If you crochet, whether you are a beginner or someone who’s been crocheting for years like myself, I am going to be sharing with you 25 crochet hacks. I wish I knew sooner. That just totally changes the way I crochet and makes life so much easier. Stick around, we have a lot of hacks to discuss. I’m going to start more tame with the hacks and then gradually go on to the more slightly unhinged, slightly surprising hacks. So the first hack is use light colored yarn. I wanted to crochet some funky things when I started and I always used dark colors and I know if you like to wear dark, you might want to crochet with black. But use a light colored yarn because when you use a dark yarn it is really hard to see your stitches.

So if you’re trying a new stitch or you’re starting out, use a light colored yarn. It will make your life so much easier. Number two, it’s kind of hard because is avoiding using the fancy, fluffy, scruffy looking yarns. And this is because you are going to struggle looking for your stitches. I have been crocheting for years and it frustrates me using like fluffy yarn because it’s almost impossible to see your stitches with certain yarns. So if you want to crochet plushies, you know that’s different because you probably want to use fluffy, scruffy, fancier looking yarns. It’s going to take a lot of patience and practice starting out, learning the basics. Just avoid the fluffy, textured, funky looking yarns. It will save you a lot of hassle. Number three is to use earrings as stitch markers.

When I started out, I remember thinking where is everyone getting these really cute colored stitches markers for their projects? But honestly, using earrings works just as well. Like the earrings I’m wearing now would work as a stitch marker. So you really don’t have to go and buy stitch markers unless you want to. But you can use stuff you have around your house like earrings. So I recommend hooped earrings or dangly earrings. If you can get loops that close, that’s going to be the most helpful. Number four is to keep a notebook with you when you crochet. And I recommend writing down everything for the project you are working on, especially what hook size you are using. Because if you put your project down and leave it for a while, you’re going to have no idea what hook size you use.

Because I always forget what my hook size is. Doing things like what is your hook size what type of yarn you used. You could put write down the size yarn or you can write the brand actually is probably a good idea. Or even just stick the yarn label into your notebook is a good idea too. You can also write down where you make mistakes in your work and how you fixed it. Write down how many chains you did. Literally all that stuff. I recommend noting down. So if you make a project and you want to make it again, you know how many stitches to do. Next is one that I recently started doing and I really wish I did this earlier, and that is using a stitch marker to mark the right side of my work.

And that is because when I run out of yarn, I’ll tie on a new yarn and I have a knot and I don’t want my knot to be on the right side. When I mark a stitch marker on the like, say this side, I know whenever I tie on new yarn to do it on the other side. It satisfies me to know which side is going to be my right side and which side is going to be my wrong side. Number six is to use a pencil case for all of your hooks, your needles, your stitch markers, all of that stuff. Because I really wanted to find a nice case for all of my hooks and things. I found this pencil case and it worked really good for me. It’s from typo. Such a simple thing to use a pencil case.

But hooks are kind of like pencils. Like they’re shaped like that a bit. So you can do that. You can put in all your bits. If you get a pencil case of like compartments, that’s like even better. And if you like to be organized, this is a bit of a game changer. Also, when you are taking your crochet with you, it’s nice to just take a pouch to take with you instead of having like your hook and your scissors and everything loose in a bag or something. So I really recommend this one. Number seven is to learn how to read your yarn label. This is because I did not do this for a good few years when I was crocheting, I just took yarn that I liked and went for it.

If you look at your yarn label, it will actually tell you what size hook or knitting needles you need. And it also gives you a gauge of what it will be so you know how much to buy. It will also tell you how many grams it is and how many meters. It will also tell you what the yarn is made of. You know, all that stuff. It will tell you everything you need to know. Also, save the yarn labels of yarn you really like so you know what you want to buy. Again, Number eight is to cut your yarn when you finish your work with a long tail.

This is because when you go back to weave in your ends, it’s just going to be so much easier if your tail you left is longer because then you can add your needle, weave it in without hassle, and then snip it off. I always cut it with like this much yarn and then it’s so difficult to weave it in. It’s such a small hack, but it just makes little frustration go away. It’s also when you start your project, your starting chain and you make your slip knot to leave a longer tail so you can weave that one in. I always start my slip knot and have like the smallest tail. So leaving a long tail when you finish your work or start your work is just nice when you finish.

Also, when you attach yarn to your project to leave a long tail, just always leave a long tail. So when you weave in your ends, it’s just so much easier. Number nine is a really good one, especially if you like to make plushies and amigurumi. And that is to keep all of your yarn scraps. And I mean every little piece of yarn scrap, all the bits you cut off, everything. Because you can use this as the stuffing or you can mix it with your stuffing. I don’t know what it’s called, but you can use that for the stuffing. It’s a good way to reuse your scraps. Or even if you have yarn that you really don’t like, you can chop it up and put it in your plushies as stuffing. That’s a bonus hack right there.

