Comments on: How to Hold Yarn in Crochet

By: Robin

Robin — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:06:16 +0000

Hi! I hold mine like the second one. My mom does it this way so it is what I was familiar with. Do you know how many websites I had to look at before I found this? No one shows how to hold your yarn. I have a friend who wants to learn and I wanted something she could look at. This was great! I don’t understand why no one thinks this isn’t important. It is the key to making your stitches neat and even.

By: Emma

Emma — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 14:55:03 +0000

I just wanted to say thank you so much for the reversed left handed pictures. I’m left handed and have wanted to crochet for a while but it’s always been difficult for me doing it the right way. So I was so excited to find your site, and now I can crochet! I’m so happy

By: Panya

Panya — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:10:37 +0000

Watch my video! When I first started using the knitting thimble, I had it on my index finger so I could get used to the new way I was holding the yarn without worrying about the yarn slipping off my finger. As I became more comfortable, I moved it to my middle finger, then ring finger, and finally to my pinkie [which is where it is in the video]. Once I was completely comfortable with the new hold I stopped using the thimble altogether. True, it technically is for using more than one strand, but it was so useful to me when I was trying out new holds!

By: Deb

Deb — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:36:30 +0000

Hi Rachel and Liv, thank you for your comments…..my understanding the method of using the ring is used by the Japanese or the Chinese. Hopefully someone will know.

By: Liv

Liv — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:29:40 +0000

I just posted, but then I did some digging and found the name for the product I mentioned – it is a Norwegian knitting thimble and it is meant for when you are using two different strands of yarn. So, it is less about getting the right tension and more about keeping separate the two strands. It looks in some pictures like people still wrap the yarn around the pinky or another finger to get the right tension. No wonder it wasn’t working for me – I was thinking one strand had to pass through both loops, and that is why the yarn kept getting stuck!

By: Liv

Liv — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:23:03 +0000

Deb, I am not sure what you mean, but it made me think of a little accessory I picked up once thinking it would solve my how-to-hold-the-yarn conundrum. Alas, no luck…for me, at least. I am not sure if I am using it correctly. I have a blog post with a photo if anyone would like to take a look and let me know what I’m missing!

http://livscreationnation.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/anyone-know-how-to-use-this/

I think the second photo is the closest to how I hold my yarn, but not quite. I would like to learn a more effective way to hold it though, because the way I currently do slows me down, but every time I try a different way it just feels unnatural. I guess if I made myself do it another way for long enough, I’d get used to it – but I just don’t have the patience!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 15:43:12 +0000

Hi Deb, I’ve never tried it that way, so I’m not sure. Hopefully someone else will know

By: Deb

Deb — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 04:22:48 +0000

there is a way to hold the yarn where it is run through a yarn ring that you attach to you blouse or the yarn is around your neck…..does anyone know how to hold the yarn using this method?
deb.williams5@yahoo.com

By: Panya

Panya — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:30:46 +0000

Since I posted last year, I’ve experimented some more, and now I hold it differently! It’s like the third picture, except the yarn is ‘behind’ my pinkie instead of toward the palm. I obviously wasn’t used to the holds I tried, so I used a Norwegian knitting thimble for a while to help keep the yarn in place [I don't need to use it anymore]. Here’s a short video of me crocheting a starghan for my husband’s grandmother, where you can see the way I hold the yarn and hook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuAdXPrvDcg

I get a lot less pain and fatigue in my fingers and hand now, so I can crochet for a lot longer at one time. So thanks, if it wasn’t for this post, I don’t think I would have changed!

By: kelly

kelly — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 05:51:20 +0000

i hold mine a little differently than described already…. its kinda like the wrap around the pinkie, but i wrap around pinkie, ring and middle fingers – then behind and over index finger. just around the pinkie is too tight for me and the larger “loop” around 3 fingers gives me a more relaxed tension. plus my pinkie doesnt cramp up.