Information that changed the way you crochet

[crochetfun]

EVer since I (re-) started crocheting, I always used three chains for turning when working with double crochet. Then one day I read somewhere that using 2 chains might make a neater edge. It made a huge difference:)

 

Did others have a similar experience? I would love to hear your stories.

Maybe I can find out something new to me:hook

[RachelG]

Hmmm...I'll have to try what you mentioned! I found out something about dc's not too long ago. I was making them correctly, yet incorrectly. (If that's possible.) I would yarn over, put my hook through the stitch below, yo, pull through, and then without pulling that up to match my previous dc, I'd just complete the stitch. Well, you're supposed to yo, insert hook, yo, pull through, pull it up even, then complete, or else your dc are actually the size of hdc's! (It's hard to explain.)

[donnalynn2]

What changed how I crochet is changing of colors or adding new yarn. When I first started I would always just tie the end in a knot, then add the new color with a knot and it didn't only look horrible but was almost impossible to frog if need be. Then I read somewhere about simply making a loop in the new color, pulling it through the current yarn with a chain and then pulling tight the old color and start working with the new. It works so super simple and if I need to frog, it's like I never changed colors or yarns... (It's hard to describe crocheting techniques, isn't it? LOL)

[crochet mama]

When I first tried my hand at doilies (which was only a few months after learning how to crochet), my first one was tiny, tiny, tiny. I was so upset, since I used the right size thread and hook. I posted a question about it at crochetmama's house and Deb's husband Rick answered me. He just encouraged me about gauge. That the size hook and thread/yarn aren't as important as gauge is if you are wanting the same size as the pattern calls for.

 

I learned through this that I crochet tight, that patterns are written by human beings - sometimes the patterns are not tested before posted - that some mistakes are not mine, but mistakes in the pattern. I learned that I can use whatever colors I want, whatever size hook I want and I can do whatever stitches I want if I don't like the ones that are written about. Being at Crochetmama's House liberated me tremendously.

[korjuen]

yes i have always used 2 ch's in steaad of 3 for the dc stitch.. after all it takes 2 "yo's" to make the dc st. to me kind of equals a ch. But when i am working with a triangle (half a square type..V) or anything like it i use 3 ch's....keeps the edge not get tighter then the rest of the project.

 

kor

[crochet smartcat]

I have found that I like using ch3 on sport-weight or thread, but like a ch2 on worsted weight or thicker yarn for the dc turning ch.

[faithpa76]

Me too!!! I'm so glad it wasn't just me ... I understood exactly what you were talking about. My items were consistently shorter than gauge indicated and it took me forever to figure out why!

 

Other things ... let me count the ways ... crocheting through two loops instead of one (oops ... lol) ... figuring out where to crochet after turning ... I definitely don't crochet the same way I did when I started.

[mimi_mia]

I agree it looks neater, but I don't use the ch2 all the time.......if I'm testing a pattern I do it exactly as written and it's usually written as a ch3

[smokeyp81]

I learned this from someone here at crochetville. I have always crocheted into one loop of the begining base chain til I saw here that someone crochetes into the "bump" on the back of the chain. It is a little harder to get your hook into sometimes, but it makes a great looking edge.

[yarncat]

Once I realized I could change a pattern if it didn't suit me or work out,it lead me to designing my own patterns.

[butterfly_girl]

last night, i decided that I should change the way I hold the yarn. Crocheting projects, my left hand would get really sore, becuase I hold the yarn oddly. I would keep tension with my index finger, all curled up on the yarn. OUCH!

 

So, last night while taking a break from the afghan i'm making, I checked out a crochet magazine that had instructions on learning to crochet. So, I"m trying to re-learn how to hold it. It's slow going, but it's easier on my hand. I've experimented by holding it differently, still trying to figure out what way is best for me.

[crochetfun]

last night, i decided that I should change the way I hold the yarn. Crocheting projects, my left hand would get really sore, becuase I hold the yarn oddly. I would keep tension with my index finger, all curled up on the yarn. OUCH!

 

So, last night while taking a break from the afghan i'm making, I checked out a crochet magazine that had instructions on learning to crochet. So, I"m trying to re-learn how to hold it. It's slow going, but it's easier on my hand. I've experimented by holding it differently, still trying to figure out what way is best for me.

Wow, that will take some time. Psychologists say it takes about three weeks to develop a new habit.

It will be good for you in the long run:)

[crochetingfool]

I have always done a chain one turned and then did a double crochet in the same spot to stop that loopy looking hole...has always worked for me...

 

Also learning how to hide the ends when changing colors...instead of all the tucking in at the end of a project. ugh...

 

oh yeah the starting chain...going through the one loop on the bottom of the chain so that when you've completed your first row your end looks finished with the two loops.

Linda

[diamond]

Definitely crocheting into the top 2 loops instead of just the back one AND ch2 for DCs instead of ch3. I discovered ch2 worked better by trial & error. I kept getting a hole on the end of my projects when using ch3, so decreased to ch2 and it stopped the holes.

[AidanM]

Information that changed the way I crochet..hmm...

Probably when I learned that a lady on our board is the fastest crocheter on earth. It spurred me to always try to be a little better, a little neater, and a little faster! Now I can do about 29 sititches a minute, which translates to a 4 round granny in about 6 minutes. It's pretty amazing to me, and I'd be so excited to one day be as fast as she is.

