Gap when using foundation crochet

[minkajane]

I love using foundation crochet instead of chaining and crocheting into that. I do have one problem - when working in the round it leaves a gap when you slip stitch the first row together. It's generally not a problem because I can usually do a row of sc when I'm done to cover it but that does take away some of the stretchy benefit of the foundation stitch.

 

Any tips for eliminating the gap?

[redrosesdz]

I love doing foundation crochet, too!  I use foundation stitches to start flat projects, horizontal buttonholes and making handles.  However, I never use it for working in the round.  Usually the chain(s) to start a project in the round are so few and they get covered up, that I never even considered it.   Plus, there is no need for the middle of a round to be stretchy, especially if you're eliminating the gap.

 

Here are the 3 ways I start a round, depending on the project....

1, Chain the height of the stitch + 1.  Do all of the 1st round stitches in the 1st chain.  (It stretches as you add stitches.)  After the 1st round, pull the tail taught, but not tight.

 

2. Start with a Magic Ring.  After the 1st round, pull the tail taught, but not tight.

 

3. Chain a number for the ring.  I like 3 stitches per chain, but it depends on how many stitches, the type of stitches and how big or small of a gap you want in the middle.  Slip stitch the chain to form a ring.  Chain for the height and do all of the 1st round stitches in the ring.  After the 1st round, you can still pull the tail taught, but not tight, to get the size gap the you want.  It won't completely close, though.

[magiccrochetfan]

If you are talking about using foundation sts to start a garment in the round, like for a neckline if top down, or a hem if bottom up....Where do have a gap?  Is it at the top of stitches, at the spot where you do the slip stitch? 

 

There will be a gap at the bottom of the 1st and last stitch, which i use my yarn tail to sew up.  

[redrosesdz]

Kathy, I wasn't even thinking about garment rounds or tubes.  I'm working on hats and just helped someone learn the granny square, so my mind was stuck on circles and motifs.  You're probably right about what the OP was asking!  Great call!

 

I also use my yarn tail to cover up the gap at the bottom and top.  If it's a longer stitch (dc or higher) along the join seam, I make the first stitch a linked one in each round, but that has nothing to do with the foundation round.