Proper Posture&Hand Position | Crocheting

Watch more How to Crochet videos: http://www.howcast.com/videos/472100-How-to-Do-a-Single-Stitch-CrochetingLearn proper posture and hand position for crocheting from Lion Brand Yarn's Andrea Lemire in this Howcast video.Hey, I'm Andrea Lemire, the education coordinator here at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio. I'm going to show you some really cool techniques for beginning crochet, and hopefully, you'll have as much fun as I have with it. Okay, lets get started.So, when you are crocheting, especially as a beginner, I know a lot of people have the tendency to scrunch up, hunch up. And that's something you want to avoid, just because you're gonna get back pain. A lot of problems are going to ensue the more you do that. So make sure you're nice and relaxed. Take a comfy seat in your couch or whatever, and just keep your elbows down, and make sure that your back is nice and straight. So that's the first step when thinking about posture. And then something else that you want to keep in mind is crocheting is an exercise. It's a craft. You're using your hands for it. So you want to be careful that you're being kind to your hands and your wrists. A lot of people power through, especially if you need to get that baby hat done, you know, for your friend's shower or whatever. And you can sometimes push through pain. So I just want to tell you guys a couple things to keep in mind to avoid injury. When you start to get tingling in your fingers or slight twinges in your wrists, that is a warning sign. I personally learned the hard way, that pushing through will really cause a lot of damage. And I did develop tendonitis in both my wrists, and so what you want to be careful to do is prevent that from happening for yourself. So a couple things you can do is just be aware that when you're holding your hook, you want to keep it nice and loose. You want your wrists to be able to flop, and you don't want a lot of tension in it. If you can see any of those bones in your hand or veins popping out, that would be, you know, extreme. So make sure you're not seeing that. But you want to see a nice smooth hand, cause that means you're relaxed. If you find that you're not able to loosen up enough to be relaxed and crochet, you can use what's called an ergonomic crochet hook. We do sell them here at the Lion Brand yarn studio and on our website. What it does is it puts this ball in your hand to give it that optimal position that you're looking for, and so that way, its cupped around that ball and you're not gonna grip so tightly that you're going to do a lot of damage. So, the last thing that I want to tell you guys about is wrist position. And this glove that I'm wearing is a great way to make sure that your wrist is in line with your hand, which is what you want to be paying attention to. It's gonna keep nice tension on those wrist bones so they're not gonna bend too far in one direction or the other. The stress relief gloves, you can find on lionbrand.com as well as here in the studio. They're just a great preventative measure to implement. So, all of those remember, just preventative measures, but what you should remember is that crochet is an exercise, so you should stretch before and after. Go ahead and bend those fingers back, move your wrists around a little. And the last thing you should keep in mind is, it's fun. It's supposed to be enjoyable. You're supposed to be relaxed doing it. I know it can be challenging when you're learning. So if you do find yourself just really really tense, just chill out. Put it down, walk away, come back to it, and just try to have some fun with it.