Edges not straight, please help!

[O-Castitatis-Lilium]

Hello,

 

I am new to the community as well as to crocheting. My grandmother taught me the basics of how to knit when I was about 20 and I really really enjoyed it. A few months ago, my brother's girlfriend crochet him a blanket for christmas and I was floored at the detail you could get with just a hook and some yarn. I wanted to do it, it looked so fun. She taught me how to start and how things worked and she said that, it would be good to get a book too for when she is not visiting and if I forget what she had taught me. I bought a book and started trying to crochet a few things from it but, the book seemed wrong. It was telling me to decrease or cast off when the project wasn't even started, it was telling me to increase in the middle of something with no way of recovering in the end, you know like making a boarder around the piece or whatever. I was rather disheartened and I was kind of mad that I spent money on a book that wasn't helping.

 

I decided after a while that I wanted to make a scarf for my fiance, and that I was just going to use the basic things the book had told me to you, which was the chain and the single stitch and the double stitch. I started with the single and then went to double and then went back to single, and that is the pattern I have been using, I was also chaining one up for the single and two up for the double. I thought I was doing really good, until I laid it out to take a picture of it. Oh man...the edges were very uneven, sometimes it looked like it was flaring out, other times it looked like I was strangling it with how far it was pulled in. He says he likes it no matter what it looks like but, I want to be able to make straight edges at least for later projects lol. I want to know what I'm doing wrong, because, i don't know how i increased in the time I did, or decreased in the times i did. I'm kind of teaching myself at this point because, not even my brother's girlfriend knows how in the world i did it lol. 

 

I was thinking of going back and taking 4 days work out of it and starting again from where it looks even but, that's A LOT or hours and A LOT of work to be just ripping out and starting from scratch. Is there a way I can fix it now, even this far in, or is it doomed to look like this. I was half tempted to tell him that it was ripped directly from the night sky with how bad the edges are lol, but, if I can fix it, I will lol. 

 

Thank you, THANK YOU so much for your help and feedback.

[magiccrochetfan]

Welcome to the ville

 

no, you really can't fix it now.  Ripping back and re-doing is something we all have to do---just think of it as another skill you are learning!  

 

You need to count your stitches on every row, be sure you have the same number of stitches in every row.  put a marker in the first and last stitch of each row, so you can be sure to stitch in them on the next row.  

 

be sure you don't skip stitches, or put a stitch in between two stitches. be sure you only put one stitch in each stitch. There are times when you will want to do these things but for making a straight scarf, you do not want to.

 

I'm curious what book you bought?

[O-Castitatis-Lilium]

Welcome to the ville

 

no, you really can't fix it now.  Ripping back and re-doing is something we all have to do---just think of it as another skill you are learning!  

 

You need to count your stitches on every row, be sure you have the same number of stitches in every row.  put a marker in the first and last stitch of each row, so you can be sure to stitch in them on the next row.  

 

be sure you don't skip stitches, or put a stitch in between two stitches. be sure you only put one stitch in each stitch. There are times when you will want to do these things but for making a straight scarf, you do not want to.

 

I'm curious what book you bought?

I bought the red heats crochet made easy with 8 new patterns. it was pretty bad lol. and..that's a lot of undoing, it's an entire roll of yarn's worth of work...but...if I have to...I guess i will...though it is good advice to know now for the future, that I should count them and mark them...the book never told me to do that...thank you very much Magiccrochetfan for the advice     

[magiccrochetfan]

You are welcome.  You know, you don't have to rip it, you can leave it as is if you want to.  

 

There is a lot of good info here on tips for new crocheters. You will find a lot of you look through the Help sections.  Take a look at the advice thread linked in my signature, lots of peoples thoughts in that  one, and there are plenty of other threads too.  

[O-Castitatis-Lilium]

You are welcome.  You know, you don't have to rip it, you can leave it as is if you want to.  

 

There is a lot of good info here on tips for new crocheters. You will find a lot of you look through the Help sections.  Take a look at the advice thread linked in my signature, lots of peoples thoughts in that  one, and there are plenty of other threads too.  

I'm thinking I might leave it, just to see where I went wrong and stuff, kind of like an example of how to do things and how not to do things. I'm a very visual and hands-on learner, I can figure out most anything if I can get my hands on it or have a live example of it lol. and the link in your signature is a gold mine for information to new crocheters. It's a huge help, I actually had to pull myself away from it just because I was that engaged int he reading lol. The scarf is for my fiance, as I said, so he really doesn't mind what it looks like, he would he just happy to have something I made him lol. but, I will keep the counting and marking in mind for my next project. Though...I have to figure out how to mark lol

[magiccrochetfan]

to mark a stitch, you can tie a short piece of yarn to it.  you can use a bobby pin.  Some people use paper clips or safety pins, but I think i would snag the yarn if i tried to use those.  What i most like to use is a locking stitch marker.  they look sort of like a tiny padlock.  Clover makes the best ones http://www.joann.com/clover-locking-stitch-marker/prd12012/  they are very sturdy and I don't think I've ever broken one, have had mine for several years.  The never snag the yarn.  

 

Susan Bates makes ones that look similar, but they are brittle and break very easily http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/knitting/yarn/SusanBates/StitchPins.asp?specPCVID=20210   i don't recommend those.  