You can also use your scrap yarn as little stitch markers. I used to do that too. I used to tie a knot with my scrap yarn. So, like, if I was working with a pink yarn, I would use a bit of green scrap yarn and tie a knot. So I know where you know, my mark is. Another bonus hack. Oh my gosh, hack number 10 is to get a yarn needle or darning needle. I used to use my crochet hook to weave in my ends, which works. But honestly, I do recommend getting a yarn needle. It’s just a bigger needle, really. I. It just makes life so much easier, honestly, especially if you want to, like, stitch your work closed and you can get these in so many places. So honestly, just get yourself some.

Personally, I recommend the metal ones over the plastic ones because so many of my plastic ones have bent and broken. So if you can Find the metal yarn needles. Those ones are superb. Next is when you are starting your crochet project and you start with a chain and when you do your first row, you crochet in the back bump of the chain. Going in the back bump makes your work so much neater, I feel, because when you finish your work, the bottom is just like a nice neat little braid looking V situation. It’s like the little things like that just adds a bit of extra neatness. I think it looks really nice. It can be frustrating going in the back bump, honestly, but I do think it looks really good.

I only go in the back bump now because I really do notice a difference, honestly. Number 12 is to use YouTube tutorials. I mean, I’m sure a lot of you already are, but there is a tutorial for everything. If you want to do a certain stitch, there’s so many tutorials for really beautiful stitches, for simple stitches. If you want to crochet a design and see so many design tutorials, like, literally, there is so much out there. Like you can learn anything on YouTube now. So really use it to your advantage to use YouTube tutorials. I also recommend to use the option where you can slow down the video because some people are just faster because if they’ve been crocheting for years and years, like it’s just normal to go, but you can make it like half the speed. So it’s a lot slower.

So that’s another little bonus hack. We are halfway with these hacks and I am saving the most surprising and unhinged hack for last. So you definitely want to stick around to see that one. It is definitely an interesting hack, but let’s continue. 13 is to learn the magic circle. I mean, you can probably get away with not doing it, but sometimes it’s just nice to have a really neat circle to pull it tight so there’s no hole. I just, I don’t like the look of having a little hole and like granny squares and stuff. So learning the magic circle is just good skill to have. It’s honestly not that bad. I mean, it took me a few trials to figure it out when I learned.

But once you learn it, like it’s like riding a bike, you know, you won’t forget how to do it. It’s just, it’s a nice skill to have, especially if you’re going to be crocheting more and more, you know, you might as well learn some more skills. Speaking of learning more skills, number 14 is to learn the magic knot. Once I learned how to do this is all I do when I attach new yarn. Whether I’m attaching a new color or my yarn has finished and I need a new skein. It is really good because especially if you also get a factory knot in your skein of yarn to rather cut it off and do a magic knot, because it’s just not going to open, it’s not going to break at all. It’s very sturdy, and it’s very easy to do. Number 15.

And this one is my favorite out of the whole list, and that is learning to read the stitch diagram charts on Pinterest. I love these. Once you understand, like, all the crochet stitches and that kind of thing, you can go on Pinterest and search, like, crochet stitch charts. And there’s so many. You can do literally any design. Once you can figure out how to read them and do them, you can do anything. The world is your oyster. I highly recommend it. And also if you want to buy patterns, then this is going to help you as well to understand a little bit more like the abbreviations. And I know when I first saw these, when I started out, they looked really intimidating and confusing, but it’s really not that bad. Number 16 is to block your project.

What it is basically you wet your project. You can either put it in water or steam it. If it’s like acrylic or wool for cotton, I like to wet it completely, squeeze all of the water out, and then put it outside in the sun or just somewhere dry and it will stretch and relax all of the stuff, stitches in your piece, especially for like this poncho. Right. I don’t know how well you can see. It’s very meshy. There’s lots of gaps and flowers blocking it. I was able to, like, make the stitches look more defined, and it really, honestly makes a huge difference. It makes your work drape nicer as well. It makes your work a bit more softer. So I really do recommend giving it a try. And also there’s tutorials on how to block especially different fibers.

Because if you’re working with acrylic, you don’t want to soak it. You’d probably want to steam it instead. And if it’s cotton, you can soak it. Yeah, it really does make a big difference. If you like to crochet clothing, definitely give it a try. Number 17 is to join crochet groups and community pages. I joined a bunch on Facebook and it is really good because you can, like, ask for advice, for feedback. You can just share photos of what you’ve done, look what other people have done. It’s a really great community to be a part of. You can see design ideas like, honestly, I do recommend it because it’s a community of like minded people.

It’s nice to have people to talk to about things you like, especially if you don’t have any friends or family who like to crochet or really nice to have people to talk to who understand the lingo. You know, it’s really fun to see what other people are making and getting like new yarn recommendations. You can literally say, I want to get a yarn for this project. What do you recommend? And you’ll get so many people being like, oh, you got to do this one. This one’s the best. Or like, you know, it’s the best. It’s really good. Number 18 is to buy the yarn you need for your project all at once. This is because when you are buying yarn, if you look at the label, we’re going back to the labels. Yes, it will say a number for the dye lot.

