Calico Crafts HK

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Beginner’s Guide to Buying Yarn

Quick tips: Go for light colors, thicker yarn (4.0mm hook to 6.0mm hook), soft and smooth texture, and no fuzzy or splitting fibers. These choices are all about making it easier to see your stitches! The most important thing for beginners is learning to identify the stitches clearly. When you can see the stitches clearing, it will be easier to count stitches, understand the right and wrong sides, and identify different stitches. Here’s why:

1.Light Colors
Dark yarn makes it tough to see stitches, especially in homes with warm lighting. You can only rely on the black yarn’s faint shine, and it will cause a burden to your eyes. When you’re new to crochet, you will not even be able to see where to insert your hook, making it even more difficult to crochet. Light yarn on the other hand, is much easier to see and observe the stitches.

2. Thicker Yarn (4.0mm or larger)
Thicker yarn helps you finish projects faster, which is great for building confidence early on. It also gives your left hand more space to grip your project. When you’re starting out, your left hand is likely not knowing how to control, and you’re not sure how to hold things. Thick yarn gives your thumb and middle finger more to hold with, and making it easier to your right hand to crochet. Please note the yarn don’t need to be extremely thick, eg. above 10mm hook, because you will have fewer yarn choices and big hook isn’t commonly used.

3. Soft and Smooth Texture
Your project will touch better when the yarn is soft and smooth. Another reason is your can slide the yarn loop on hook easier. When each loop hug your hook nicely, the loop size for each stitch will be regular, it will give your a neat crochet project~ Soft, smooth yarn slides easily on hook without much effort and hugs the hook nicely. This also help when your hands haven’t get used to the crochet project.

4. No Fuzzy or Splitting Fibers
There are a lot of cute, fancy yarns out there, but they often need some experience to handle well. Things like mohair yarn, chenille yarn, or feather yarn can make it hard to see your stitches. This makes counting stitches and inserting your hook tricky. Experienced crocheters often work by feeling, but as a beginner, you will find it difficult to see your stitches. Stick with a common polyester/cotton/wool yarn will be easier for you!

I hope you find this article useful~ In my next article, we’ll talk about crochet hooks. We’re getting ready to start crocheting, step by step!