[O-Castitatis-Lilium]

to mark a stitch, you can tie a short piece of yarn to it.  you can use a bobby pin.  Some people use paper clips or safety pins, but I think i would snag the yarn if i tried to use those.  What i most like to use is a locking stitch marker.  they look sort of like a tiny padlock.  Clover makes the best ones http://www.joann.com/clover-locking-stitch-marker/prd12012/  they are very sturdy and I don't think I've ever broken one, have had mine for several years.  The never snag the yarn.  

 

Susan Bates makes ones that look similar, but they are brittle and break very easily http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/knitting/yarn/SusanBates/StitchPins.asp?specPCVID=20210   i don't recommend those.  

OH! I have seen the clover ones lol. I thought those were like baby shower decorations for the tables or something. I didn't know THAT'S what those were. I should have picked them up then lol dang. I know what they are used for now and I will definitely get them the next time I'm out. a huge thank you to for your awesome help! 

[magiccrochetfan]

they do look like diaper pins!  

[O-Castitatis-Lilium]

they do look like diaper pins!  

well like I said, I know what they are now lol, so I will definitely get a pack lol, though..those actually give me a really cool idea lol 

[CrochetAmore]

 I was also chaining one up for the single and two up for the double.

 

Hi, and welcome to the 'ville! Not sure if anyone else said it, but for double crochet you would typically do a chain-3. Also, when you are doing single crochet rows the chain-1 does NOT count as a stitch, BUT when you are doing double crochet rows the chain-3 DOES count as a stitch. I hope that doesn't sound too confusing!

 

I was thinking of going back and taking 4 days work out of it and starting again from where it looks even but, that's A LOT or hours and A LOT of work to be just ripping out and starting from scratch.

 

I'm sitting here right now looking at a sweater that I need to rip out that I was 3 skeins into, so I feel your pain! But sometimes we gotta do what needs to be done. If it's a minor mistake that can go unnoticed I'll usually just leave it, but if it's going to be seen I'll go ahead and suck it up and start frogging. It's all a matter of choice. If BF is happy the way it is, then leave it. Go buy another skein and make him another one in a different color... or make yourself one to match.

[O-Castitatis-Lilium]

Hi, and welcome to the 'ville! Not sure if anyone else said it, but for double crochet you would typically do a chain-3. Also, when you are doing single crochet rows the chain-1 does NOT count as a stitch, BUT when you are doing double crochet rows the chain-3 DOES count as a stitch. I hope that doesn't sound too confusing!

 

 

I'm sitting here right now looking at a sweater that I need to rip out that I was 3 skeins into, so I feel your pain! But sometimes we gotta do what needs to be done. If it's a minor mistake that can go unnoticed I'll usually just leave it, but if it's going to be seen I'll go ahead and suck it up and start frogging. It's all a matter of choice. If BF is happy the way it is, then leave it. Go buy another skein and make him another one in a different color... or make yourself one to match.

I get what you are saying about the does and doesn't part, I assume since because the single stitch is just pretty much for like an even side, then you have to go to the stitch right under it, but, for the double, it's the third one out right...or the fourth...ok I must confess that part there confuses me. Though, I was never told that  double stitch needed three chains up...that might be the issue too with it. Though...I assumed that you would only need two because it's a double and the half double would use the three and the triple would use like four or something. 

 

Yeah, he says that it looks really nice and it looks handmade, not store bought or like all other scarves, it look unique lol. So if he's happy with it, I'm happy with it.

[RoseRed]

I think I can see where you're having a problem.

 

What you're talking about is called a 'turning chain.'  It's the first stitch of any row you're working on.  What it is is a number of chains that pretend to be the same stitch as the rest of the row.  In order to bring your hook up to the height that is needed to work the stitch - you'll work a set number of chains. 

 

Since sc is such a short stitch you'll only chain 1.  Some people use the chain as the first stitch and some people ignore it and don't.  The pattern will tell you what you should do with it.

 

A half double crochet is halfway in height between a sc and a dc.  Most patterns will tell you to ch2 to achieve the height needed.

 

A double crochet is usually and traditionally 3 chains high.  Some people find that this makes the first stitch too tall and will use a ch2 instead. (remember - your turning chain is pretending to be the first dc of the row).

 

This has nothing to do with any of the other stitches on the row you're working into.  The turning chain is specifically for height and for the first stitch of that row,  It is directly above the very first stitch of the row you're working on. 

 

When you go to make the 2nd stitch of the row you're working on you will put it into the next stitch to the left of the turning chain.

-------------------

 

Once you get the basics down there's a lot of tips and tricks and personal preference that comes into play with crochet.  I prefer to use a ch2 instead of a ch3 for my dc turning chain.  That's personal preference based on experience and my own likes.

 

There is a ton of information that you can find here at the ville that you'll never find in books.  The simple fact is that books cost money to publish and even the beginners books leave out a lot of what you would've learned had someone been sitting there teaching you instead.

 

Have you watched any tutorial videos?  You may find them to be quite helpful.

[Avon Lady]

Welcome to the 'Ville!  I also use the ch 2 when I make dc.  It doesn't make a "hole" at the end of the row.  Just remember to make your last dc of the next in the TOP of the ch 2.  That could be why your edges are going this way and that!

Good luck1  And welcome to the wonderful world of crochet!!