5 Crochet Secrets to INSTANTLY Make You a Better Crocheter
These 5 Crochet Secrets will INSTANTLY make you a better crocheter! Whether you’re a novice or experienced you’ll learn something new!
I’ve always done things the hard way. I don’t know why, but somewhere in my past I picked up the idea that taking shortcuts was cheating and that it was a bad thing to do.
I’ll be 50 in just over a month and I hope that I’ve gained a little bitty bit of wisdom in half a century.
And thankfully now I know that taking shortcuts with crochet is not a bad thing. In fact the opposite is true. There are so many tips and tricks with crochet that I wish I had adopted sooner.
5 Crochet Secrets to INSTANTLY Make You a Better Crocheter
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I learned most of my crochet techniques the old school way. I even became a Certified Crochet Instructor through the Craft Yarn Council. And while that is a fantastic program there aren’t a lot of crochet secrets in the course.
But today I’m sharing five crochet secrets that I wish I knew sooner. These are the kind of tips that make crochet projects turn out better plus they can save you time and possibly a big ole giant headache.
But what’s even better is that I’m teaming up with the Crochet Queen herself, Toni Lipsey of TL Yarn Crafts!!!!! AHHHHHHHH! So once you’re done watching my tips, make sure to head over to Toni’s channel to see her top five crochet secrets! You know she will be sharing some good ones!
Crochet Secrets from the Knotty Boss
All of these new tips come from the brand new book by Anna from the Knotty Boss. I’ve shared her work many times here on the channel. She is known for her amazing crochet printables and adorable little themed crochet cacti. But she just came out with her very first book, Crochet Secrets from the Knotty Boss and she has given me permission to share these five tips with you!
But this book is chock full of the BEST crochet tips and there are over 100 tips in total!!!
Check Out Crochet Secrets from the Knotty Boss Here
Crochet Secrets is divided into 10 different sections:
- The essentials
- Tying the knots
- Cracking’ the foundation
- Perfecting the rows
- Refining the rounds
- Working with color
- Secrets of amigurumi
- Effortless assembly
- Embellishing the edges
- Flawless finish
No More Twisted Chains
The first tip is one that I wish that I had known about years ago!
When joining a chain in the round it can become twisted if you’re not careful. And I don’t know about you, but I have ended up with a twisted chain more times than I care to count and Anna’s tip for this is genius!!
- Make a slip knot and begin chaining as normal
- Once you’re ready to join your chain in the round all you have to do is take out your hook and place it in the first chain.
- Make sure to lay your chain flat
- Then take your hook and put it back into your working loop and pull through.
- Voila! Your chain is joined and it isn’t twisted!!
Foundation Single Crochet
Have you ever ended up with a crocheted piece that looks more like a trapezoid, where your beginning section of your project is more narrow than the rest of your work? (And that wasn’t on purpose)
One reason could be is that you have a different tension when you start with a chain than the actual stitches of your project.
The chainless foundation is my new favorite crochet tip and one that I am kicking myself for not learning sooner. Like I said I tend to do things the old school way and I love that with this technique you are making your chain foundation plus your first row all at the same time.
- First make two chains.
- Insert your hook into the first chain and draw up a loop
- Leave two loops on your hook.
- Yarn over and pull it through the first loop only. (This is an important stitch that sits to the side of your work and it is the chain you will work into for the next stitch)
- Next yarn over and pull through both loops on your hook. You’ve finished the first foundation single crochet.
- For the next stitch, put your hook back into that chain space we made in the previous stitch, pull up a loop , yarn over, pull through one loop, yarn over and pull through both loops.
- Keep repeating that pattern
You can do this with single, half double, double and treble crochet stitches and Anna has that all in the book.
What I really like about chainless foundations is that it gives you a nice stretchy beginning to your project.
Most of the time chains don’t have much stretch so if you’re trying to make a garment or anything else you would like to have stretch with, this is a fantastic alternative to chaining separately and working your first row of stitches after.
