What do you need to start crochet? A UK starter list

The short answer: a hook, yarn and scissors

Every guide we read agrees on two things, a hook and yarn. Simply Crochet, the UK magazine, puts it plainly: you need just two things to start, plus scissors or snips to fasten off. Lucy Kate Crochet’s basic starter kit is the same three items.

Yarn needles, stitch markers and a tape measure turn up in the longer lists. Simply Crochet says you don’t need a needle or markers to get started, and Lucy Kate Crochet says you can sew in ends with the hook at first. The table shows who recommends what. A dash means that guide doesn’t mention the item, not that it advises against it.

Which hook: 4mm, and don’t buy a big set yet

Simply Crochet recommends a 4mm hook with DK yarn, and names the Pony 4mm hook. That matches the yarn bands: in our check of 31 DK yarns sold in the UK, 23 list a 4mm hook. If you start with aran instead, use 5mm. The hook size finder gives the size for any yarn weight.

The guides disagree on sets. Lucy Kate Crochet says a cheap aluminium set is the best value. The Crochet Project says not to buy a whole set before you’ve tried a few hooks in the size you use most, then upgrade to a set of the one you like. Its own favourite is the Clover Amour. At Wool Warehouse a single 4mm hook ran from £0.99 for basic aluminium to £7.09 for a Clover Amour, so trying two or three is cheap.

LoveCrafts suggests a standard hook to start, and says a steep, in-line throat can help keep stitches the same size. Jera’s Jamboree suggests trying aluminium, plastic, wood and bamboo, and sticking with one hook for a whole project so your tension stays even.

Which yarn: smooth DK in a light or mid colour

DK is the usual starting weight. Simply Crochet suggests DK or aran because you can see the stitches more clearly, and chunky with a 5 to 6mm hook if your eyesight isn’t perfect or you’re teaching children. Lucy Kate Crochet’s kit page says DK is the most common yarn in beginner patterns, while its dos and don’ts page says to begin with aran or chunky. Sarah Maker, a US designer, suggests medium (worsted, close to UK aran) or bulky.

Colour matters more than people expect. Simply Crochet and Sarah Maker both say light coloured. The Crochet Project is more precise: a solid colour, not too dark or too light, so not black, white or neon, and not variegated.

The guides split on fibre. Simply Crochet says start with acrylic or cotton. The Crochet Project says avoid pure cotton because it has no bounce and splits, and avoid most pure acrylics because they can feel sticky. Its test is to tie a slip knot in the end of the yarn: if the knot moves freely and you can see every detail of it, the texture is right. Both yarns Simply Crochet names, Stylecraft Special DK and Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, are 100% acrylic, so do the slip-knot test on whichever ball you pick. Both are in the cheaper half of the 31 DK yarns in our price guide, at 61p and 80p per 100m.

What can wait: needle, markers, tape measure

A blunt yarn needle (also sold as a tapestry or wool needle) is for sewing in ends. Lucy Kate Crochet says you can do that with the hook at first, though it is slower and less neat. Simply Crochet lists the needle with scissors as what you need to finish off.

Stitch markers show the first stitch of a row or round. Buy split-ring or locking markers that open. Sarah Maker warns that closed ring markers are for knitting and won’t work for crochet, and suggests paper clips or bobby pins on a budget. Jera’s Jamboree uses a length of scrap yarn as a running marker.

A tape measure only matters once a pattern gives a size. Together, a needle pack, markers and a tape measure added £4.77 to the cheapest basket below.

What it costs

We priced two baskets at Wool Warehouse because it stocks every item, so one order and one delivery charge covers the lot. The cheapest basket uses the cheapest item of each kind we could confirm was in stock. The Pony 4mm hook Simply Crochet names was £1.49, 50p more. The mid-range basket uses the hook The Crochet Project recommends and the yarn Simply Crochet names. Standard delivery was £3.45 on orders under £30 and free above that, which adds about a third to the cheapest full kit. If you’re also buying yarn for a first project, £30 is the point where delivery becomes free.

One 100g ball is plenty to practise on, and each first project below needs a ball or less. If you only want the yarn, Paintbox Yarns Simply DK was £1.69 at LoveCrafts and Knitco DK was £1.49 at The Wool Factory on the same day. The cheapest DK yarn guide compares 31 DK yarns by price per 100m.

Three free first projects

Attic24’s Solid Granny Square is a small three-round square in DK on a 4mm hook. Attic24 says each one takes minutes, and they use up oddments of DK. The BBC’s Get Creative tips from the UK Hand Knitting Association also point beginners to granny squares and to Attic24.

The Sweet Dreams Sleep Mask is a free Paintbox Yarns pattern on LoveCrafts. LoveCrafts lists it first in its beginner order and says it takes one evening and one ball of Paintbox Yarns Baby DK.

Annie Design Crochet’s free moss stitch washcloth is a 20 × 20cm square from about 60 to 70m of aran-weight cotton on a 5mm hook. It is a good second project once you can work rows, because The Crochet Project finds pure cotton harder to learn with. We haven’t made these projects; the yarn amounts and hook sizes are the designers’ own.

Common questions

Sources and scope

• simply-yarn.com/guides/how-to-crochet/crochet-for-beginners-guide
• thecrochetproject.com/blogs/blog-the-crochet-project/yarn-choices-for-beginners
• thecrochetproject.com/blogs/blog-the-crochet-project/choosing-the-right-crochet-hook
• thecrochetproject.com/products/the-learn-to-crochet-project-a-beginners-crochet-course
• lucykatecrochet.com/crochet-kit
• lucykatecrochet.com/dos-and-donts-of-learning-to-crochet
• www.jerasjamboree.co.uk/crochet-tips-for-beginners/
• www.lovecrafts.com/blogs/articles/how-to-crochet
• www.lovecrafts.com/blogs/articles/hooks-buying-guide
• www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/FXhKtmMJ2Jq0HG85btb1Jn/in-2016-i-will-get-creative-by-crocheting
• sarahmaker.com/crochet-supplies/
• www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/needles-and-hooks/bobbin-box-single-end-crochet-hook-coloured-anodised-aluminium-15cm-4-00mm
• www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/needles-and-hooks/pony-single-end-crochet-hook-aluminium-15cm-4-00mm
• www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/needles-and-hooks/clover-amour-crochet-hook-4mm
• www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/yarn/yarnsmiths-create-dk-light-sage-3185-100g
• www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/yarn/stylecraft-special-dk-all-colours
• www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/accessories/hemline-folding-scissors
• www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/accessories/hiyahiya-puppy-snips-5cm
• www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/accessories/hemline-needles-tapestry-size-16-pack-of-6
• www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/accessories/knitpro-wool-needle-set-2-25mm-x-60mm-2-75-x-70mm-3-25mm-x-85mm
• www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/accessories/pony-split-ring-markers
• www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/accessories/clover-split-ring-markers-pack-of-24
• www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/accessories/hemline-tape-measure-metric-imperial-150cm-long
• www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/accessories/hemline-tape-measure-retractable-150cm-long
• www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/products/paintbox-yarns-simply-dk
• www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/products/stylecraft-special-dk
• www.thewoolfactory.co.uk/knitco-dk---100g---all-shades-95910-p.asp
• attic24.co.uk/posts/solid-granny-square/
• www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/products/sweet-dreams-sleep-mask-free-accessory-crochet-pattern-in-paintbox-yarns-baby-dk
• www.anniedesigncrochet.com/free-easy-crochet-washcloth-pattern-for-beginners/

Sources checked 2 October 2026. Label facts come from the linked references; worked purchase examples and arithmetic are our own illustrations.