Getting Started

Welcome — you're exactly where you need to be.

Before you dive into your kit, here's everything you need to feel steady and set up. Take it slow, work through it in order if you're brand new, and come back to any section whenever you need a refresher.

New to crochet? Start here.

If this is your first time picking up a hook, here's the honest truth: it's going to feel foreign for a little while. That's not a sign you're doing it wrong — it's just what learning a brand new hand-and-brain skill actually feels like.

The instructions are step by step, but your hands still need time to catch up to the steps. So be kind to yourself. There's no rush, and there's no "behind." Some people get it in ten minutes, some take a few sessions — both are completely normal, and neither says anything about whether you'll be good at this.

1. How to hold your hook and yarn

This is the bit almost nobody talks about, and it's actually the magic sauce. How you hold your hook, how you hold your yarn, and how you tension it with your fingers will shape your entire crochet experience — get comfortable here and everything downstream gets easier.

A few honest notes before you watch:

  • There's more than one "correct" way to hold a hook. The video shows a common approach, but your hands might naturally want to do it slightly differently — that's fine, as long as it feels comfortable and you can control your tension.
  • Don't expect it to feel natural straight away. Give it a few minutes of just holding and moving before you start your first stitch.

[VIDEO LINK: Watch how to hold the hook and yarn →]

2. Tension

Tension is how tightly or loosely the yarn moves through your fingers as you work — and it's worth genuinely spending a few minutes getting comfortable with before you start your project properly.

Too tight, and your stitches will be hard to work into and your hand will tire quickly. Too loose, and your fabric will look uneven or floppy. Neither is "wrong" while you're learning — but finding something consistent is what makes the rest of your project flow instead of fight you.

A little patience here pays off for the rest of the piece.

[VIDEO LINK: Watch how to find your tension →]

3. Your first stitches

Once holding your hook and tension feel reasonably comfortable, this is where you'll learn the actual stitches your kit uses — the ones everything else in your pattern is built from.

[VIDEO LINK: Watch your first stitches →]

4. Reading your pattern

Patterns use shorthand — abbreviations like ch (chain) or sc (single crochet) — so they're quick to follow once you know the code. This is a quick, plain-English walkthrough of how to read what's in front of you, so nothing feels like a foreign language.

[VIDEO LINK: Watch how to read a pattern →]

Stuck on something?

However you like to get help — I've got you covered:

  • Join our WhatsApp group (launching soon!) — a place to ask questions, share your progress, and get help from other hookers who've stood exactly where you're standing.
  • Watch the FAQ playlist — [LINK: Tips, traps & troubleshooting →] — the fixes for the "why did my rows go wonky" moments, so you can self-rescue any time, day or night.
  • Chat with us online — [LINK: Start a chat →]
  • Email us — reply to any of our emails, any time. Send a photo if it helps. No question too small, I read every single one myself.
  • Call us — [PHONE NUMBER] — fair warning: I talk a lot, so maybe don't call five minutes before your next meeting.

However you reach out, consider yourself hooked. (Sorry. Had to.)

Happy hooking, Em x