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The slip knot and the foundation chain

How to make the knot that starts every project, chain evenly, count chains, and work into them without twisting.

By The StudioPublished Jun 4, 20264 min read

Every crochet project begins the same way: a slip knot on the hook, then a row of chains. The chain is the foundation everything else is built on, and it is where beginners make the mistake they will spend the rest of the project fighting: a chain that is too tight. This article covers the knot, an even chain, how to count, and how to work the first row into it.

The slip knot

1
Leave a tail about 15 cm (6 in) long. Make a loop by crossing the working yarn over the tail.
2
Reach through the loop and pull a fold of the working yarn through it, so you have a new loop with the crossing point below it.
3
Slide the new loop onto the hook and pull the working yarn gently to snug it up to the hook. It should slide along the hook easily and tighten when you pull the working yarn.
If pulling the working yarn does nothing and pulling the tail tightens it, you pulled the wrong strand through. Undo and try again; it costs nothing.

The slip knot does not count as a stitch in any pattern. When a pattern says chain 20, you make twenty chains after the knot.

Making the chain

With the knot on the hook, hold the base of it between your thumb and middle finger. Bring the yarn over the hook from back to front, this is a yarn over, and pull it through the loop already on the hook. That is one chain. Move your pinch up to hold the new chain, and repeat. The yarn over is always from back to front; going the other way twists the loop and makes it hard to work into later.

Chains come out tight because pulling the yarn to finish each one also tightens the one before. Make your chains a little looser than feels right, or use a hook one size larger for the chain only and switch back for the first row.

Reading and counting chains

Look at the chain from the front and you see a column of V shapes. Each V is one chain. Count the Vs, not the loop on the hook and not the slip knot. Turn it over and you see a single ridge of bumps running along the back; each bump also equals one chain and is the loop many patterns tell you to work into for a neater edge.

Count in tens and place a stitch marker or a scrap of contrasting yarn every 20 chains on a long foundation, so a miscount costs you 20 chains rather than 200.
Do not count the loop on the hook. It becomes part of the first stitch.
If you lose count on a long chain, it is faster to chain a few extra and unravel the surplus after the first row than to recount three times.

Working the first row into the chain

Most patterns say something like chain 21, single crochet in the second chain from the hook. The skipped chain is the turning chain and gives the row its height. Counting back from the hook, the first V away from the hook is chain one, the next is chain two, and that is where the hook goes. Insert the hook under the top loop of the V, or under the back bump if you want the smoothest edge, and make the stitch.

Keep the chain from twisting as you work along it. If the Vs suddenly face the other way, the chain has rotated; untwist it before continuing, since a twisted foundation cannot be fixed later.

Foundation stitches, briefly

There is an alternative to a long chain called foundation single crochet or foundation double crochet, where you make the chain and the first row in one pass. It is stretchier and never too tight, and it is worth learning after you are comfortable with the basic stitches. Several patterns in the shop offer it as an option for the hem of a garment. For now, a slightly loose chain and a careful count will get you through anything.

With a chain on the hook you are ready for the first real stitch: single crochet.

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