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Pattern help!


JessieRay26

Question

I'm fairly new at crocheting but I've been looking for a pattern for a blanket that I could make. I finally found one that I really enjoy but the issue is that I want to make the guage but I'm not sure how. It's a chevron style pattern. I hope it's okay that I put the link to it, it is a free pattern. Can you guys help me figure out how to make the guage?

 

http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/chic-chevron-throw

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Perfect advice....I forgot about the bigger hook to start with. I don't have to do that anymore but I do have to make a conscious effort to work it more loosely than I tend to do...esp for ripples!

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are you positive all the increases an decreases are correct?  usually if things don't line up, the problem is there.

 

ripples can be difficult, it's not just you.  

I went through and looked over them and I believe they are correct. I ripped out Row 3 and went back, the only way I can get them to line up is if I work into the very first double crochet instead of skipping it. I'm not sure what the impact will be if I do that.

 

Just to let you know, depending on your tension, if you only have a certain amount of yarn, then you maybe a tad short of yarn. Gauge is more important, as others have stated, for clothing and wearables that need to fit properly. Afghans don't have to be, only concern would be the amount of yarn. I tend to crochet, at times, a bit looser, so my afghans are just a little larger (depending on the pattern) but since I am a yarnoholic, I always have more than I need anyway.

 

Roe

No, no I have more than enough yarn! That's just the specific brand of yarn I have.

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Just to let you know, depending on your tension, if you only have a certain amount of yarn, then you maybe a tad short of yarn. Gauge is more important, as others have stated, for clothing and wearables that need to fit properly. Afghans don't have to be, only concern would be the amount of yarn. I tend to crochet, at times, a bit looser, so my afghans are just a little larger (depending on the pattern) but since I am a yarnoholic, I always have more than I need anyway.

 

Roe

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Believe it or not, I do graph ghans, and I find straight ripple blankets ARE more of a pain! Round ripples are more fun for me....

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it says "dc in NEXT 10 ch" so you should do 10 dc in the sts after the 2 dc in 4th stitch.

 

 

 

 

the dc3tog is done over 3 stitches.  the directions could be more clear,  it says  "[Yarn over, insert hook in next stitch, yarn over and pull up loop, yarn over, draw through 2 loops] 3 times, "  and that means to go to the next stitch , then the next, then the next.  it is easily misread as all being into the same stitch, the one that was "next" when you started.  this could also be called a 3dc cluster.  nexstitch has a good tutorial http://www.nexstitch.com/v_cluster_stitch.html   also see the one on dc dec http://www.nexstitch.com/v_double_crochet_dec.html 

(Nexstitch is a very good reference, worth bookmarking)    

 

Your peaks and valleys definitely need to line up.  if they get off track the stitch pattern will not look like you want it to.   Actually this pattern would be a lot more user friendly if it had a clear photo of the increases and decreases and how they line up.  you might want to look at the thread linked in my signature on choosing patterns.  i think this one is a little deficient, personally.  

 

As I'm going through I can kind of see them not lining up, even though I've double counted and checked to make sure I had 10 double crochets between easy increase/decrease. Sigh. This is starting to be a very big pain.

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Another thing that I'm going to check on, and then I promise I should be finished. When it says to start Row 1 with two double crochets into the fourth stitch, and then do 10 more double crochet. Does that mean that I should have 10 total or should I do 10 more after, resulting in around 12, I think?

it says "dc in NEXT 10 ch" so you should do 10 dc in the sts after the 2 dc in 4th stitch.

 

 

 

 

*EDIT: Also, with the (dc3tog), that is all in the same stich correct? Or when you repeat the loop over and such, do you go back to the next stitch? And now I feel really ignorant, all of this is supposed to be in teh back bumps, right? I mean on Row 1.. Do I switch back to normal crocheting or stay in the back bumps?

the dc3tog is done over 3 stitches.  the directions could be more clear,  it says  "[Yarn over, insert hook in next stitch, yarn over and pull up loop, yarn over, draw through 2 loops] 3 times, "  and that means to go to the next stitch , then the next, then the next.  it is easily misread as all being into the same stitch, the one that was "next" when you started.  this could also be called a 3dc cluster.  nexstitch has a good tutorial http://www.nexstitch.com/v_cluster_stitch.html   also see the one on dc dec http://www.nexstitch.com/v_double_crochet_dec.html 

(Nexstitch is a very good reference, worth bookmarking)    

 

Your peaks and valleys definitely need to line up.  if they get off track the stitch pattern will not look like you want it to.   Actually this pattern would be a lot more user friendly if it had a clear photo of the increases and decreases and how they line up.  you might want to look at the thread linked in my signature on choosing patterns.  i think this one is a little deficient, personally.  

