Welcome to the Foundations of Crochet!
In this first snippet, we will review the first obstacle many new crocheters go through and how to keep the tension that is good for you during your crocheting journey. Below I will show four (4) common crochet holds for maintaining even tension. Experiment with them all to find what is best for you! Please feel free to leave comments below with any questions or if you have another way that you have found that works for you.
Terminology you will need to know:
Working yarn – yarn that is closest to the yarn ball
Tail – the end of the yarn
Method one:
With working yarn:
Wrap once around the pinky finger
Drape yarn over ring finger under middle finger then over index finger
This is my personal preference for medium worsted yarn as I control my tension with my pinky finger and I do not have issues with having to untangle yarn and it keeps an even tension for me.
*Hold the tail between your middle and thumb
This may change as you gain experience as you mainly end up holding between index and thumb
This will be true for all methods
Method two:
With working yarn:
Wrap once around the pinky finger
Drape yarn over ring finger under middle finger
There are two options for this hold
Final drape over index finger holding tail between middle finger and thumb
Final drape over middle finger holding tail between middle and thumb
You can use your ring finger to control tension
Method three:
If you find yourself with loose tension follow Method One, then wrap the yarn around your index finger once or twice, this will tighten the yarn as you crochet
You will get into the rhythm of wrapping the yarn around your finger as you get comfortable
Method four:
With working yarn
Drape working yarn over pinky, middle, and index finger holding tail between the middle finger and thumb
Helpful hints for crochet holds:
Many crocheters will use their index finger (or other fingers) to control their tension by raising it up and down to pull the right amount of work from where they are working.
As a recap -
There is no right or wrong way to hold your yarn; as you become more comfortable with your crochet experience, you will find what is right for you!
Check out the video on YouTube!
Stay Creative!
Ro
Coming Up Next - quick show on crochet needle holds!
Comments