Starting · Beginner
Slip knot
A slip knot puts the first loop on the hook. Make a loop of yarn, draw a second loop up through it from behind with the hook, and pull both ends to close the knot. A foundation chain starts from it.
How to work it
Make a loop
About 6 inches (15 cm) from the end of the yarn, cross the yarn over itself to make a loop, and look at the loop from the front. At the crossing, the strand that leads to the ball lies in front, nearer to you, and the short tail lies behind it.
Fold the ball strand behind
Take the strand that leads to the ball round to the back of the loop, the side away from you, and let it lie there across the middle of the loop. Looking through the loop from the front, you see that strand crossing behind it.
Hook in from the front
Put the head of the hook into the loop from the front, the side nearer to you. Behind the loop, catch the strand that lies across it in the throat of the hook.
Pull a loop up
Draw the hook back out of the loop the way it went in, toward you, bringing the caught strand with it. Neither end of the yarn comes through: the strand comes through doubled, and sits on the hook as one loop with a loose knot below it.
Pull both ends
Keep the hook in the loop. Pull the tail and the strand that leads to the ball, each away from the hook, until the knot closes up under the hook. The knot holds, and the loop stays on the hook.
At a glance
- Used for
- the start of a foundation chain; the start of a ring of chains for work in the round
- Counts as a stitch?
- No. The slip knot is never counted, as a stitch or as a chain.
- The tail
- Leave about 6 inches (15 cm) between the knot and the end of the yarn.
- Which end closes the loop
- Tied as in these steps, the strand that leads to the ball: pull it to make the loop on the hook smaller. Some ways of tying the knot draw the tail through the loop instead, and then the tail is the end that closes it.
- In a pattern
- A pattern that begins with a chain expects the knot to be on the hook already.
The knot is adjustable. Pulling the ends closes it, and if it goes wrong it pulls out easily, so you can start again.
There is more than one way to tie it. Some people form the knot with their fingers and slide it onto the hook; others wrap the yarn on the hook itself. Every way ends with one loop on the hook that can be tightened.
To begin chaining, hold the knot lightly between the thumb and middle finger of the hand that is not holding the hook.
Tips
- Leave the loop loose enough to slide along the hook.
When it goes wrong
- I pulled both ends and the knot fell out.
- Start again, and check two things as you go: the strand that leads to the ball lies behind the loop before the hook goes in, and the hook goes in from the front.
- I counted the knot, and now my chain is one short.
- Count again without it. Neither the slip knot nor the loop on the hook is a chain.
- The loop is too tight to move on the hook, or so loose that it falls off.
- If the loop is loose, pull the strand that leads to the ball until it is snug. If it is too tight to slide along the hook, pull the knot out and tie it again a little looser.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Questions
- Does a slip knot count as a stitch?
- No. It is not counted when you count chains, and it is not a stitch of the first row.
- Can I crochet without a slip knot?
- Yes. The slip knot is the usual start for a chain, and it is not the only start: work in the round can begin with a magic ring.