those yarn tails earlier in the post, but something you’ll learn if you crochet a lot is that weaving in the ends is a pain in the butt! It’s even worse when you ignore your yarn tails until the very end and then find yourself with a hundred tails to weave. If it’s possible with your project, weave as you go, believe me, you’ll be grateful in the end.

7. Dwelling on your mistakes

Learning a new skill is going to mean making mistakes. This is true of all skills and crocheting is no different. You’re going to miss a stitch, read a pattern wrong, or change your tension. But that’s the beauty of learning. If you make a mistake, then simply unravel your project a bit or keep going and accept it as a learning experience. Making mistakes is important.

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Have you made any of these mistakes too?