Mixing double crochets with v stitches

[YarnBall]

I'm very new to crocheting. All I've made so far are small toy-sized scarves and blankets for my kids' stuffed animals. My current project is a scarf for my daughter. So far, every row is dc only. I'd like to try mixing in a few rows of v stitch here and there just to play around with the look.

 

I made sure I had the correct number of multiples to make this scarf work with the v stitch. I haven't been counting stitches but I do carefully make sure I skip the correct number of stitches between each v stitch. When I completed a row of v stitches, that row ended up longer than the rows of dc underneath so the scarf started to form into a circular shape.

 

I was so frustrated I pulled out the whole row of v stitch before taking a photo of it. Argh!

 

What am I doing wrong?

[magiccrochetfan]

If this row was bigger, then You added stitches somewhere. How many stitches did you figure for each v? The usual v st is dc, ch, dc, so that is three sts.

[magiccrochetfan]

The classic v st here is how it is usually done http://www.redheart.com/learn/articles/how-to-crochet-classic-dc-v-stitch-plus-3-variations

 

At end of row, count the sts and you should have same number of sts as the preceding row. Count the tops of the dc and count the chains .

[Granny Square]

There are bunches of V stitch variations ( have a stitch dictionary with a whole chapter on them), but the important thing to consider is how many stitches they "use up" on the row below if you are mixing V stitches with other stitches, and want to keep all the rows the same number of stitches.

 

The classic one that Magiccrochetfan described is 3 stitches, and therefore takes up 3 stitches in the row below (and above).  Example, if you wanted to improvise a pattern of 3 DC, V stitch, 3 DC (which would make a pretty scarf), you'd make a DC into the next 3 chains or stitches below, skip a chain, make DC, Ch-1, DC into the next chain, skip a chain, then make a DC into the next 3 chains...and so on.  You need to skip a chain (or stitch below) on each side of the V-stitch so the V-stitch 'uses' 3 chains of the row below (skipped chain, the chain holding all 3 stitches of the V-stitch, skipped chain).

 

Another example - if you wanted a V-stitch of 2 DC, chain 1, 2 DC (so 5 stitches), you would have to skip 2 chains before and after the V-stitch to keep the stitch count the same.

[YarnBall]

magiccrochetfan and Granny Square: Thank you both for replying so quickly and with such detailed information! I'm so sorry I didn't reply earlier. With two little ones to take care of, it's hard to find time to indulge my crochet obsession as timely as I'd like!

 

I'm glad to see that at least I'm on the right track with the V stitch - the Red Heart page is the main set of instructions I've been referring to.

 

Now I'm going to take some time to digest the info you shared with me... see if I can make this dc/V stitch scarf work! I'll post again when I have an update!

[YarnBall]

Granny Square: you crocheters are amazing - it's so tricky to keep the stitch counts straight! I re-read what you wrote a few times. I get it now. I looked at my stitches and I was either skipping too many chains on my V-stitch row or skipped a chain on my DC rows below. That led to the wonkiness. I thought I was meticulously watching the first time round but looks like I need to be more eagle eyed.

 

So I took apart the scarf and started over. I've been really careful this time. I counted the number of chains for the starting chain (is it called a foundation chain?) then made sure I didn't skip any chains as I DC'd my first two rows. I haven't done any rows of V-stitch but it looks like the scarf is starting to curve again. It seems my foundation chain has really tight tension compared to the two DC rows. The DC rows are a bit stretchy but the foundation chain has very little give. What can I do to get the scarf to not curve?

[magiccrochetfan]

The easiest thing is to do the chain with a bigger hook. If it is really tight now, I would go up a mm in hook size, bigger if you need to.

 

Make a chain of about 20-30 with the bigger hook, then do a few rows of dc, to see if it starts to curve,. If it does then try again with a bigger hook. These small swatches will tell you what size hook you need for the chain, without having to do a scarf length worth of chains and dc.

[Granny Square]

I'm glad that the stitch count theory made sense.  

 

Foundation chains can be a problem being tight; there are several ways to make a stitch into a foundation chain. They have different attributes - some are prettier but tight if you don't make adjustments, some a little less pretty but not tight.

 

Oops, I see that Magiccrochetfan has been typing faster than me again

 

Look at the foundation chain; it has 3 loops.  With the chainy part facing you, there is a top and a bottom loop.  If you flip it over, the third loop is in the center, and usually called the back bump.

 

Back in the dark ages (way before the internet), I only learned 1 way - to use the top loop as the chain faces you.  It does not quite match the top (last row) edge.  Tension-wise it doesn't 'tighten up', it's as stretchy as the fabric above.

 

Another way, with the chain facing you, is to insert the hook under the top loop and the back bump - so the bottom loop remains free.  Similar attributes to the one above.

 

Another way is to flip the chain over, and use the back bump.  The plus is that it's underside matches the top row.  The minus is that it pulls the chain tight, which sounds like your problem. This is where Magiccrochetfan's suggestion comes in - use a bigger hook (1 or 2 sizes bigger) for the foundation chain, and switch to the 'right' sized hook for the rest of the project.  The chain being pulled tight by the bigger hook cancels out when you switch to a smaller hook.

 

Another way - I'm not going to go into detail, but google 'chainless foundation SC (FSC)' and/or 'chainless foundation DC (FDC)'.  This starts with a couple of chains and a different technique to build stitches out of the prior one - I'd recommend trying this when you feel you are at a more intermediate level.  It is stretchy but doesn't look quite the same as the 'real' stitch.

 

I recommend using the top loop of the chain with your first project(s).  I didn't find out about the others until fairly recently and it works  great; give the others a try when you have a few projects under your belt. 

[YarnBall]

I'm super appreciative of you both, magiccrochetfan and GtannySquare!! You're both really great at explaining things in a very easy to understand way. Thank you so much.

 

I just did a 3rd row with the V-St and the slight curve is still there but not getting worse. I'm going to leave it as is and just finish the scarf. I'm going to do few swatches like you suggested and try out all of the methods you shared! So excited to try them out!

[Granny Square]

You're welcome!  We've all been there, just a little ahead of you is all

 

You could try this at the end, it might disguise the tight chain and if it doesn't you can easily rip it out.  If I understood you correctly, the scarf started with  2 rows of DC, then a row of V-Stitches, so it sounds like 2 plain rows, 1 V-stitch row is your 3-row repeat.  When you end your scarf, end with a V Stitch row, then finish off.  Go back to the beginning end, and work a row of V-stitches into the underside of your foundation chain.  This way, the 2 ends will  look more or less the same (with the lacy V-stitch part facing away from the center of the scarf).

[YarnBall]

GrannySquare: I never posted an update on my scarf. Your idea was fantastic! I was able to salvage that scarf. I finished it. It's quite a pretty looking frilly scarf. Not what I initially planned to crochet but my DD loves it!

 

I've taken what I learned here and was able to crochet a small rug with no ruffling. Yippee!! Thank you again, GrannySquare and magiccrochetfan!

[magiccrochetfan]

Good for you!

 

You're welcome :-)

 

these kind of conversations are what is so great about Crochetville!

[Granny Square]

 I'm so glad it worked out, and your daughter likes it!

 

This site really is great,  even after crocheting 4+ decades I'm still learning new things.