Tshirt Yarn help!

[Mills]

Hi,

I am using Wool and the Gang Tshirt yarn with a 12mm hook and cannot get it to lie flat, it is so chunky even in a magic circle that I can identify the stitches. It looks like a mangled jumble of knots! I have already tried with a 9mm hook. Is it the tension of my stitch or am I doing something completely wrong? 

[NCcountrygal]

super chunky 

This??  Jersey Be Good yarn

SUGGESTED CROCHET HOOK SIZE

10mm (N) or bigger - 25mm 

T-Shirt Yarn Projects 20 Ideas That Will Make you Say WOW (crochet-news.com)

You can check out some of these projects and see what hooks and/or tips are included with the patterns.  I think they are free, but didn't check.

 

[bgs]

Diana that is a great list of assorted patterns and many had nice photos so you could get a good look at the stitches.  

Mills I think its going to take a little practice working with it.  I find it awkward for a bit when I have been crocheting with thread and then start using yarn again.  You could post a photo of your work so we could try to see if there is a problem or not.

[Mills]

Thank you Diana and Brenda. I started again, trying to keep my tension loose. Using a 12mm needle as this tshirt yarn appears to be thicker than some of the others I've seen on tutorial videos. It is fine for the first 3-4 rows then buckles and won't lie flat. I am following a pattern - magic circle, sc 6 and slip stitch into next stitch, chain one, begin next row dc into each sc. And so on.

[Granny Square]

I agree that the hook you are using is way too small for the yarn,  so you are bound to have issues with the project (and your hands and wrists very soon, undoubtedly).

To lie flat, a circle has to obey the laws of geometry, having to do with the ratio of the diameter to circumference.  There are recipes that result in a flat circle for most people, ('most' people because it's all about stitch height, and everybody varies a little in that regard), including you, and the designer of the pattern you are using.

The recipe is SC=6, HDC=9, DC=12.  These are numbers that, if you are trying to make a flat circle with 1 stitch type, are the stitch count for the first round, and the number you increase by for each subsequent round .  Example, a straight SC circle starts with 6 for the 1st round, then you put 2 sts into each stitch to end up with 12 in the second round, then increase every other stitch in round 3 to end up with 18, and so on.

The math is going to be different if you are alternating rounds of SC and DC.  However, what you said (" magic circle, sc 6 and slip stitch into next stitch, chain one, begin next row dc into each sc") isn't what is going on in your photo--you don't have only 6 stitches in round 2 'and so on', there are increases happening.  

I can't tell if your piece is cupping or ruffling--the 'not flatness" is pretty mild at this early point in your piece --I'm leaning toward cupping (the diameter is too big for the circumference), which means your stitches may be taller than the designers'; the fix is more stitches, or shorter stitches.  Ruffling means the circumference is too big for the diameter, the fix is removing stitches, or making taller stitches.  The 'not flatness' would happen to you, and that pattern, whether you were making it in doily cotton and a steel hook, Red Heart Super Saver and an H hook or tshirt yarn and a huge hook.

I also recommend putting a stitch marker into your work, probably in the first stitch of the round and move it up each round.  When working in a spiral, it's easy to get lost (I've been crocheting for decades and use markers all the time).

 

[bgs]

I want to mention that its really easy to inadvertantly increase when working in the round when you use a slip stitch join at the end of each round.  By the time you get back around to it it looks like a stitch to be worked into but its  not.  Stitch markers help.

[NCcountrygal]

7 hours ago, bgs said:

Diana that is a great list of assorted patterns and many had nice photos so you could get a good look at the stitches.  

Mills I think its going to take a little practice working with it.  I find it awkward for a bit when I have been crocheting with thread and then start using yarn again.  You could post a photo of your work so we could try to see if there is a problem or not.

I'd never heard of tshirt yarn.  There are some enticing patterns.I liked one of the rug patterns, but working with that thickness would hurt too much.  I remember making a 3 strands of worsted cotton held together (peaches n creme) and large hook to make an oval rug years ago.  Still have that rug.

[Granny Square]

Edited April 8, 2022 by Granny Square

[Granny Square]

I was having a little 'operator error' in the above post, I couldn't get my comment and the picture to line up in a logical way.  Anyway, Bgs mentioned the thing that looked like a stitch but isn't - that is at the red arrow, you want to join and chain up where the blue arrow is.

[bgs]

Diana before you could buy t-shirt yarn there were tutorials out there on how to cut up old t-shirts to crochet things like rugs.  I dont like working with bulky weight and have never mastered working with 3 strands of yarn.  Can do 2 but not 3.

Granny Square your picture is worth a thousand words!

[NCcountrygal]

On 4/8/2022 at 8:16 PM, bgs said:

Diana before you could buy t-shirt yarn there were tutorials out there on how to cut up old t-shirts to crochet things like rugs.  I dont like working with bulky weight and have never mastered working with 3 strands of yarn.  Can do 2 but not 3.

Granny Square your picture is worth a thousand words!