[dixieredhead]

Changing colors by grabbing a loop of the new color and pulling it thru. ROCKED MY WORLD..it Did! Like Faith, using 2 loops instead of just one. made a huge difference. And watching my tension. i remember starting a square of DC's and one end was like 6 inches and the other was about 3. Thanks for the memories. LOL

[dixieredhead]

Information that changed the way I crochet..hmm...

Probably when I learned that a lady on our board is the fastest crocheter on earth. It spurred me to always try to be a little better, a little neater, and a little faster! Now I can do about 29 sititches a minute, which translates to a 4 round granny in about 6 minutes. It's pretty amazing to me, and I'd be so excited to one day be as fast as she is.

 

Who is that? I didnt know that! Fess up !!

[shelain22]

Well lets see here, Im on the same boat with the ch 2 thing, and still not sure what sst is the correct st to start a row in, and being a self taught crocheter I just recently figured out that you are supposed to st through both loops, and it was like:idea when I figured out what "make blank st in ch blank space" ment but I think what really jump started my crocheting was finishing my first project. I tried several times over a period of about 3 years and never got the hang of it and it took almoast a month to make Annas first baby blanket but I did the secund one in about 3 days:)

[Harvestar]

For me, it was that I should be consistent in which part of the starting chain to crochet into.

[mc_crochets]

for me it was having someone tell me....MAKE YOUR STARTING CHAIN LOOOOOOOOOOSER because I was struggling to go back into it all the time I never realized how tight my starting chains were! I also learned to go into the "bottom" loop for the starting chain for a nice finish, and I'm going to start using the chain 2 for beginning a round of dc's....now to check and see if I've been doing hdc's the whole time because of the height

[sewmom]

I have three important things that have changed how I crochet:

 

1. Holding the yarn - when I started, I was pinching the yarn between my second and third finger on the left hand, and crocheting for any length of time was PAINFUL. So like the other member, I recently changed how I was holding the yarn, wrapping it around just the index finger. My 3 weeks must be up, because it has become a habit now!

 

2. This is probably the biggest one - in the beginning, I would crochet in the loop of each stitch in a ch space until I realized that I could crochet within the entire BLANK AREA created by the chain space - a real light bulb moment, and how much faster!!!!!!

 

3. My "trick" to chaining loosely enough is to chain with a one size larger hook than the rest of the project will be. My natural tendency is to still to crochet pretty tightly, so this is the only I have been satisfied with the tension on the chain. When I forget, I usually end up ripping it out.

[crochetfun]

Since you ladies were talking about tight starting chains, I must mention my other "great discovery": the foundation single (or double) crochet.

Doing those has saved me from frogging many times.

You can see a tutorial on Dot's site:

http://bythehook.blogdrive.com/archive/132.html

[eurolyons]

Probably one of the best things I picked up was changing colors...and that my tape measure is my BEST FRIEND! And that even if the gauge is off, is it really important in the scheme of things...I just use gauge as a guide line...what's important to me, especially with clothing is whether or not it fits me or the person I'm making it for.

 

I've always used 2 chain at the end of a row for dc's...but recently in trying to follow patterns better, depending on the pattern I'd do chain 3...but if it looks weird to me, I'll go back to 2 chain...

 

Making sure to read the washing labels for the yarn I'm using...if for no other reason than to pass on the information to whomever I've crocheted an item for...I don't want to make a chenille shawl and they pop that puppy into the washer and it's ruined...

 

Oh wait, probably the biggest improvement in crocheting this past year is properly decreasing and increasing...wow, makes a huge difference. I would just skip a stitch in the past or try to crochet two stitches together and that wouldn't always look good...

 

The stitch guide that's online (with the video's) is a God send...

 

And in closing, the biggest difference is not being such a rebel about using patterns in the first place...for decades I 'hated" commercial patterns, I wanted to design my own stuff (and I still do design my own stuff) but wow, I was so selling myself short by doing that...because using other patterns is another way of learning new skills and then you get more inspired to do your own thing...

 

And like recipes, with me, I never do a pattern entirely the way it's called for...I'm always making changes...in size, color, type of yarn, sometimes in stitch pattern...sometimes it's really noticable and other times it's not...but then I think that makes it more mine then...inspired by something that someone else thought of...and I bet you that they were inspired by someone else and so on and so on...

[Dejhia]

3. My "trick" to chaining loosely enough is to chain with a one size larger hook than the rest of the project will be. My natural tendency is to still to crochet pretty tightly, so this is the only I have been satisfied with the tension on the chain. When I forget, I usually end up ripping it out.

 

My mom taught me that trick a few months ago. (When she knits, she casts on with a size larger needles. I just modfied that idea to work for crochet.) It makes such a differance for me. I work so tightly that I have to fight my projects in order to get in the chain for the first row. Now, I don't have to fight that starting chain.

[Tikki]

I'm usually not one to stick to a pattern or stitch if I think something will work better but somehow I hung onto the three-chain method all these years. Finding out here just recently that it's OK to use two chains if that will work better was a liberating experience for me.

 

I've only been seriously yarn crocheting for a couple years, though I've done thread crochet for much, much longer than that. My usual method for holding my yarn in my left hand is to wrap it around my pinky and then around my pointer. But some yarns don't slide around them easily and I found myself having to rewrap again and again, slowing me down. A few months ago, I realized that I could place the difficult yarn between my pinky and ring finger where they join and then wrap around my pointer as usual. I get the tension that I like and the yarn slides much, much easier.