Many crocheted things start off with a slip knot and a starting chain (also called a foundation chain).

This is how you make a slip knot:

(click here for a left-handed version)

To tighten the slip knot around your hook:

(click here for a left-handed version)

Written instructions:

Take your yarn by the tail end. Cross the tail end over the ball end of yarn, making a loop. Pinch the loop closed with one hand. Make sure the tail is not too short, or your slip knot might come loose over time.

With the other hand, reach through the loop and grab the tail section of the yarn. Pull it up through the loop, but not all the way through. You can grip the tail end between your middle and ring fingers so that it doesn’t slip through. 

Now pull on the ball end of the yarn. This will tighten that very first loop you made, and you’ll end up with a slip knot.

To begin crocheting, insert your crochet hook into the loop of the slip knot. Pull gently on the tail end to tighten the loop around your hook. Now you’re ready to crochet.

Here’s a step-by-step-photo version of the slip knot:

Now that you have a slip knot, you can make a starting chain:

(click here for a left-handed version)

Wrap your working yarn around your crochet hook (this action is called a ‘yarn over’ or YO in patterns). Pull the yarn through the loop already on your hook. Now you’ve made one chain.

Repeat the ‘yarn over and pull through loop’ action as many times as needed. For example, if your pattern tells you to ‘chain 3′ you’ll do a ‘yarn over and pull through loop’ a total of 3 times.

This chain stitch is not only used at the beginning of crochet projects. Whenever a crochet pattern tells you to ‘chain’, it means to yarn over and pull the yarn through the loop on your hook.

Counting tip: remember that the loop on your hook never counts as a stitch.

A starting chain is usually used for flat things, but most amigurumi projects start with a circle. In the next lesson you’ll learn two ways to crochet in a circle shape.