What You Actually Need to Buy (and What You Don't)
Before we get into stitches, we need to talk supplies. This part should take you fifteen minutes and about twelve dollars. I say that up front because I've seen people wander into a craft store with no plan and walk out an hour later having bought a hook set, a project bag, stitch markers, a pattern book, and a wooden bowl to put it all in. You don't need any of that yet. Let's fix that.
The hook
Buy one hook. Aluminum, not plastic, not wood, nothing fancy. Size H (that's 5mm) is a good starting size because it's big enough to see what you're doing and small enough that the fabric doesn't look like a fishing net.
I know the ergonomic hooks with the soft rubber grips exist and I'll tell you honestly, my hands like them a lot better than plain aluminum these days. But that's a preference for later, once your wrist has an opinion about anything. Right now you don't know what you like yet, and a forty-dollar hook set isn't going to teach you to crochet any faster than a two-dollar hook will. Learn on the cheap one. Upgrade once you've earned an opinion.
The yarn
Here's where people get talked into spending too much. You do not need the good stuff yet.
Get a skein of worsted weight acrylic yarn in a light, plain color. Not white, because you won't be able to see your stitches against it. Not black, same problem. Something medium — a light blue, a tan, a soft yellow — so you can actually watch what your hook is doing.
Acrylic is fine. I know some people get snobby about it, like you're supposed to feel bad using it, but I've had acrylic blankets in my house for decades and they're still going strong. Buy nice yarn later when you want to treat yourself to something soft, not because someone made you feel cheap for buying what's on the shelf at Macey's.
Now — I do want you buying cotton eventually, but not for this first project. Cotton's for washcloths, always, because it actually absorbs water and it won't melt if it ends up near a hot pan (acrylic will, and that's not a maybe, that's a fact I'd rather you learn from me than from your stove). We'll get there in a couple of lessons. For now, acrylic, and don't feel one bit bad about it.
I made a whole family's worth of washcloths one Christmas out of cotton yarn, thinking half of them would end up in a drawer somewhere being polite about it. Jared — my son-in-law — actually used his to wash his car. I decided that counted as a success. That's the kind of yarn you want for a washcloth. Something that does a job.
What you don't need
- A hook set. You need one hook. Buy more sizes once a pattern calls for them.
- Stitch markers. Nice to have eventually, not needed for a first project.
- A pattern book. We'll be working from what I hand out in class.
- A project bag, a yarn bowl, scissors shaped like a stork, any of it. A regular pair of scissors from your junk drawer is fine.
- Blocking mats, a gauge ruler, or anything that sounds like it belongs to somebody more serious than you are right now. You are not there yet and you may never need to be. Plenty of good crocheters never touch that stuff.
One more thing while we're talking money
If you already have yarn at home — leftover from a project, something your mother-in-law handed you at some point, whatever's in a bag in the closet — bring it. You don't need to buy anything new for this class if you've got worsted-weight yarn sitting around already. I'd rather you use what you have than feel like this hobby requires a shopping trip every time you sit down.
That said, don't raid "the situation," if you've got one of your own — that pile of yarn you're saving for someday. Someday can wait. Buy one cheap skein for practice and save the good stuff for when your hands know what they're doing.
Before next time
Get yourself one H hook and one skein of light-colored worsted acrylic. That's the whole list. If you show up with more than that, I'll just tell you to put it away for now.