Terms, terms, terms | American crochet terms

So today while I should start the pattern I thought I would tell you a bit more about crochet terms first. So that when I abbreviate you aren't lost in la la land! haha

When purchasing a pattern on your own or even hunting for free ones you want to look for patterns written in American Crochet Terms. There are other terms like British Crochet terms and even Scandinavian crochet terms. all which vary slightly. These terms obviously are for written patterns not chart patterns (which I touched on yesterday).

Isn't yarn beautiful? I just LOVE all the different varieties out there!

Here is a list of terms and their abbreviations for quick reference. 

sl st - slip stitch

ch - chain

sc - single crochet

hdc - half double crochet

dc - double crochet

tr - treble or triple crochet

dtr - double treble/triple crochet

yo - yarn over

finish off/fasten off

gauge

We will not be using all of these to make the slippers I think we only use the sc, dc, hdc, and maybe a sl st here and there. As well as a couple "specialty stitches" which I'll explain as we go. At the end after we finish our slippers I will explain the rest of them step by step for future use with different patterns.

So this is how I "hold" the yarn. My hook in my right hand (because I'm right handed) and my yarn in my left hand. Sorry I had to use my right hand to shoot the pic... I loop the yarn through my fingers under my pinky up over my ring finger, under my middle and over my index finger. This is how the by good friend Jamie taught me to hold it and I never looked back. Some people just let it hang from their left hand but I find that this allows me to control my tension better. Therefore creating even, uniform stitches.

Index finger lowered for looser tension.

Index finger raised for tighter tension.

I use my index finger like my tension. If I need stitches to be looser then I let my index finger down and if it needs to be tighter I put it up to tighten the tension.

I hold my work with my left middle finger and thumb. While my right hand does all the work with loops.

Tomorrow we'll start by learning the magic ring and work on the first section of the pattern! Yeah! I think I will explain the stitches in the beginning and then walk you through the pattern step by step.

Love and Hugs,