Foundation Single Crochet: Skip the Starting Chain

The usual way to start a project is to make a long chain and then work your first row into it. That has a few problems:

• A long chain is easy to miscount, and you won't know until the end of Row 1.
• Chains are often tighter than the stitches above them, so the bottom edge pulls in or doesn't stretch.
• Working into chains is fiddly for beginners.

Foundation single crochet (fsc) builds the chain and the first row of single crochet together, one stitch at a time. The bottom edge stretches as much as the rest of the fabric, which is ideal for anything that goes over a head or around a body.

The first stitch:

1. 1.Make a slip knot and chain 2.
2. 2.Insert the hook into the 2nd chain from the hook.
3. 3.Yarn over and pull up a loop. You have 2 loops on the hook.
4. 4.Yarn over and pull through 1 loop only. This makes the "chain" at the base of the stitch. You still have 2 loops on the hook.
5. 5.Yarn over and pull through both loops. That completes the single crochet on top. One foundation single crochet is done.

Every stitch after that:

1. 1.Insert the hook under the two loops of the "chain" at the base of the stitch you just made. That's the little V at the bottom, not the top of the stitch.
2. 2.Yarn over and pull up a loop. 2 loops on the hook.
3. 3.Yarn over and pull through 1 loop. This makes the new chain.
4. 4.Yarn over and pull through both loops. This makes the new single crochet.

Repeat until you have the number of stitches you need.

The hardest part is finding the chain at the base of each stitch. Turn the strip slightly so you're looking at its bottom edge: you'll see a little V or a pair of loops. That's where the hook goes.

Two habits help:

• Pinch the stitch you just made right at its base. The chain is under your fingers.
• Mark the chain with a stitch marker for the first few stitches until you can see it easily.

If your strip twists or spirals, you're probably going into the top of the stitch instead of the base chain.

When you've made enough foundation stitches, chain 1, turn, and work your next row into the tops of the foundation stitches, just as you would into a row of single crochet. The foundation row counts as your first row.

If your pattern says Ch 21, sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across (20 sc), you can replace that with Fsc 20. You get the same 20 stitches without the chain.

The same idea works for taller stitches. In foundation double crochet (fdc), you start with a yarn over, pull up a loop, make the base chain by pulling through 1 loop, and then finish as a double crochet (yarn over, pull through 2, twice). It's a great start for blankets worked in double crochet.

Learn foundation single crochet first, since it's the easiest to see, then try foundation double and half double crochet once the movement feels natural.

• Hat brims and headbands, which need to stretch over a head.
• Sweater necklines and cuffs, where a tight chain would be uncomfortable.
• Big blankets, where counting a 200-stitch chain is no fun. Our chain calculator tells you how many stitches you need for a given width.
• Joining as you go, since you can add stitches to the end of a row if you need a longer piece.