craftgrrl | How to make an even scarf: making sure you aren't skipping stitches. (Reply)

First tip: if you're starting out, use yarn that isn't black or white. That's because learning to crochet with black or white yarn is harder than just about any other color... the stitches all blend together so that it's very hard to know exactly where to put your hook. I worked up the piece for this tutorial with cheap Red HEart acrylic yarn, mainly because it's easier to see than some of the fluffier yarns.

I would recommend using a yarn like Red Heart for learning with, rather than something fluffier like Homespun or some of the eyelash yarns. I tried to learn with eyelash yarn. I thought I would lose my mind!

Ok, getting started. The first stitch you do on one row will be the last stitch on the next row, and it's the hardest stitch to get your hook through, usually.
I'd recommend marking that stitch with a safety pin or a piece of contrasting yarn when you do the first stitch of the row. (Safety pin is easier, IMHO.) Then, when you come to the end of the row, you'll be able to see it. It does take a bit of extra time, but you end up not dropping stitches this way! Once you've got the hang of it, you don't need to mark every row usually.

A photo step-by-step:

10 stitches. You'll want to make sure you keep track of your stitches, that you have 10 on each row.

This turning chain is the extra chain you do to get up to the next row. For single crochet, you crochet one stitch. For half double or double, do two, for treble do three. Your goal is to make the chain as long as your stitches will eventually be, so it's ok to fudge it if it's too long or short. You can do two for a triple if your chains are looser, or three for a double if they're really tight.

I marked the first stitch with a piece of yarn. You can use stitch markers, contrasting colors of yarn, safety pins or paperclips.

Don't get too worried if your first row curls. Just stretch it out a bit and keep going, it should work just fine.

See? Just fine. You can see that first stitch at the end of the row. That will come in handy soon.

Here's that turning chain again.

I've turned the piece. Skip your turning chain, you want to put your first stitch of this row in the last stitch of the previous row. Mark this stitch.

I've stopped just before the last stitch. 9 stitches on this row so far. The last stitch goes right where the yarn is.

Last stitch, where the yarn is for the original first stitch. I can pull that out now, and use it to mark the first stitch of the next row. 10 stitches on this row now.

I hope this helps, and good luck with your pieces!

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