How to make a flat circle

[Kittaly]

I've been trying to make a flat round potholder. From what I've read and understood all I need to do is increase in multiples of of my starting ring so it would be 6 - 12 - 18 and so on.

 

In trying to help ease my frustration over this my husband has been doing some reading and is telling me that the number of stitches need to match the number of the round. I'm trying to explain to him that that is what I am doing.

 

I'm adding one stitch each round so a pattern would look like the following.

 

Rd1 magic circle 6

Rd2 increase for 12

Rd3 1sc + increase (which equals three)

Rd4 2sc + increase (which would be four stitches)

 

My husband is telling me I'm wrong, so now I'm really confused. Please help.

[greyhoundgrandma]

A lot of times the pattern will be:

rnd 1: magic circle with 6 st

rnd 2: 2 st in each st: 12 st

rnd 3: 1 st in the first st, 2 st in the next; repeat around: 18 st

rnd 4: 1 st in each of the first 2 st, 2 st in the next; repeat around: 24 st

rnd 5: 1 st in each of the next 3 st, 2 st in the next; repeat around: 30 st

continue increasing in that fashion

 

I'm not sure if that is what you are saying or not. The number of stitches in the repeat sequence equals the round #.

That's probably as clear as mud!!

[Kittaly]

Yup, that's exactly what I'm doing. Thing is by round 5 it was starting to cup a little bit. Should I should have just kept going and it would have worked itself out, maybe I missed a stitch here and there? Also, does the type of stitch matter, would the process be different between single/half double/double and triple crochets because I was hoping to somehow incorporate all them somehow.

[Granny Square]

What stitch are you using?  It makes a difference.  You would start with 6 and increase by 6 each round for sc, but you'd start with 12 and increase by 12 each round for dc.  Reason, the flatness of the circle has everything to do with the relationship of the diameter and the circumference of the piece.  SC is about half the height of dc, so if you make 2 rounds, increasing 6 st each round, you will have increased 12 stitches which = the 1 round of dc.  I hope that makes sense. 

 

This can vary how you make your stitches too, some pull their stitches higher and looser than others which increases the diameter.  This is why the 6 or 12 rule works for some people perfectly, but others will have to fudge the increase scheme sometimes to keep it flat.

 

If the circumference is too small for the diameter, it will cup; to fix it, add stitches or make shorter stitches.

 

if the circumf. is too big for the diameter, it will ruffle; to fix it, subtract stitches or make taller stitches.

 

Edit, a tutorial http://www.crochetcabana.com/html/round_howto.html

[Kittaly]

Ugh, math *grumble grumble* The stitches are the problem then. I was trying to do

 

two rounds of single

two rounds of half double

one round of single

two rounds of double

one round of single

two rounds of triple

one round of single

 

I was looking for something that I didn't need a pattern or think too much about that I could just do to relax for a bit before bed. It was also to be a kind of test. I had wanted to see all the stitches together so I could pick out which I wanted to do for an upcoming blanket project.

[magiccrochetfan]

you can combine the stitches, just increase differently for each stitch type.  

[Kittaly]

Yeah, but as I said I was hoping for this to be something I didn't need to think about too hard. As someone with dyscalculia it would mean having my husband do the math and help me write out a pattern I could just follow, which he would do in a heartbeat if asked but it's more effort then I care to put in for something I was only looking to do because I wanted to relax. If I'm going to expend that much brain power I may as well just start one of the hundreds of legitimate projects that are waiting to be done.

 

Thanks for the help though, at least now I kind of know what would need to be done.

[mattenylou]

Making circles requires thinking, sorry.

 

And counting... lots of counting. Whenever I stop counting I end up with it ruffling or cupping, especilly if you are mixing it up with different stitches.

 

I always keep a large tray or cookie sheet nearby so I can keep testing my work on my lap and make sure its flat. As soon as there's a hint of a cup or ripple, I poke a bright strand of yarn, orange or hot pink, in that section to warn me to watch that area the next time around, and to work the next few rows the same, or if it was cupping to pay more attention to my increases thru that area, because I know it's going to bite me sooner or later and I'll end up ripping it back. A row or two of just sc with no increasing can usually straighten out the slight ripple with no harm done, just don't let it get it go too far, if it cups badly, you need to rip it back and do it over.

 

 

 

.

[Zhaylin Black]

 

This helped me a great deal.

I basically start with 12 dc into the center of a circle.  Then I add 2 dc per stitch for the next round.  After that it's (per stitch) 1dc , 2 dc, 1 dc, 2 dc etc.  After that it's 1dc, 1 dc, 2 dc.  After that it's 1 dc, 1dc, 1dc, 2dc and so on and so forth.

I've never continued much further than that (so I don't know if it would start to curl) because I always round up my edges at that point to make bags.

Hope this helps.

[fayn]

According to Edie Eckman's wonderful book "Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs", one of the ways to correct cupping or ruffling is to change the hook size for one or more rounds as needed.  She says to go up to curb curling and down to reduce ruffling.

 

She lists the standard increases per round by stitch as (US terms):

 

Single, 6 increases/round

Half double, 8 increases/round

Double, 12 increases/round

Treble, 18 increases/round

 

She also mentions a few things that I haven't tried such as changing the number of chain stitches, number of increases per round, change the size of the center opening, using extended versions of the stitches (to fix ruffling) and that larger special stitches like popcorn and clusters may require you to accommodate the size difference.  I haven't tried these, so I can't vouch for if they work or not.