One of the most important skills for anyone learning how to crochet is knowing how to start a project and one of the staple stitches for any crocheters toolbox. Of course, I'm talking about the starting chain and the single crochet. If you've read my post on tips on how to start crocheting (if not, read it here), then you already have some resources I've suggested. But I figured I'd also share a tutorial on the absolute basics here, too!

Starting Chain

First thing you need to do (other than getting your yarn and hook) is make a slip knot. This means folding the yarn over itself and pulling the working yarn through the loop you make. 

Loop to start slip knot. Fold it down and pull the working yarn through the loop.

Slip knot. Pull either end of the yarn to increase of decrease the size of the loop.

This creates an adjustable loop which you can adjust your starting tension with.

Now, to make a chain, all you need to do is hook the yarn over the head of your hook, pull it through the loop, and repeat until you get the number of chains you want.

Yarn over, and pull the yarn through the loop to create a chain.

Single Crochet

Single crochet is one of the first stitches any crocheter should learn. It is one of the simplest to learn, which makes it a foundation for many crochet projects and patterns. To start a row of single crochet from a starting chain, first you need to identify where to work.

The starting chain looks like it is made of little v's. These v's are where you are going to work, placing one single crochet in each v.

A look at the v's in the starting chain.
You want to place your hook in the second chain from the hook. When identifying which chain this is, it will be the second v from the hook, not the first.

After placing your hook in that chain, yarn over and pull that yarn back through the chain, like when you were making the starting chain.

After pulling the yarn through, you will want to yarn over again, this time pulling it through both the loops on the hook. After you've done that, you'll have made your first single crochet! Now just repeat this all the way across the chain.

Now, on to the second row! To start the second row, after the last single crochet, yarn over and pull through the loop on your hook to make a chain. Then turn your work so you can work back in the stitches. You can identify each stitch by the v on the top, like the starting chain. Then you just need to repeat what you did for the first row.

Just repeat these steps for every row you need to make. I recommend doing several rows until you get the feel of it and feel confident in doing single crochet stitches. 

Five rows of single crochet

Have fun!