basic crochet question

[heroinepretend]

i'm sure a how-to on this question is here somewhere, but in lieu of looking around and getting more frustrated than i am already with my yarn, can anyone tell me how to decrease/increase? i am tempted to just skip stiches, but that seems too easy and probably wrong. thanks!

[mercy7]

i have been working on a project where you do sl st in first stitch to decrease and leave the last st at the end of a row. so depending on how many decreases you want you sl st to where you want to start working. i make baby booties and do the same thing with them. hope this helps you

[LibiLou]

I found this on StitchGuide (great place, by the way).

 

Single Crochet Decrease

[heroinepretend]

thank you so much! this web site is helpful, and as soon as i learn the slip stitch, i am sure i can use this other tip as well.

 

you're dolls.

[MerigoldinWA]

To increase just do two of whatever kind (sc,dc) of stitch you are doing, in one stitch. For years I decreased by simply skipping a stitch and it works, but it does leave a hole. I guess it never bothered me. :-) If you're not real picky it might work for you too, at least until you get your feet under you a bit.

 

To do a proper decrease:

In single crochet: Work a single crochet to the point where you have 2 loops on the needle, then start the next single crochet in the next stitch and stop after you have pulled the yarn through and created a new loop on the needle. You now have 3 loops on the needle, then just thread over and draw the thread through all 3 loops at once. Now you have made one single crochet where you had two.

In double crochet: Work a double crochet to the point where you have 2 loops on the needle, then leave them there and start a new double crochet in the next stitch and work that like a normal double crochet until you end up with three loops altogether (counting the 2 loops from the first dc that you started and didn't finish). Thread over and pull through all 3 of those loops. You have now made one double crochet where you had two before.

Written instructions can be tricky to follow, but they help. Read the instructions several times, then maybe have someone else read them to you step by step as you do what they say, or read and do it step by step. Good luck. Merigold