How to Determine Your Crochet Skill Level

Most crochet patterns are generally marked with a crochet skill level to help you see at a glance whether or not the crochet pattern is something that you can create. It basically helps you to choose patterns that are within your ability so that you can master your crochet skills in a more step-by-step manner.

There are four levels, which range from Beginner, Easy/Advanced Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced/Experienced.

The purpose of this article is to help you to determine what skill level you are at. Each level is built upon the previous, and therefore, you want to start at the beginner level and work your way up to the experienced level. Then after that, you can basically crochet any pattern that you want.

This is the entrance level. It consists of very simple stitches, such as the chain, single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet and the extended single crochet. Some patterns might also use the triple crochet, as well as some minor increasing and decreasing in order to create a bit of a shape to the design.

Even though this is the beginner level, you can still create just about any type of crochet project that you want as long as it is made with a simple yarn and simple stitches. This includes simple clothing articles, bags and purses, baby items, and many other projects.

Also, the patterns written at the beginner level are generally written in a simpler format with more step-by-step instructions.

At this level you should be comfortable with reading a simple pattern, as well as with holding the hook and yarn in a comfortable position. There are many different ways of holding the hook and yarn, and you will have to figure out which way works best for you.

Changing colors, increasing and decreasing will also come more natural to you.

The patterns at this level basically consist of the same stitches as in the beginner level. But what makes these patterns a bit more challenging is that the stitches are often used in various short stitch combinations, such as the basic shell or the fan stitch.

This is where the real fun begins in crocheting, because once you reach this level you will be more confident in your talent. Making increases and decreases in various places in a crochet project will become more natural you. Working with thread and smaller hooks will also be easier, thus enabling you to crochet lacy patterns, such as pineapples, doilies and other lacy designs.

Your speed will begin to increase, allowing you to crochet up more projects in less time. And with the basics behind you, you can begin to explore and master many fancy crochet stitches, including the popcorn stitch, puff stitch, clusters, front post and back post stitches, the bullion stitch, the loop stitch and many others.

This is also the level at which you can begin to experiment with different types of crochet, such as broomstick lace, hairpin lace, Tunisian crochet, cro-hooking, Irish Lace and many others.

Since the intermediate level is so broad, you do not need to master all the techniques before you can move on to an experienced pattern. The reason I say that is because you might not know anything about broomstick lace crochet, the loop stitch or the crocodile stitch; but if you can read and understand a pattern, know the common stitches, and understand how to create shapes, then you might be able to tackle an experienced pattern.

This is the top level where you should be able to pick up just about any pattern and crochet it without any, or at least minimal, problems. You will be able to work with minimal instruction from the pattern, and do various increases and decreases in order to form unique shapes and designs in the fabric. You will have the ability to work with all fancy stitch combinations and non-repeating patterns.