So for example, it will say number three. You pick up another yarn, exact same, and it says six. That means it’s been dyed different times, not in the same batch. If you can. You really want to try and get yarn the same skein that has the same number, batch number for when it’s been dyed. Do you like, you want all your skeins to be number three? I made a top when I was pattern testing this blanche tee and I didn’t realize until afterwards that one of the skeins was a different dye lot. And it just bothered me so much, literally. I just can’t wear that top without seeing a big stripe in the middle. It’s best to get all of your yarn in one go because then you’re more likely to get the same dye lot.

That one will save you a lot of heartache. Number 19 is to do the center pull of your skein instead of pulling on the outside. And the reason I like to do this is because I crochet. Like, I take my crochet with me a lot of places, like in the car, you can put it in your bag and like crochet with it and it’s not going to move. Or even if you’re like sitting on the couch watching tv, your yarn is in one place and it, the yarn’s coming out and it doesn’t move. It just it. It’s one of the things that makes life so much easier. I mean, you can of course pull from the outside there’s no problem with it. If you want your life to be a little bit easier, you can pull from the middle.

It’s just a more pleasant experience. Personally, this will also avoid having tangles and knots in your yarn. So, yeah, I guess it’s more personal preference. But yeah, I do recommend pulling from the center. We are on to number 20. This hack is to use a nail clipper to cut your yarn. Now, the reason I say this is because I recently went on a flight to France. I’m in France. If you watch my videos, you hear me say that all the time. Yeah, I’m in France. You can’t take scissors on a plane on board, but you can take nail clippers and you can use this to cut your yarn. And because honestly, if you are crocheting on a flight or I don’t know, anywhere, it’s just such a burden to try and snap it.

Having nail clippers or keeping one in your bag, your purse, you have a small little scissor. I used my nail clippers in the plane and it was no issue. Number 21 is to use an ergonomic crochet hook. Now, I recommend this if you crochet for long periods of time. If you crochet for hours at a time and your hands get sore, you should try an ergonomic hook. Basically, it’s a hook that’s like shaped. Interestingly, I use the Addi swing hooks. They’re shaped kind of like a toothbrush, and it works for me. There’s so many different types. There’s the prim hooks, there’s the frill hooks. If you can test them out, I would recommend that. But I crochet for hours on end, all day, all night. So they do make a big difference, to be honest. Number 22 is to use a standing double crochet.

What this is basically not necessarily a real double crochet, but it’s instead of using like a chain. Three, doing a standing double crochet looks more solid like a double crochet. I just kind of prefer it and I think it’s a nice. Another nice skill to have. And number 23 is to learn how to do a double crochet foundation row. And this is also the same as like a triple crochet foundation row or a half double or a single crochet foundation row. Basically, it’s instead of starting with a chain, then working double crochet on the next row, you have your chain and your double crochet already done. Honestly, if you are going to start a project. And the first row is just all going to be the same stitch. Having this foundation row is just neater in my opinion.

It’s just way easier to figure out how long you want your chain to because I find if I start with a chain and then add my stitches after, it kind of like stretches or goes through smaller. So when you work a foundation chain with double crochet, let’s say you can see exactly the length that you are going to get, which is quite helpful. Number 24 is to choose a type of crochet hook that corresponds with the way that you hold your hook. Now, there’s two ways at least that I know of how to hold your hook, and that is the overhand grip and the underhand grip. Holding like a knife or holding like a pencil. And there are different kinds of hooks that are better suited for the way you hold.

I think furl hooks are better for overhand tulip I think is more better if you have like a pencil grip. Does make quite a bit of a difference, to be honest. So figuring that out if you do want to get an ergonomic hook is quite a big hack in my opinion. We are on to our last hack and this is the most surprising. I saved it for last. This one is using a lighter to defuzz your acrylic yarn. Sounds kind of scary, but it really does work. We did this once and it was so satisfying. If you use acrylic yarn, you know, it kind of has like fuzz, like a fuzzy layer. If you get a lighter and just very lightly go above it can remove the fuzz. Please be so careful if you do this.

I really don’t want to be responsible for your beautiful, lovely crochet piece on fire. So please be careful if you don’t mind the fuzzies on your project and totally just skip that part. But I just thought I would include it. It’s a fun little hack. Wow. That was all 25 plus the bonus hacks. Hacks for making your life so much easier. If you are a beginner. If you’ve been doing this for years, I hope you enjoyed these hacks. Please let me know in the comments which one was the most surprising or which one seems like the most useful that you’re gonna try out. I’d love to know. I hope it was helpful. Let me know if you like these videos. I did Another video with 10 beginner crochet tips, which I got a lot of positive feedback for.

So yeah, if you want more videos like this, I’m happy to do so. And if you want a tutorial for my poncho that will be coming soon, so subscribe so you don’t miss out. If you enjoyed this video, you can leave a. Like you can leave a comment with that. All said, I hope you all have a lovely recipe for your day or night, wherever you are, and I will see you in the next video. Bye.