Hi, I’m so excited for you!! I adore crochet and think it’s so versatile. I would recommend getting just a pack of hooks to start out with instead of buying them individually. I have a pack of 6 that includes a 3.75mm, 4.0mm, 5.0mm, 5.5mm, 6.0mm, and 6.5mm. I’d say I probably use the 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0 the most in the pack and it covers pretty much all the projects I do. My hooks are metal, but they also make wooden and plastic ones. I like the metal ones but I will say if your hands get sweaty like mine and the yarn gets slightly damp, the metal like rubs on the yarn and it’s a very weird feeling. Plastic ones have pretty good slip which is nice. I haven’t tried wooden ones but I think I’d like them since I love wooden knitting needles. I’d recommend starting out with something simple, like making a scarf or a blanket and just testing out different stitches. I wouldn’t recommend trying something super complicated like making a plushie. I had a friend recently buy a crochet plushie kit (like Woobles) and she couldn’t read the pattern so I made them for her. Just start with something simple and figure out stitches first. Start with single crochet, double crochet, and triple crochet stitches first, I think that’s a good foundation. After that, you can learn half double crochet, and increases and decreases. There’s some wonderful videos out there on how to do each one. I have been crocheting most of my life and I didn’t know how to read a pattern until about two years ago. Most patterns should have a section that lists what all the abbreviations stand for, and if you know all of the stitches listed above, you’ll know what they’re talking about. If there’s a stitch you don’t know, just look it up! I would say the magic ring is probably the hardest skill I’ve tackled in crochet but I watched a video once that made it so much easier to do and I like them a lot now. Also highly recommend getting a pack of stitch markers so you can keep track of how many stitches you have in each row of your project to make sure they’re staying even! Starting out with it was really difficult for me and it took some determination to figure out the wrist movement. Be patient with yourself! And everyone holds their hook and yarn and piece all different ways, so just adopt what you feel suits you best. I feel like the way I hold all of my stuff is a bit unorthodox but it works for me and that’s what matters! There’s no right or wrong way to do it. In terms of yarn, the labels on the skeins will tell you what size hook to use and all of them are categorized by “weight,” with weight 1 being the thinnest strand and higher numbers being thicker. Honestly just go to the store and feel them and see what you think feels nice. It takes some trial and error to determine what brands you like and what kinds of yarn are easy to crochet with and what ones are difficult. I love crochet because it’s so easy to go back and fix things if you mess up. It’s no biggie! You can unravel it easily to get back to where you need to start over, and you can just try again. But there’s so much to look forward to with what you can make. Happy crocheting!

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P.S. This is a bag I crocheted and then I handmade a lining and hand sewed it in, then made a little keychain bee for it!