The chain is the base of just about all crochet projects and it is the most important part. If you don’t get your base chain correct it can ruin your whole project but luckily it isn’t that hard and at the bottom of this lesson I will include some advanced tips that will help you down the road. Still holding the yarn and hook as in lesson one then:

With your left/right hand (the one with the yarn wrapped around) “Pinch” or hold the slip knot with your thumb and middle finger and slightly extend your index finger or use/do what is comfortable to you, experiment and remember my way isn’t the only way.

Again this is a control thing, you use the hand that holds the yarn to “control” your project. Insert your hook under the yarn, catch it with hook and pull it through the slip knot.

Congratulations you just made a chain. Now do it again making sure to move your control hold (thumb and middle finger of yarn hand) up every 2 or 3 chains to maintain control. Every time you pull the yarn through the loop on your hook will count as one chain. For practice purposes make 20. Take a look at your chain; you will see a smooth or flat side and a sort of bumpy side. It does resemble links on a chain now count them. You never count the loop that is on your hook because technically it is not a chain.

ch is the abbreviation for chain that is usually used in the written patterns.

Homework: Practice making and counting chains. Try to get into the habit of counting every time you make a chain.

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