The slip knot and chain are the building blocks of any crochet project. When you master these, you can begin to make any number of handmade items.
First, it takes practice to make a chain with consistent loops. I like to make 2 or 3 chains and then move my hold with my helping hand. It’s important to keep the chains from getting wider and wider. The more even you make your chains, the better your foundation row will be.
You need to begin with a slip knot.
First, make a loop with the tail of your yarn behind the working yarn. That’s the part that connects to the rest of the skein
Tail is in the back.
Next, find the loop you made. It should be big enough to get your finger through.
Now, put you finger and thumb through the hole. Grab the tail and pull through. See the picture above. Tighten it up to make a loop to put the crochet hook on to start your chain row. Make sure to leave a tail that is a few inches long.
Making the chain:
Next, put your crochet hook in the loop. Tighten up the slip knot by pulling the tail. Leave the loop big enough to get your hook through.
I hold my yarn by placing the tail over my pinky finger. I then wrap the working yarn behind and over my index finger. This allows me to control how tight or loose the yarn is. That’s the tension, just like on a sewing machine.
Next, while holding the first loop, place the working yarn over your hook. You will see that called yarn over in patterns.
The next step is to pull that yarn through the loop with your hook.
Finally!
From now on, you repeat, yarn over, pull the yarn through the chain with the hook.
Practice keeping each chain the same size. Also practice letting go with your helping hand (my left hand) and moving it closer to the hook. This helps to keep your chain row even.
Once you have mastered the chain row, move on to practicing stitches.
Watch the video to see how I make my slip knot and chains.
