10 Fun Challenges to Help You Become Better At Crochet

So you started crocheting either recently or you’ve had crochet taking over your home for years. No matter where you’re at in your crochet journey, there is always a point where you feel like your not learning anything new. Maybe you’re making the same basic scarves, or you don’t want to try more complex patterns because you’re scared you won’t get it.

Here are some challenges that will help you expand your knowledge of crochet and develop muscle memory to become a better crocheter. If you’re looking to better your crochet skills and make your projects look like they could be sold at your local boutique, then it’s time to challenge yourself. It’s not as difficult as you think when you break it down into these small goals. So grab your hook and those yarns you’re saving for that one project and check out these 10 challenges that will make you a better crocheter!

1. Change Your Yarn Weight

• What To Do: Find a pattern you know how to do and redo it with a different weight yarn.
• How It Will Help: By changing your yarn weight, you will automatically be changing the way your body crochets. You may normally crochet with a worsted weight yarn. Try crocheting that simple beanie pattern with a superfine sock yarn or even a bulky roving.
• What You’ll Learn: You will learn how to adjust your hands to the different weight yarn. When using thinner yarns, you will need to be more careful with your tension so your stitches are not too loose. And with thicker yarns, you will want to crochet looser so you don’t strain your hands. Once you start adjusting your hands to the different yarns, you’ll be able to understand why certain patterns call for specific yarn weights.

2. Make A Stitch Sampler

• What To Do: Learn a new stitch each week for 10 weeks and crochet them into a 6″ or 12″ square.
• How It Will Help: If you wanted to learn a new stitch and crochet an entire blanket with it, you would probably give up. But when you’re working on a small square, it’s much easier. After 10 weeks, you will have beautiful squares you can sew together to make a lovely sampler blanket.
• What You’re Learning: Not only are you learning more stitches besides the typical single, half double,e and double crochet. You will be learning stitches such as jasmine stitch, crocodile stitch, thermal stitch, and cable stitches. All of which will help you read stitch patterns and charts with ease.

3. Learn How To Control Your Tension

• What To Do: Make a swatch that has 50 rows of double crochet and try to keep the same tension on each row.
• How It Will Help: We all know frogging (or ripping out your crochet work) is common when you’re crocheting. Most likely your tension was too loose or too tight on your rows, causing them to flare out or be too tight. Learn how to keep a consistent tension by crocheting this swatch.
• What You’re Learning: Keeping your tension even throughout a project will make your edges nice and straight. Once you master keeping an even tension, you will never have to worry about your rows being too big or small again.

4. Make Something With Thread

• What To Do: Crochet something small using embroidery floss or crochet thread. I recommend using size 10 crochet thread and a small steel hook around 1.25 mm – 1.5 mm. Try crocheting a small amigurumi animal.
• How It Will Help: When crocheting amigurumi, you want your stitches to be as tight as possible so that the stuffing doesn’t poke through. By using thread, you will have to really work on your tension and technique.
• What You’ll Learn: You will learn how to crochet with such small hooks and keep your stitches tight.

5. Learn To Read Stitches In Reverse

• What To Do: If you’re right-handed, try to crochet a simple square using instructions meant for left-handed crocheters. And if you’re left-handed, do the opposite.
• How It Will Help: Sounds crazy, right? But by doing this, you will start to understand how a stitch is put together.
• What You’re Learning: This will teach you how to read your own stitches and where your hook needs to go when making mistakes.

6. Try Not To Have Any Tail Ends On Your Project

• What To Do: Finish a project that requires many colors and don’t use the normal method of weaving in the ends. Learn how to do a Russian Join or the Magic Knot Method when changing yarns.
• How It Will Help: Who loves weaving in all those ends at the end of your project? Nobody!
• What You’ll Learn: By learning how to change your yarns without leaving ends to weave, you will save time, and your project will look great on the front and back.

7. Try Freeform Crochet

• What To Do: Don’t use any patterns and crochet freeform using a basket full of different colored scrap yarn. You can crochet different shapes and sew them together.
• How It Will Help: Freeform crochet is similar to painting with a canvas. You just have to let your mind think of different shapes and see what you can come up with.
• What You’ll Learn: You will learn how different types of yarn can play with each other and help create different designs.

8. Swatch For Your First Wearable

• What To Do: Find a garment you want to make and swatch for it!
• How It Will Help: There is no point in making a garment if it doesn’t fit you right. By swatching, you can see how the fabric will drape and fall on your body.
• What You’ll Learn: You will learn how to make garments that actually fit you. This can open up a world of new patterns and ideas for what you can make.

9. Only Use Charts

• What To Do: Find a pattern that only uses charts and no written instructions. Try to complete the pattern by only looking at the chart.
• How It Will Help: There are tons of patterns that only come with charts. So if you’re able to learn how to read charts, you will be able to complete more patterns.
• What You’re Learning: You will learn how to read charts and what each symbol means.

10. Tech Edit A Pattern

• What To Do: Find a pattern on the internet that you’re interested in and rewrite it. Try to add on to the pattern as well. Maybe add a border or change something that you don’t like.
• How It Will Help: When you look at a pattern with fresh eyes, you will start to notice things that you didn’t know before.
• What You’ll Learn: This will allow you to understand patterns better and how to create your own patterns.

Time for your next challenge?

You don’t need a teacher to help you get better at crocheting. Just try making mistakes and attempt one of these challenges during your next crochet session. Choose one, and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish!