ArtsThe ProfessorBeginner
Crochet from the First Stitch, a free arts course on Tomo

Crochet from the First Stitch

Learn to transform a simple strand of yarn into textured fabric, flat motifs, and three-dimensional forms. Master essential stitches, control your tension, and read patterns with confidence to create projects that look intentional and hold together.

Like Duolingo, but for Crochet from the First Stitch. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

28 levels across 3 sections, about 56 minutes end to end, roughly 11 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Making Your First Stitches; Controlling Shape and Working in the Round; and Troubleshooting, Materials, and Finishing. It starts from scratch.

28 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Conrad the Crotchet, the guide who teaches the Crochet from the First Stitch course
Crochet from the First Stitch
with Conrad the Crotchet
28
Levels
3
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in Crochet from the First Stitch

  • A slip knot forms an open loop that tightens or loosens when you pull the yarn tail or working yarn
  • The knot secures the yarn to the crochet hook without permanently binding it, allowing the hook to slide freely
  • The pencil grip and knife grip are interchangeable techniques that achieve identical crochet stitches
  • The choice comes down to personal ergonomics and which hand and wrist muscles feel most comfortable rotating the hook
  • Weaving or draping the working yarn through the fingers of your non-dominant hand creates steady passive drag
  • Consistent drag prevents yarn from surging loosely or snapping tight, resulting in uniform chain loops
  • A foundation chain must stay relaxed so each loop leaves an open space large enough for the hook head to re-enter
  • Pulling working yarn tightly after each yarn-over strangles the chain, making row one nearly impossible to insert the hook into
  • Each crochet chain link consists of three strands: two on the front forming a sideways 'V' (top and bottom loops) and one bump along the back ridge
  • Working into the back bump yields a clean, chain-like bottom edge identical to the top of standard stitches
  • Working into the top loop alone is fast and beginner-friendly, while working under both loops of the 'V' provides extra stability
  • A single crochet begins by inserting the hook directly into the stitch without an initial yarn over
  • Pulling up a loop leaves two loops on the hook
  • The final yarn over pulls through both loops on the hook to finish the dense, sturdy stitch
  • Half-double crochet begins with a yarn over before inserting the hook into the stitch
  • That initial yarn over creates a distinctive third diagonal bar/loop inside the stitch
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives Crochet from the First Stitch the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

Holding Your Hook and Yarn

Why do you start crochet with a slip knot instead of an ordinary knot?

Get it right to open this lesson and 27 more in the app.

Course map

Where Crochet from the First Stitch takes you

  1. 1

    Making Your First Stitches

    • Making Your First Chain
    • Building Dense Fabric with Short Stitches
    • Expanding Height with Double and Treble Stitches
  2. 2

    Controlling Shape and Working in the Round

    • Keeping Edges Straight and Dimensions True
    • Crocheting Flat Circles and Continuous Spirals
    • Constructing Granny Squares and Joined Motifs
  3. 3

    Troubleshooting, Materials, and Finishing

    • Decoding Patterns, Charts, and Terminology
    • Yarn Anatomy, Hook Selection, and Tension Control
    • Finishing, Edging, and Blocking

3 sections · 9 units · 28 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

New

Tomo is in ChatGPT

Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.

Add Tomo to ChatGPT
How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
The Professor

Crochet from the First Stitch is taught in the Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

Start free

Start Crochet from the First Stitch today.

Download Tomo, search Crochet from the First Stitch, and play your first lesson in under a minute.