Eight things every crochet beginner should learn

Here are a few things I wished I learned sooner:

1. Fdc and Ftr (foundation double crochet and  foundation treble crochet): Gives stretch to your foundation chain, makes stitch-counting easy and allows you to work to the exact number of stitches without having to rip back.  What's not to love?

2. Magic Ring: creates a ring to work more easily around which you can then tighten completely in the centre.  No more unprofessional holes in the centre of your circles

3. How to join in yarn correctly.  There are a few good ways to do this.  My favourite is the 'flick over' method, which is quick and easy and not at all bulky.  You might have to come to a class for that one!

4. The difference between puff, popcorns and bobbles: A Puff uses 4 htrtog in the same stitch http://goo.gl/8zVye4; a Bobble is essentially a 5tr cluster in the same stitch http://goo.gl/IZ9ehP; a Popcorn is 5tr in the same stitch, then ss the 1st treble to the last treble http://goo.gl/LcEad4

5. Front post/back post: the core of all cables in crochet

6. How to read a chart: In crochet, a chart is exactly like the finished work, meaning you can see where you need to place each stitch, and what your finished work is meant to look like.  It's by far my favourite method of reading a pattern.

7. How to crochet motifs together (instead of sewing): Generally using a slip stitch meaning that you don't have to keep threading a needle and sewing in ends.  Also if you make a mistake you simply rib back the slip stitches, rather than having to unpick your seams.

8. How to thread a needle for sewing in ends – the QUICK way!  It pains me to watch some people thread a needle in perversely difficult ways when it could – and is – so easy, when you know how, of course!

When I was learning to crochet, I didn't know what I didn't know.  Some techniques were shown to me my my mum and my granny, although I'm not entirely sure they really knew either, at least not well enough to name and explain.
Experience has been my real teacher.  Reading books, reading patterns, watching YouTube videos (so many bad videos out there, I could scream) and making costly mistakes.  Every day is a school day in my crochet world.  I keep on making mistakes but crochet is about life-long-learning.  There is still so much to learn so my advice is to keep practising and trying new patterns!

Happy crocheting!