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Pragmatic Tips to Teach Crochet, Ages 3-6

Knitting is not the only craft that can be taught to young children.  I’ve taught young children to crochet , and I’d thought, in another part of the Tips to Teach series, I’d tell you a bit about it.  Some of these will be repeats, because I think it bears repeating, but some will be a bit different too.

Start with Double Crochet.  Double crochet has more of a rhythm, I think, than single crochet, so I think it’s easier to teach.  The way I talk about double crochet is, “Yarn over, go through the stitch, yarn over, pull through (3 loops on needle left), yarn over, pull through two (loops), yarn over, pull through two (loops).”  If you notice, between each step is a yarn over, so it’s easier for children to know which step is next.

Have them start working into a swatch you’ve done.  One of the most common problems I see when students start is that they make really tight stitches, and it’s hard to insert the hook into the stitches when you go to make the next row.  To forestall this, I make a small sample for my students to work into.  This way they can learn to identify stitches and also see how loose the stitches should be.  And if they are too tight at first?  I flip the swatch over and have them try again on the other side.

Show them both the pencil hold and the knife hold.  This is a big one.  I’ve found that teaching both handholds can often really turn the lightbulb on for a student.  Sometimes, one just feels better than the other, and sometimes the switch to something that feels more natural for the student can be all that you need to have them go from struggling to confident.

On the same vein, mention that there are two type of hooks.  A lot of people I’ve met who have been crocheting for a long time don’t realize that there are different styles of hooks.  While you don’t have to talk a long time about it, make sure your kid knows that there are two different ones, and let them try each.  A lot of people have a clear preference for one over the other.

Show kids what they are working toward.  A lot of kids can be really motivated by seeing what they are working toward.  Show them some of the patterns you can do with just a chain and a double crochet (like the v-stitch) so they know that they don’t have to just do one stitch in one stitch designs.  If the kid you are teaching grasps the concepts you are working on quickly, it can be worth teaching them things like the V-stitch (with counting and skipping spaces) before you teach them a new stitch like single crochet.

Also make note: A lot of the skills that are true for children knitting and similar skills for crochet.  While I talk about these more in this article, let me reiterate:
Make sure they’re interested.  
Keep it Short. 
Have them sit on your lap and hold the sticks with you.  
Show them several times, then have them “teach” you.  
Take turns.  
Focus on the skill, not on the result. 
Give them a small manageable project that finishes quickly. I have several listed HERE

7 Tips to Teach Adults to Knit

Continuing with my series on teaching various age people to knit and crochet, I bring you a new edition of Tips to Teach.  This one is about adults.

Give perspective.  First, remind your students what it was like to learn a new skill.  Have them think back to the weeks as a child they spent learning to ride a bike, whistle, or learn an instrument.  Adults often forget how long it can take to master a new skill, especially one that involves fine motor skills.  They might get frustrated or discouraged when their first project doesn’t end up like they expected.  By re-framing expectations you set them up for success instead of failure.

Start small.  On the same vein of managing expectations, try to start your students on a smaller project, that has a defined ending.  I have a list of projects that are small.  Adults, just like children, get a nice bump of satisfaction every time they finish something.  Make sure as the instructor, you’re giving your students manageable goals.

Keep it under an hour.  Learning to knit is hard work.  Most people will be using fine muscles in their hands in ways they don’t normally do, and these muscles get tired.  People’s brains are also working hard, trying to grasp concepts and process them.  After an hour, people begin to get tired and their attention starts drifting.  Finish a class before your students get tired.

Have a worksheet or a diagram.  Knitting is not a skill that is going to be learned in an hour.  Most times when I teach people to knit, I’ll teach them the knit stitch and have them go home and practice, then have them come back to learn purl, increases and decreases.  People are more likely to go home and practice if they have something to look at and jog their memory.

Have students write it down.  Jumping off of the worksheets, having students write something down will make them more likely to remember it.  Have them put in their own words each step of doing the knit stitch.  Research has shown that students normally remember about 40% of what is said in a lecture.  However, students that wrote things down remembered more relevant information.  You can have them do it right next to the pictures you have on your worksheets.

Tell them to bring in their work next class.  When I first started teaching, I would tell my students to practice the skills they had learned and come back next week.  What I’d find is that they would come in the next week, saying they had practiced, but that they had ripped out their work because there were too many mistakes.  Now, I tell my students to come in with their samples and their mistakes.  This is because you can look at their work and see what they are having problems on.  If they don’t have anything to show you, you can’t give them any feedback.  Stitches uneven?  Work with them on tensioning their yarn.  Holes in their work?  Check to see if they are dropping stitches or creating new ones.  Use mistakes as a way to improve.

Keep them accountable.  In classes that are multiple weeks long, I will try and get students e-mails and will check in with them during the week.  I will check to see if they have any problems and if they are practicing.  This helps because if a student gets stalled, they don’t just give up until next week.  I try to problem solve so they can keep on practicing.