This is a quick tutorial on how you can hold a crochet hook one-handed. I’m lucky enough to have a little strap to help hold the crochet hook to my amputee hand but this video shows how you can hold the hook against your knee, which will also work against a different surface.
I’ve just uploaded my fourth video to YouTube! This one covers how to crochet one-handed showing beginners how to crochet a granny square, which in my opinion is the easiest pattern to crack as a beginner! See below the video, and let me know if you have any questions or difficulties.
This tutorial aimed to help how help those with an upper body disability master crochet one-handed, demonstrating the technique with a limited movement of the crochet hook – I found learning quite tough as two-handed tutorials move and twist the hook considerably to get the motion.
Hopefully, this video will help other amputees or one-handed crafters get the hang of using the left hand as the dominant ‘worker’.
In the video I do use a strap to hold the hook to my arm however, anything that holds the hook still, or if its easier, holding the hook against your knee (how I started off) or on the side of a surface should work ok- this will be trial and error until you find something that suits you.
I’m a recent convert to the world of knitting and crochet and although it was challenging at first, I’ve found ways around so that I can do it too.
I want to share my method and help any beginner one-handed knitters out there or those keen to give it a go but don’t think they can. Without further ado, below is my one-handed knit stitch tutorial – I hope it’s helpful!
Essentially my technique is to wrap the yarn around my elbow/amputee arm to hold it tight and keeping my right needle stationary under my armpit. The hardest bit is getting tension and finding a system that allows you to pull tight but keep a flow.
I’ll post a video soon on playing around with the yarn and tension as this video mostly focusses on how to do the knit stitch one handed.
Please let me know if you have any questions, this in’t the best view for learning, I just wanted to show it could be done and how.
If you’re missing your left hand, I would place the left needle under your arm and using the left handed (this seems contradictory but most knitting is ‘right-handed’ and I’m missing right hand) tutorial below you can follow my process but in reverse.
There are some useful links below, & a link to my casting on tutorial if you’re interested. Thanks for watching!
Elisabeth Ward 