Whether you’re a novice or an experienced crocheter from way back, you probably have had times in life where you took a break from your all-time favorite craft. There are some die hard crochet fans who have never missed an opportunity to hone their skills. But what about those of us who can get swept up in life, wake up one morning, and realize how long it’s been since we’ve picked up a crochet hook and some yarn? What in the world can we do to return to crochet? Here are a few tips to get you back on the stitching track again.
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Making crossed stitches is a pretty simple affair once you get the hang of it. There are two ways to cross stitches: By crossing the second stitch in front of the first stitch, or crossing the second stitch in back of the first. This tutorial teaches you to make the former.

If you’re left handed, you can hover over the pictures with your cursor to see the left hand view.

Start making your stitch (mine is a tr). Instead of inserting your hook into the next stitch, skip the number of stitches indicated by your pattern (3 stitches in this example), and insert the hook in the next stitch after the skipped stitches.

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Crossed stitches are great. They add visual interest to a project, and they look the same way on either side, so it’s possible to keep a reversible project reversible. There are two ways to cross stitches: By crossing the second stitch in front of the first stitch, or crossing the second stitch in back of the first. This tutorial deals with the latter.

For left handers, you can hover over the pictures with your cursor to see the left hand view.

Start making your stitch (mine is a dc). Instead of inserting your hook into the next stitch skip the number necessary for your pattern (2 stitches in this example) and insert the hook in the next stitch after the skipped stitches.

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A mobius is a ring with a half-twist that is often used to crochet a scarf, cowl, shawl or wrap. It’s a fascinating form because it has only one side and one edge. One method of making a crochet mobius is to simply make a strip, make the half-twist, and sew the ends together, but if you like a challenge, here’s how you make a mobius starting with the foundation chain.
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A lot of crocheters make jewelry, too, and there are many wonderful pieces out there like beaded ropes and bracelets and necklaces made with thread. For those who want to use metal in their crochet jewelry, wire is the way to go. However, there are many considerations to take into account when making crocheted wire jewelry.

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Have you ever worked on a spiral scarf and suddenly realized that your 50 stitches has bloomed to 400 and felt like the row would never end? It can be tiring to plod along the row, especially if the scarf has a plain stitch. If you work backwards and start with a long chain whose stitches disappear by half each row, it can feel like you’re going faster even though in the end, you have the same number of stitches.
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When sewing elastic to fabric, many of us have probably come across instructions that tell us to mark the fabric and stretched elastic, and sew the two together while the elastic is stretched out. It’s a pain, and with crochet fabrics, it may not even be necessary. With thin elastic and the anatomy of your crochet stitches, you can put in some stretch in a way that’s similar to drawing elastic through a casing.
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Double treble (dtr) stitches add a lot of height and are very airy, making them great for lace and openwork projects.

The basic instructions for a dtr are: yo (yarn over) 3 times, insert hook into the desired st, yo, pull up a loop, (yo, pull through two loops) 4 times.

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This is a project idea for a unique and special scarf that’s also pretty uncomplicated. Stripes of different widths create a message that the savvy reader can decode. The idea is pretty simple; beginners as well as more advanced crocheters should be able to create their own message scarves with names and phrases on them.
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Have you ever wanted to make a blanket with a particular picture, logo, or symbol on it but couldn’t find a pattern for it? Maybe an afghan with cute teddy bears on it or a throw with you’re college mascot? In this tutorial I’ll discuss how you can make your very own color chart so that you can use it as a guide while crocheting. Color charts are commonly used to create blankets, but they can always be used to create designs on any item you can imagine, from bags, hats, sweaters, etc. If you’ve never worked with color charts before, feel free to learn about How To Read Color Charts before making your own.
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