One tip I have is to pay attention to your tension. Make sure you’re not too tight and give those stitches plenty of room to breathe.
Invisible Seam Stitch
One of my favorite sections of the book is Effortless Assembly. This section features stitched and no sew joins for crochet pieces. Anna demonstrates these techniques with granny squares, but they will work for other crocheted objects as well.
I made these monochromatic granny squares from WeCrochet Comfy yarn, which we will talk more about in just a second.
Typically when I’m joining granny squares I use the join as you go method, but I love this idea of doing an invisible seam stitch. This is also called a mattress stitch or a ladder stitch. What I love about it is that it does exactly what the name implies, it’s invisible.
Although I’m joining two squares that have the same final row or background color. I would love to use this method to join granny squares that have different background colors.
- I left a long tail for one of the granny squares to seam with, but you could also just use a length of yarn that isn’t attached, either way is fine.
- Put the granny squares together, with the wrong sides facing each other. The right sides are facing out.
- Make sure to line up your stitches so that they are matched up as best as you can.
- We are going to start in the corner and take our needle up through the center of the opposite stitch.
- Working on the same granny square we will take our needle down into the center of the next stitch and bring it up through the center of the next stitch.
- Notice that we are working across the stitches.
- Then we will do the same thing on the other side.
- Take your needle into the center of the stitch directly across from where your yarn is coming up from.
- Then go across and up into the center of the next stitch.
- Repeat this all the way across the granny square
- Pull to close the gaps.
That is so satisfying to see if all come together seamlessly!
This is the first time I’ve ever used Comfy from WeCrochet. It’s a worsted weight cotton blend and it is scrumptious.
I love a beautiful cotton blend and this one really is magical. It’s so incredibly soft. It’s 75% Pima Cotton and 25% acrylic, so it has the look of a beautiful cotton, but also that little bit of stretch so that it feels great in your hands.
It comes in 34 different colors and I need them all.
Find the WeCrochet Comfy Yarn Here
Using Makeup
Another amigurumi tip has to do with creating those sweet rosy cheeks for amigurumi.
This is a tip that I do all the time. I think that amigurumi toys look so cute with rosy little cheeks. There are different ways to get that effect and Anna has them in her book, but this one is my personal favorite.
This is my pattern The Not So Big Bad Wolf. And he looks kind of sad because he has no color on his cheeks.
Check Out The Not So Big Bad Wolf Amigurumi Pattern Here
In the book Anna recommends blush or even pink eyeshadow as a way to add the color. I also use blush. I have found that a cream based blush tends to last longer. I have a small firm bristle paintbrush that I use to apply it to the cheeks.
I’ve even washed a toy in the washing machine and the blush was still there!
Fabric Felt
One of my favorite tips for amigurumi in the book is how to use felt.
This is a great way to add a lot of character to your crocheted toys. I’ve used felt for eyes for a few of the projects that I’ve made.
The first is a pattern by Aquari Wool. This is her grumpy pattern. And I think he has so much personality with the felt behind the safety eyes. Try to imagine how much less expressive his face would be without it.
Check Out the 15 Classic Disney Crochet & Knit Amigurumi Patterns
The next pattern I used felt for was the little pig pattern from Green Frog Crochet. I ended up using my Cricut machine to cut these out because I wanted them to be very precise. So if you have a Cricut it can cut felt.
Check Out: I TESTED 3 POPULAR Chunky Chenille Yarns| Which One is BEST for AMIGURUMI
I like that by layering the felt pieces for the eyes it gives them an anime look, which I think is fun.
There are also other tips for how to use felt for amigurumi in the book
5 Crochet Secrets to INSTANTLY Make You a Better Crocheter
I hope you enjoyed these five tips and I really think this is an amazing resource to have on hand so you can refer to it whenever you need a crochet tip!
Make sure to check out Toni’s video next to see what her top five crochet tips are!
Happy Stitching!
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