Crochet Techniques Manual

The Crochet Techniques Manual is designed to help you build a solid foundation in an organised way when you’re starting out: understanding how each stitch is formed, why the fabric sometimes distorts, and which small adjustments make the result look cleaner. If you struggle to keep even tension or you get lost when moving from one row to the next, this kind of guide helps you progress without skipping steps.

If you’re a beginner, the most useful approach is to use it as a “go-to reference”: choose one technique, practise it on a small swatch, and only then take it into a real piece. That way you avoid the frustration of tackling big projects too soon, and each practice session becomes real progress rather than repeating the same thing without improving.

The Crochet Techniques Manual is also a great fit when you already know the basic stitches, but feel your pieces don’t look “polished”: edges that ripple, joins that stand out, uneven tension, or ends that feel bulky. In those cases, the value isn’t learning a brand-new stitch, but refining how you work it and how you finish, so the whole piece looks neat and professional.

Improvements often come from small details: how you hold the yarn, how you insert the hook, how you close a round, or how you weave in ends without thickening the fabric. Used as a troubleshooting guide, it helps you identify what’s causing the issue and practise specific fixes until your finish becomes more even.

The Crochet Techniques Manual includes visual explanations for working-in-the-round techniques, and it has a dedicated section on “tubular crochet”, with step-by-step photos and variations. This is especially useful if you’re drawn to circular or 3D projects and want to understand what’s happening in each round, so the fabric doesn’t twist or develop odd breaks.

In practice, learning to crochet in the round opens up lots of possibilities: from bag bases to cowls, hats, or amigurumi-style projects. The key is mastering how the tube is formed, how to keep the spiral going, or how to avoid visible “steps” between rounds, and those questions are much easier to solve with a step-by-step guide than with scattered explanations.

The Crochet Techniques Manual works as a sectioned reference book, not something you have to read cover to cover. Inside you’ll find sections such as “Getting Started”, “Working in the Round”, “Finishing Touches” and “Inspiration”, which makes it easy to go straight to what you need depending on the project you’re working on.

The most practical way to use it is to decide what you need today: for example, starting a piece, working a circular section, or finishing neatly. Open that section, follow the steps, make a quick swatch, and come back to it whenever a question comes up. That way, the book becomes constant support, not something that just sits on the shelf.

In the Crochet Techniques Manual there’s an inspiration section with photos of finished pieces to help you visualise how the techniques are used: you’ll see granny-style motifs, lace pieces, shawls or ponchos, textured blankets, and accessories such as bags or decorative details. This is really helpful if you want a clear “goal” to practise towards and don’t fancy sticking to plain square swatches.

The best way to use that inspiration is to pick an idea that matches your level and turn it into practice: work a motif, repeat it until you’ve got it, then apply it in a simple piece. If you’re buying it expecting fully detailed, closed projects for every photo, it’s worth checking the contents once you have the book, because some images may be visual inspiration rather than a complete pattern.

The Crochet Techniques Manual uses both terms because, in practice, they refer to the same technique: “ganchillo” is the most common word in Spain, while “crochet” is widely used in patterns, social media and international resources. For beginners, this avoids the classic confusion of thinking they’re different crafts when it’s really the name (and sometimes the vocabulary) that changes.

What matters is learning the stitch mechanics and how to apply the techniques in real fabric. Once you’re used to seeing both words, it becomes much easier to look up videos, patterns or help online, because you’ll know that “crochet” and “ganchillo” will lead you to the same kind of resources and explanations.