Crochet that Second Row!

Now that you have your chain, are you ready to make some magic happen?  I love crochet, it is so free and easy, and such a good stitch to you knitters out there!  I am sorry to say though, if you made your chain all stiff and tight, you need to start over, and do a loose chain.  Can I say it again, loose.  If you do not have it nice and loose, you are going to throw the entire thing in the trash with gusto.  Crochet is fun, but if you are all prim and proper, you are going to have more of an issue, so relax and enjoy!

Here is your chain once again:

I like to crochet from the butt part of the chain as you see above. Flip your chain around, back and forth, looking at the middle of the loops.  See those little funny bumpy things in the middle of the back of your chain?  They are your butts.  We like butts, they are easy to slice around with your metal hook.  You can see in the picture above, I have sliced into the loop with my hook, and the butt is in the front of the hook. You are going to hook into the chain and crochet a single crochet stitch.  Ready?  Here we go!

Step 1:  You have your hook on the last chain you made.  Move it under your chain, and Put your hook into the chain, into the first butt, and then move your yarn over the hook, and pull it through the loops.  Check it out:

You are going to pull this through the butt, and the slip knot too.  Then you have another loop to work with.  Move on over sister, cause you are going to move over into the next butt in on the next loop and find yourself with another loop.  Keep going!

It might look a little knotty, and you may have to start over, but keep your wits about you, this is the hardest part of crochet.  Once you get past the loose chain, and the witchy second row, you are going to be an expert crochet hooker!  It is really not too hard, just stay loose, and do not tighten like you would in a knit.










Step 2:  Keep on pulling the yarn through.  Remember, you are going to pull the yarn through the butt, and the loop you made previously.  Now you have 20 to do, so keep going and look at how lovely it is!

You just made your first chain and second row!  You can tie it off, and use it for a key chain holder, or keep going, and make a square start.  This is the basic single crochet stitch, and it really is a beautiful thing!