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).

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

If you choose to create a ridge along your seam, you can either hide it (on the wrong side of the fabric) or make it part of the design (on the right side). Ridged seams are sometimes used to create a decorative look, like in an afghan made up of motifs; you can use a contrasting color to add another design element.

The mattress stitch, also known as the invisible seam or invisible weaving, is a very flexible seam that works best for sewing garment pieces together because it makes for a flat, invisible seam. You always work this stitch with the right sides facing up so you can make sure the seam is invisible on its best side.

Not all crochet is designed to be flat. One of the beautiful aspects of this craft is that with it you can create three-dimensional designs, whether your creation is as simple as a hat or as complex as a decorative, three-dimensional Lilliputian village that you work in many pieces.Many three-dimensional designs need to be coaxed and shaped after you finish the actual crocheting, however.