About the Author

Hi, I’m Nora Hartley. I write and test everything you’ll find on Crochet Crafty.

I didn’t grow up a natural at this. I learned to crochet slowly, sitting beside a patient relative who showed me the same slip knot about a dozen times before it finally stuck. What followed was years of frogged rows – pulling out stitches, starting over, and slowly figuring out why my tension kept sliding or why my rounds wouldn’t lie flat. I remember exactly how discouraging that felt, and exactly what finally helped.

That’s the approach I bring to teaching now. I’ve worked with a lot of absolute beginners over the years, and the pattern is always the same: the instructions that finally click are the ones that explain the “why,” not just the “what,” and that don’t skip the step everyone assumes is obvious.

Before anything goes up on Crochet Crafty, I work the pattern myself, start to finish, with an ordinary hook and everyday yarn – nothing special-ordered, nothing that only works in a photo. If a step is confusing when I test it, it gets rewritten until it isn’t. My goal for every beginner reading this site is the one I wish someone had handed me years ago: a clear, honest path from your first chain stitch to a finished project you’re proud of.