Julie Holetz

You're never too old or too young to discover crochet. The skills you master, the benefits you receive, and the beautiful heirlooms you create can last a lifetime and be passed on to future generations. To get started with crocheting, you need to decode crochet symbols and abbreviations so you can follow patterns with ease, and you need to find out what gauge is (and why it's so important).

Crocheting a basic edging of one or two rows or rounds on the outer edges of a design can smooth out the rough spots and add a finished, professional look to your crocheted items. You can even add crocheted edgings to other materials. Here are a few options: Crochet a round of single crochet stitches around the bottom edge, neck edge, and cuffs of a sweater, especially one that you worked in a heavier-weight yarn.

You can slip stitch two pieces together to create a flat seam, which crocheters often use when they want the seam to be invisible (think of a side seam joining the front and back of a sweater). To slip stitch a seam in this fashion: Lay the 2 pieces to be joined side by side on a flat surface, with right sides facing up (for a right side seam) or wrong sides facing up (for a wrong side seam).

It is to get frustrated when you're struggling to slide your crochet hook into stitches. Following are a couple of reasons your stitches may be too tight (along with a couple of easy fixes): You're pulling the working yarn too tight as you work. Try loosening up your tension by adjusting how you hold the yarn.

Ties and drawstrings make fun and easy closures for the front (or back) of a garment. They can be as simple as a single tie attached to each side of a light sweater's front or as elaborate as a threaded drawstring criss-crossing the back of a summer halter top.You usually attach ties to the top-front portion of a garment, close to the neck opening, or at the beginning of the front neck shaping, centered over the chest.

This simple cuff is the perfect crochet project to get you started with joining motifs as you go, which means you don't have to do any seaming at the end. This project uses crochet thread that's easy to find in most yarn and craft stores.Crochet thread is available in a variety of colors and fibers, so you can make a cuff for any occasion.

Some crochet pieces are joined together while working the last row or round. Joining pieces as you go saves you from the daunting task of having to sew or crochet lots (and lots!) of pieces together at the end of a project. Because motifs use an endless variety of stitch patterns, not all of them are joined in the same spot, but some general guidelines do exist: Motifs that have side edges, like squares or triangles, are usually joined along one or more sides.

Joining two crochet pieces with another row of stitches creates a different look from the other seams. Instead of working through the double thickness of two crocheted pieces, you work back and forth between them, usually on the right side of the piece. The row between the two pieces can be as narrow as a single stitch, or it can be wide and lacy.

The backstitch produces a strong, bulky seam that doesn't have a lot of stretch. Use it whenever you need to join two pieces together with a sturdy seam, like for bags or baskets. You work the backstitch on the wrong side of the project because it's visible (and not exactly pretty). The key to understanding the backstitch is to think of it as two steps forward and one step back.