Crochet guide
Crocheting with thread
Crocheting with thread is ordinary crochet made small. The stitches are the ones you know from yarn, but the yarn is a fine cotton thread and the hook is a small steel one. Thread and steel hooks are both numbered the other way round from yarn and yarn hooks, and that is the main thing to learn.
On this page 8 parts
What changes when the yarn is thread
| Yarn | Thread | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Any fiber, in many thicknesses | Usually cotton, finer than most yarn |
| How it is sized | A weight number that rises as the yarn gets thicker | A size number that rises as the thread gets finer |
| The hook | An ordinary hook, sized by letter or number and in millimeters | A steel hook, numbered the other way round |
| The stitches | The same | The same |
Crochet thread is usually cotton, and often mercerized cotton, which has a slight shine. In the standard yarn weight system, size 10 thread sits in the lace category, the lightest of all.
How thread is sized
Thread has size numbers of its own, and they run backward. The higher the number, the finer the thread. Size 3 is the thickest and is nearly as thick as a light yarn. Size 100 is the finest.
The sizes you will meet most are 3, 5, 10, 20 and 30. Above that the sizes go up in steps of 10. The thread size chart lists them side by side.
The hooks
Thread is worked with steel hooks. They are the smallest hooks made for crochet, and their numbers run backward too: a bigger number means a smaller hook. Most steel hooks are also marked in millimeters, and the millimeters are the surer guide. The steel hook size chart gives each number in millimeters.
The thickest threads, sizes 3 and 5, are close to yarn, and the largest steel hooks overlap the smallest ordinary hooks. So a small ordinary hook can do for them.
Whatever the pattern names, the right hook is the one that gives its gauge. Make a small swatch first and compare. See how to measure gauge.
Which size to learn on
Size 10 is the usual thread to start with.
If size 10 feels too fine, come to it in steps. Sizes 3 and 5 are much closer to yarn. Another way is to work the same small pattern first in yarn, then in a finer yarn, then in thread. Once size 10 is comfortable, sizes 20 and 30 are the next step down.
Holding the thread
The stitches do not change, so the way you hold a hook and yarn is the place to start. How to hold the hook and yarn shows the common grips, and yarn tension covers stitches that come out tight, loose or uneven.
What thread is used for
- Doilies.
- Filet crochet, the grid of open and filled squares, in pieces such as tablecloths. See filet crochet.
- Lace, including fine shawls. See lace and openwork stitches.
Beads can be worked into thread crochet: they are strung onto the thread before the crocheting starts.
A finished thread piece can be stiffened with starch so that it keeps its shape. See stiffening crochet and blocking.
Thread in knitting
Fine thread is not only for crochet. Lace-weight yarns, the category that size 10 thread belongs to, are knitted as well as crocheted.
Where to go next
- For the sizes side by side, see the thread size chart and the steel hook size chart.
- For how thread compares with the weights of yarn, see yarn weights.
- For other kinds of crochet, see types of crochet.