How to Make a Slip Knot for Crochet

A slip knot is a loop that can be made bigger or smaller by pulling one end of the yarn. It attaches the yarn to your hook so you can start chaining.

Two terms help here:

• The tail is the short, loose end of the yarn.
• The working yarn is the end that leads back to the ball. That's what you'll crochet with.

1. 1.Measure about 6 inches (15 cm) from the end of the yarn. That will be your tail.
2. 2.Make a loop by crossing the yarn over itself, so the working yarn lies on top of the tail where they cross.
3. 3.Reach through the loop with your fingers or your hook, grab the working yarn, and pull a new loop up through the first one. Don't pull the end through, only a loop.
4. 4.Put that new loop on your hook.
5. 5.Pull gently on both ends to snug the knot up under the hook.

Now test it. Pull one of the ends: the loop on the hook should get smaller. If nothing slides, you've tied an ordinary knot. Undo it and try again, making sure you pull a loop through in step 3, not the end of the yarn.

Depending on how you crossed the yarn, either the tail or the working yarn will adjust the loop. Both work, and crocheters argue about it happily.

Many people prefer the version where pulling the tail tightens the loop. You can snug the knot up after you've made a few chains, and the working yarn can't accidentally shrink the loop while you crochet. If yours works the other way round and it doesn't bother you, keep going.

The loop should sit snugly around the hook's shaft, the wider round part, not the narrow throat, and slide easily up and down. If you have to force it, it's too tight and your first chain will be a struggle. If it falls off when you tilt the hook, it's too loose.

Keep the loop on the shaft while you crochet. Loops pulled tight on the narrow throat are the main reason first rows feel impossibly stiff.

With the slip knot on the hook, hold the base of the knot between the thumb and middle finger of your yarn hand. Then:

1. 1.Wrap the working yarn over the hook from back to front. This is called a "yarn over."
2. 2.Turn the hook so it catches the yarn, and pull it through the loop on your hook.

That's one chain. Repeat until you have as many as your pattern asks for. Remember that the slip knot itself never counts as a chain.

Some projects start differently:

• Magic ring: for anything worked in rounds from the center, like hats and amigurumi, you start with an adjustable ring instead. See how to make a magic ring.
• Joining new yarn: when you add a new ball or color partway through, you don't need a new slip knot. You join the yarn directly into a stitch. See how to change colors in crochet.