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Another thing that I'm going to check on, and then I promise I should be finished. When it says to start Row 1 with two double crochets into the fourth stitch, and then do 10 more double crochet. Does that mean that I should have 10 total or should I do 10 more after, resulting in around 12, I think?

 

*EDIT: Also, with the (dc3tog), that is all in the same stich correct? Or when you repeat the loop over and such, do you go back to the next stitch? And now I feel really ignorant, all of this is supposed to be in teh back bumps, right? I mean on Row 1.. Do I switch back to normal crocheting or stay in the back bumps?

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Thank you guys. :) I went ahead and stripped everything out to restart again. I think I had the starting chain a little too tight and it made things difficult the farther I got into the rows. With the clusters, it was hard to figure out where the doubles were because they were pushed so tight together.

 

I think I'll take the advice and use a larger hook for the chain and then switch to the normal one.

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Most of us make our starting chains a little tight, it's a good idea to use the next size hook for the chain and switch to the right hook for the rest of the pattern.  This is probably why the first row seems a little tight, especially since some chains have multiple stitches in them.

 

The first row of a ripple always looks peculiar, it takes a few rows to really take shape.  But you really need to be careful to count the stitches in every ripple,  it is very easy to drift off.  Judianne is right, you can 'fudge' some things if you are off by 1 stitch in the middle of the blanket, but it's a good idea to make sure the first row is set up correctly.

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With ripples I count how many stitches I've made from peak to valley. If you find that you are missing a stitch or two, just make 2 stitches in one stitch in the previous row....this way you won't have to rip out anything, no one will know that you had to correct something. Trust me...I do that quite a bit!

I hope this answers your question. If not...come on back!! :)

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Thank you guys SO much. You have no idea!

 

I do have another question though. As I'm working through this I'm starting to notice that my stitches are getting tight. Mostly because of how the clusteres and tripple double crochets. Is that okay?

 

I was also wondering about how to know if you've got everything in order. I've just got to where I turned to Row 2 and I noticed that the tops aren't matching up with other clusters. Does that make sense? I get to points where I have to stich into every double crochet, does that mean I also stitch between the individual double crochets?

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Is there a reason why you need the blanket to be exactly the measurements given?  If not, you don't really have to worry about gauge for a blanket---it will be usable at various sizes.  

 

to check the gauge for this you would probably need 2 ripple sections. i think the "pattern multiple" is about 24---the number of sts it takes to make one section of the pattern, which is repeated across the row.   Make a chain of about 60.  start row 1, do the part between the asterisks twice, then do the last step which is 3 dc in last chain.  that probably will not be your last chain, you should have some left over whcih you can just ignore.  (if this was you actual blanket, you could later unpick the extra chains and weave in the yarn tail.)  

 

The notice to check your gauge is a standard part of many patterns, but for things like a blanket, washcloth, etc the size can really be flexible.  for clothes or hats, often for a scarf or shawl, you do need the finished item to be at or very close to the given measurements in order for it to fit.  

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It would require a deep section, not necessarily a long one. But to be on the safe side, give it a try one hook bigger. It's up to you. Depends on who it's for, and all that.....

Good luck....and were always around if you need any help down the line.

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That does help a lot, thank you. When I clicked on it, it said to check my guage in bold letters and I thought that it might be a good idea. I was confused because of the way the pattern itself is supposed to look like. Checking the guage would require doing a very large section, wouldn't it? Gah. This is why I've never used the guage very much. I wanted this one to turn out very well though,

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Do you mean you want to make a small section of the pattern to see if it measures the 6 inches from peak to peak?

I "wing" a lot of my patterns, so I would probably use the suggested hook size, which is "I" if you're using the same yarn, and crochet a very short foundation chain and work the pattern.

 

With me, though, for afghans I don't worry about gauge much at all. But if you crochet tightly I would go up a hook size so it will drape nicely.

I hope this helps.

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