do you count your stitches? new crocheted here.

[Lostcrocheter]

Hello I was wondering if others count their stitches. I dont know if I have to or not as I'm relatively new to crochet.

[Granny Square]

Welcome to the 'ville!  Don't neglect counting stitches.  I wish I had a dollar for every new crocheter I've replied to here who asked 'why is my blanket crooked'?, and the answer was because they didn't count their stitches.

There are some patterns where you have to be more diligent counting, than others.  Solid, all-1-stitch things?  Count.  Ripples?  Count twice (sort of serious, I know better, and I still mess these up).

I hate to give a beginner an excuse not to count, because it's always a good idea even for old-timers like me, but there are some patterns, usually somewhat lacy (like a granny square) or ones with a regular short repeat (like a shell), where it is more obvious that you've made an error sooner than with plainer stitch patterns - unfortunately I usually find it in the following row, but I'd rather rip back 1 row than 10 or 20.  It is always a good idea to stop and admire your work often and check for errors.

[bgs]

Yes you really need to count stitches.  Its easy to think when working on something like an afghan where you are working rows back and forth that counting isnt necessary but its easy to start increasing or decreasing at the ends.  It takes a few more rows to see you have a problem.  Your edge(s) will be slanted instead of straight. To fix it you have to rip out all the rows back to where you have correct stitch count.  I have crocheted for years and about the time I think I can tell by looking I mess up and regret I did not count because of all the work I have to pull out.

[USpolishgirl]

We all need to count stitches sometimes :). New crocheters need to do that more often to avoid wasting time crocheting for nothing... It is always better to spend a little time on counting than redoing  big part of of your work. With time when you get more experience you will not need to count as often.

I seen pictures of almost finished blankets. The size was about half of the width on the end than it was from the start. Question was posted "WHAT happened? and WHY?".   

It is up to you IF you want to learn the easier way? or the hard way?.

That goes for everything you will want to crochet, not only blankets.

Krys

 

 

Edited October 24, 2020 by USpolishgirl

[Bailey4]

It is a good question but the answer is also pretty straight forward how important is it to you that your project has the shape you want?  Whether you are crocheting in rows for a blanket or in the round for a toy or other type of project maintaining the appropriate number of stitches helps create the look of the project you started out wanting to make. 

For me it sometimes depends on the project how often I check when the rows stay the same over a period of time but I do continue to check because it is really easy to add or lose stitches and you either continue with a project out of shape trying to make corrections or you pull out to the point where you added or dropped and honestly it is far easier to keep up the count.

[Tampa Doll]

Not only do I count stitches, I also mark the first stitch or the row, even when it is an afghan.  Especially when you are new.  It helps to keep you from losing stitches.