Online crochet course: 5 apps to learn crochet

Crocheting is one of those crafts you learn with a hook in hand: nobody learns the single crochet stitch by reading about it. What a cell phone does—and does very well—is shorten the path between doubt and answer. You can watch the movement in a video, follow a pattern organized by row, count stitches without losing track, and save everything you've already produced.

This list contains five apps published on Google Play, reviewed one by one, with a link to each app's official page. We explain what each app actually delivers, what stage of learning it's suitable for, and what the terms and conditions are—including when the content is paid.

What a crochet app solves (and what it doesn't solve)

Crochet apps are essentially divided into three functions. Those of revenue They include charts and step-by-step instructions for the parts. Those of support They count careers, keep track of thread inventory, and organize projects. And those of magazine They publish complete editions with original designs.

None of them teach the stitch by hand or replace repetition. And "free" in the store almost always means free installation: part of the collection may be in ads, subscriptions, or individual purchases. This always appears on the app's page on Google Play, before installation.

5 apps to learn crochet on your phone

Always install from your device's official app store. The button on each card below will take you directly to the app's page on Google Play.

Love Círculo

The official app of Círculo, a Brazilian manufacturer of yarns and threads. It's the best gateway for those who want content in Portuguese: it offers crochet and knitting patterns, a yarn catalog with true colors, and an area to organize your yarn inventory at home.

Since the patterns indicate the yarn, needle size, and correct quantity, it becomes much easier to calculate what to buy before starting the project—and less common to end up with half a skein of yarn lying around in a drawer. The app is free.

Ribblr – Crochet & Knitting

Riblr offers an interactive recipe format: instead of a continuous PDF, each row becomes a step that you mark off as you go, with a built-in counter. For long projects, this greatly reduces the chance of getting lost in the middle of the chart.

The platform has free and paid patterns sold by independent designers — most of the catalog is in English. There's also a community where you can follow other people's projects and, if you create your own patterns, sell them.

Amigurumi Padrão Tutoriais

Amigurumi is three-dimensional crochet: dolls, animals, and keychains made in continuous rows. This app brings together tutorials and patterns specifically for this style, with the design of the parts and the final assembly explained.

It's recommended for those who already know the single crochet stitch, increases, and decreases—amigurumi relies on these three techniques. Installation is free, and the app is supported by ads.

Knitting and Crochet Buddy

This is the supporting app for the list. It functions as a counter for rows and repetitions, keeps track of which needles you have, records your yarn inventory, and monitors the progress of each project—all synchronized in the cloud.

Anyone who's ever lost count halfway through a blanket knows the value of this. It doesn't teach stitches: it's an organizational tool, and that's how it should be used. English interface, with a free version and paid features.

Crochet Now

Official app of a British magazine dedicated to crochet. Each issue features complete original projects, with a materials list, chart, step-by-step instructions, and photos of the finished product.

One thing needs to be clear: the app is free to install, but editions are purchased individually or through a subscription within the app, and the content is in English. It's suitable for those who want well-designed projects and like to keep up with international trends.

Where do I even begin if I've never held a needle before?

The order that works is always the same: chain, single crochet, double crochet, increase, and decrease. With these five stitches, you can already make a simple bag, a basket, or a coaster. Only then should you move on to pieces with a complex pattern.

Start with thicker yarn or thread and a compatible needle: the stitch will be visible and it will be easy to identify mistakes. Thin yarn with a thin needle looks nice, but it hides the structure and hinders those who are learning. And use the app's counter from the very first piece—it's the habit that most prevents rework.

Common questions

Esses aplicativos dão certificado de curso?

No. These are recipe, support, and magazine apps. They help with learning and organization, but they don't issue certifications. For that, look for in-person courses or learning platforms that issue certificates.

Todo o conteúdo é gratuito?

No. All of them can be installed for free, but Riblr has paid patterns and Crochet Now sells in-app editions. Love Círculo and the amigurumi app offer free content, the latter with ads.

Existe algum em português?

Yes. Love Círculo is a Brazilian company that offers yarn patterns and catalogs in Portuguese — it's the best option for beginners who prefer content in our language.

Conclusion

The five apps on this list exist, are published on Google Play, and cover different stages: recipes in Portuguese to get started, interactive recipes so you don't get lost, amigurumi patterns for those who already have the hang of it, a counter to keep you organized, and a magazine for original projects.

If you want to continue, also check out our selection of apps for learning crochet in a practical way. Choose one, work on a small piece until the end, and only then increase the difficulty—that's how your hand gets stronger.

How to use it in practice

1. Supplement with real content. After the first few weeks, mix in music, TV series, and reading in the language—that's what the app alone doesn't deliver.
2. Download the lessons for transportation. When the app allows it, leave the content ready on Wi-Fi.
3. Reserve a fixed and short time slot. Fifteen to twenty minutes a day yields more results than two hours on Sunday, because spaced repetition is what makes it stick.
4. Define the objective before choosing. Conversation, tests, or vocabulary require different apps. Choosing based on your goal avoids giving up in the second week.

What goes wrong most often?

• Pay for the annual plan before establishing the habit.
• Confusing a sequence of days with learning — gamification measures consistency, not mastery.
• Switching apps every week and starting from scratch every time.
• Studying only for recognition and never producing — without speaking and writing, fluency will not come.

Before installing: what's already on the device

Google Translate and the system's own translator work offline after downloading the language, and translate via camera and real-time conversation. For resolving specific doubts during study, it solves the problem without installing anything else.

