Did you know that August 13 is National Left Handed Day?

 

Yes, that is really a thing.  Yes, I should have had this posted then, but as you can tell, that didn’t happen.

 

So, fun fact about me, I am left handed. Growing up I was taught to crochet using my right hand to hold my hook, which means I crochet backwards because I don’t hold my hook in any of the acceptable ways. Yes, I am aware that I could learn to crochet with my left hand, but after 30 years of crocheting backwards, I don’t feel the need to learn now.   I find it gives my work a uniqueness that most other crocheters won’t have.

 

The main difference in crochet styles is this:

Right handed: Stitches are worked Right to Left (clockwise)

Left handed : Stitches are worked Left to Right (counter-clockwise)

 

As most people who are left handed know, there are many tools made specifically for left-handed people. When it comes to crochet hooks however, while there are grips made for left handed people, the hooks themselves are neither right or left handed.

 

Patterns themselves are where things can get tricky. Especially with clothing. Most designers these days do include an option for a left-handed pattern. These patterns are written for people like myself that crochet “backwards” and can’t always figure out how to adjust a right-handed/standard crochet pattern. YouTube is also a great place to find videos for left-handed crochet. The Crochet Crowd has a lot of good left-handed and beginner friendly pattern videos and a great how-to crochet series too. Yarnspiration also has a good collection of free left-handed patterns on their website. I did link the Yarnspiration site for how-to-do left handed crochet, since they explain it so much better than I can.