Holding your yarn and hook may not come naturally to you when you first begin to crochet. That is why I put together this beginner’s guide for how to hold yarn for crochet. With practice and a few pointers it will soon become second nature.
When crocheting, your non-dominant hand will be the one holding the yarn and controlling the tension. Your dominant hand holds and controls the hook. Although there are many different ways that you can hold your yarn, there are a couple of things that you should think about when choosing the perfect grip for you.
Your grip should be comfortable to hold for long periods of time.
When you really start crocheting, you will notice that long periods of time fly by without you even noticing it. That is a great sign that you have found something that you enjoy! However, you need to keep in mind that the way that you hold the yarn needs to be comfortable for long periods of time. Make sure that you are not putting unnecessary strain on your wrists, hands and fingers so that you can continue to enjoy crocheting for years to come.
The yarn needs to come over the top of your pointer finger
The pointer finger of your non-dominant hand will have a big part in guiding the yarn around your hook. So, you need to make sure that the yarn ends up coming up over the top of your pointer finger.
Now that we’ve learned a little bit more about what to think about when holding the yarn while crocheting, let’s get into a few common techniques.
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1. Wrap Around Pinky
There are actually several different variations of this technique. The main similarity is that in each one is that the yarn goes around the pinky finger from the bottom, to the outside, and then back around to the bottom and toward the rest of the fingers.
You can either have the yarn go from the pinky under your ring and middle fingers and then over your pointer finger
Or
You can have it go around the pinky, over the ring, under the middle, and then over your pointer finger.
The reason that we have the yarn wrap around the pinky is so the yarn does not slide too easily and create really loose stitches. In this way, we can open and close our fingers to control how quickly the yarn is fed through to control tension.
2. Wrap Around Pointer Finger
In this method of how to hold yarn for crochet, you will use your pointer finger to control the tension and guide the yarn over and around the hook as you crochet. Just wrap the yarn around your index finger starting from the side closer to your pinky and ending with the yarn on top of your finger facing toward your dominant hand.
The end of the yarn that is attached to your ball, skein, cake, etc. (i.e. your working yarn) will go under the rest of your fingers and out the side of your hand nearest your pinky.
3. Over Your Index Finger and Under the Rest
This method is perhaps the simplest that I will describe here today. All that you have to do for Method #3 of how to hold your yarn for crochet is to place the end of the yarn that is closer to the hook over the top of your pointer finger. It will then go between your pointer and middle fingers and the end attached to the ball or skein will go under the middle, ring, and pinky fingers.
You will then use your middle, ring and pinky fingers to hold the yarn and control the tension. All you have to do for this is to curl your fingers over the yarn.
How tightly you hold your fingers will control the tension of your stitches.
Something to think about when using this method is: Will it be comfortable for you to hold your hand in a near fist for long periods of time? If you think it will be fine, then go for it! If not, try one of the other methods that I have outlined in this article.
4. Over Ring, Under Middle, Over Pointer
This is the method that I use personally and it has worked really well for me. I am able to crochet comfortably and keep a very consistent tension in all of my projects.
For this method to hold your yarn for crochet, just weave the yarn over your ring finger, under your middle finger, and over your pointer finger. This method makes it easy to use your fingers to control the tension.
This way of holding yarn for crochet helped me to make projects with consistent tension from the very beginning.
Conclusion
Whichever method you decide to use, make sure that it is easy for you to keep consistent tension.
Consistent tension is very important in crochet projects. When you make a project such as a scarf, blanket, cardigan, basket, consistent tension makes it look more beautiful and sophisticated.
Now, pick one of the above methods to start testing what feels most comfortable.
Practice using it while making a chain and even some basic stitches if you have learned them. If not, take a look at some of my other resources.
How to Make a Slip Knot for Crochet
How to Crochet a Chain
Next Steps
Test out one or two of these methods per day until you find one that feels the most comfortable. Also, spend some time finding the right grip for you because each grip is going to feel awkward at first.
You need to give it some time before moving on to the next one. However, once you find a grip that feels comfortable, feel free to stick with that grip.
I hope this will help you to get started crocheting more comfortably and confidently. If you are new to crochet, I have plenty of other resources for you to learn new stitches and techniques. I also have patterns that will get you making things that you absolutely love right away!
Try out this beginner pattern to make your very first crochet project!
Soap Saver Pattern: This cute soap saver pattern is made up of only chains and slip stitches. It is the perfect way to practice the stitches you have learned so far and make something really cute, useful and even environmentally friendly. It is also a perfect accessory to add onto a gift! There are 2 sizes available in this pattern: travel and regular. You can choose to make one or both sizes to fit your needs. Click here to access the free soap saver pattern.