Needle, thread, and the numbering that confuses everyone.

Before the first row comes the choice of material, and that's where many people give up without understanding why. The central rule: the needle thickness must match the yarn thickness.

Crochet hooks are numbered in millimeters — 2.5 mm, 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm — and the numbering increases as the hook gets thicker. There is also an older numbering system, inherited from other countries, where larger numbers indicate thinner hooks, which can cause confusion in translated patterns. When in doubt, use the millimeter measurement, which is universal.

Practical resources to get you started:

• Medium-weight cotton yarn, thin twine type., It pairs well with needles between 2.5 mm and 3.5 mm.
• ordinary string, This material, used in rugs and bags, requires a 4 mm to 6 mm needle.
• Medium wool It works well between 4 mm and 5 mm.
• Very thin line, For sewing towels and borders, needles smaller than 2 mm are required.

Two tips to avoid initial frustration: the yarn label almost always indicates the recommended needle size, and it's worth following; and for beginners, light-colored, medium-thickness cotton yarn is the easiest because the stitches are visible and the yarn doesn't fray easily. Black, fuzzy, or shiny yarn is the worst material for beginners—the stitches disappear.

Sample and tension: why your part comes out a different size

You followed the recipe stitch by stitch, and the piece ended up larger or smaller than expected. The reason has a name: tension.

Tension is how tightly you tighten the yarn while working, and it varies from person to person. Two crocheters using the same yarn and hook will produce pieces of different sizes. That's why most patterns indicate a gauge — something like "10 x 10 cm equals 16 stitches and 8 rows".

How to use this information:

1. Make a test square, slightly larger than 10 cm, using the yarn and needle from the pattern.
2. Measure the center of the square, never the edges, which always end up uneven.
3. If you made more stitches than indicated in 10 cm, your tension is too tight: use a thicker needle.
4. If you made fewer stitches, your tension is too loose: use a thinner needle.

It seems like a waste of time, but it saves hours. An entire blouse made with the wrong tension is beyond repair. For amigurumi, the opposite is true: the tension should be very tight, with a thinner needle than the label indicates, so that the stuffing doesn't show between the stitches.

Reading recipes: abbreviations and the difference between standards

Crochet patterns are written in code, and the same name designates different stitches depending on the country. This is the biggest pitfall for those who follow translated patterns or foreign videos.

In the Brazilian standard, the basic points are:

• corr — current
• pbx — low point
• pbxx — lowest point
• shovel — high point
• pmi — mid-high point
• pad — double high point

The problem: the American pattern names the stitches with an offset. What is called "single crochet" there corresponds to our single crochet stitch, and "double crochet" corresponds to our double crochet stitch. Literally translating "double" as "duplo" (double) produces a completely different piece. Before following a foreign pattern, confirm which pattern it uses—good patterns indicate this right at the beginning.

It's also important to understand three conventions: numbers in parentheses or brackets usually indicate repetitions or the stitch count at the end of the row; asterisks delimit the section to be repeated; and "aum" and "dim" indicate increase and decrease, which are what give the piece its three-dimensional shape.

Regarding charts: they use standardized symbols for each stitch and are read from the center outwards, in circular pieces, or from bottom to top, alternating direction with each row. Learning to read charts opens access to a huge collection of old and foreign recipes, because the symbol is language-independent.

Count careers and not lose your job.

The most common mistake beginners make isn't making the wrong stitch. It's losing count.

Practices that solve the problem:

• Point marker. A plastic ring, a clip, or a piece of yarn of a different color marks the beginning of the round. In circular work, it is indispensable—without a marker, no one can find where the round began.
• Count at the end of each career, Not every ten. Discovering the error in the next row takes two minutes; discovering it ten rows later takes an afternoon.
• Use your cell phone's timer. A simple counter, activated after each completed row, avoids relying on memory. Several knitting and crochet apps have this function, and the system's own counter also works.
• Photograph the work when you stop. When you return days later, the photo shows you where you were.
• Note the needle and thread used. along with the project. Picking up a piece again and not remembering which needle it was creates a visible difference in tension in the middle.
• Taking things apart is part of the process. Crochet unravels cleanly, unlike knitting. Going back two rows is normal and quick.

Selling what you make: what the law protects

Many people learn crochet thinking about earning extra income, and the same question always arises: can I sell a piece made from someone else's pattern?

The distinction made by copyright law is between the written work and the physical object produced. The recipe text, photos, graphics, and videos are protected works: copying, redistributing, reselling, or publishing them as if they were your own is a violation. The physical piece, made by you with your own materials and work, is a different object.

In practice:

• Do not republish the recipe., Neither in a group, nor translated, nor "adapted" with minor changes.
• Read the designer's terms. Many recipe authors explicitly authorize the sale of the finished pieces, sometimes even asking for credit. Others restrict mass production. It's written in the recipe itself, and respecting that is the bare minimum.
• Do not use the author's photos. To advertise your pieces. Take photos of them.
• Beware of characters. Amigurumi patterns of cartoon, movie, or game characters involve copyright and trademark rights belonging to the owners, regardless of whether you created the pattern.

For those who will be selling, two additional precautions: price your items by adding the cost of materials, labor hours, and a margin—most artisans charge below the actual cost of their time—and inform the customer about the yarn composition and washing instructions. Cotton items shrink and acrylic items deform when ironed, and this information prevents complaints later.