Ok crochet friends, let’s talk about the concept of yarn over in crochet.
We actually glazed over this just a bit last week, when we were working on the chain stitch. But let’s look at it in a big more detail so that we really know what we’re doing with it before moving on to more complex stitches.
I would say that this is one of the most foundational steps in crochet, so it’s important to understand how exactly to do it. It’s pretty simple, but we still need to talk about it.
Yarn over means that we are going to take our yarn and wrap it over the hook ahead of any stitches that are currently on our hook. It can be done before or after inserting your hook into a stitch, or both within the same stitch. It can be done multiple times before moving on to the next step of the stitch.
The number and timing of the yarn over is what will determine what type of stitch it is. That’s why it’s important to have a grasp on how to execute it properly. I encourage you to go back and re-read last week’s post about the chain stitch and think about the timing of the yarn over in that stitch. What is it’s purpose there?
There is also such a thing as yarn under, which is essentially the opposite, but I’m not going to discuss it in detail as it is not seen as frequently. If you have the concept of yarn over down, you should be able to figure out yarn under if you do encounter it in a pattern. I feel it is more common in knitting than in crochet.