Now that you mention that.  I do remember cutting old tshirts and jeans for re-purpose as bags and rugs some years back.  Just didn't know that it was available as a "yarn" .  🙂

[RecycleCindy]

I've done many t-shirt yarn projects from cut up shirts and sheets. It can be challenging to get it to lay flat at times. Granny Square's advice is spot-on about hook size and how to help with cupping and bunching issues. Loose stitches and bigger hooks will help. You can also do some blocking and flattening like I show in this tutorial post. Also curling your t-shirt yarn or tarn helps too. See this post for pictures and details for curling your tarn before crocheting with it. Please share back with us how your project going now.

[Mills]

On 4/8/2022 at 8:23 PM, Granny Square said:

I agree that the hook you are using is way too small for the yarn,  so you are bound to have issues with the project (and your hands and wrists very soon, undoubtedly).

To lie flat, a circle has to obey the laws of geometry, having to do with the ratio of the diameter to circumference.  There are recipes that result in a flat circle for most people, ('most' people because it's all about stitch height, and everybody varies a little in that regard), including you, and the designer of the pattern you are using.

The recipe is SC=6, HDC=9, DC=12.  These are numbers that, if you are trying to make a flat circle with 1 stitch type, are the stitch count for the first round, and the number you increase by for each subsequent round .  Example, a straight SC circle starts with 6 for the 1st round, then you put 2 sts into each stitch to end up with 12 in the second round, then increase every other stitch in round 3 to end up with 18, and so on.

The math is going to be different if you are alternating rounds of SC and DC.  However, what you said (" magic circle, sc 6 and slip stitch into next stitch, chain one, begin next row dc into each sc") isn't what is going on in your photo--you don't have only 6 stitches in round 2 'and so on', there are increases happening.  

I can't tell if your piece is cupping or ruffling--the 'not flatness" is pretty mild at this early point in your piece --I'm leaning toward cupping (the diameter is too big for the circumference), which means your stitches may be taller than the designers'; the fix is more stitches, or shorter stitches.  Ruffling means the circumference is too big for the diameter, the fix is removing stitches, or making taller stitches.  The 'not flatness' would happen to you, and that pattern, whether you were making it in doily cotton and a steel hook, Red Heart Super Saver and an H hook or tshirt yarn and a huge hook.

I also recommend putting a stitch marker into your work, probably in the first stitch of the round and move it up each round.  When working in a spiral, it's easy to get lost (I've been crocheting for decades and use markers all the time).

 

A huge thank you granny square. As a beginner I have to admit I’ve read your explanation a few times. I agree hook size is too small, though 12mm seemed so huge to me I could hardly believe I’d need to buy one even thicker!

 

Can I ask what you mean by my stitches being taller than the designers? Is this similar to tension in knitting, ie my crocheting is either tighter or looser than the designer's pattern?

I was trying to achieve the pattern you describe of 6, 12, 18, 24 and so on. I’ve done that before using normal wool to make a 3D animals body but never as a flat circle so the idea of slip stitching or chaining one at the end of a round is new to me.

perhaps it is impossible to get any further with this project until I buy a larger hook

[bgs]

Scroll down to section on Influencing gauge with tension here.  It explains how your stitch height might be different than a designer.

[Granny Square]

Stitches taller than the designer = yes, like knit tension, 'sorta'.  I also knit, but think about how much more complex most crochet stitches are than a knit stitch.  A knit stitch is just a loop, basically, right?   Any crochet stitch beyond a chain or slst is more complex, (more loops to a stitch), so if you 'loop loosely' think of how that could exponentially introduce taller crochet stitches than if you 'loop tightly'.

Doris Chan is a crochet designer with a lot of published patterns and books, this a blog post of hers on that subject, describing crocheters as either lifters riders or yankers depending on how they pull up the loops of crochet stitches.  I am a yanker, Doris is a lifter I discovered this before I read the blog post and tried to follow one of her free patterns and ended up with Barbie-doll sized armholes.  Stitch height is a combination of how high you lift the initial loop 'up' from the row below, plus the other loops of a stitch.

[Granny Square]

Posted at the same time again, BGS.  I remember Jean Leinhauser talking about the 'golden loop' quite a bit when she was active here.  (Mills, Jean was another well known designer who passed away a few years ago).

[bgs]

Yes I first learned about the golden loop here from Jean Leinhauser.  I thought it was so cool she was here.  I recognized her name from books I have.

[Scoop183]

14 hours ago, Granny Square said:

 

Doris Chan is a crochet designer with a lot of published patterns and books, this a blog post of hers on that subject, describing crocheters as either lifters riders or yankers depending on how they pull up the loops of crochet stitches.  I am a yanker, Doris is a lifter I discovered this before I read the blog post and tried to follow one of her free patterns and ended up with Barbie-doll sized armholes.  Stitch height is a combination of how high you lift the initial loop 'up' from the row below, plus the other loops of a stitch.

Just read the blog post about Lifters, Riders, and Yankers.  Loved it!  I had no idea -- but it explains a lot!  I just thought I crochet tight but I've learned to loosen my stitches over the yrs but still my guage is almost always off.  It turns out that I, too, am a Yanker.

[bgs]

I used to be a yanker and revert if I am not careful.  I have a devil of a time when I need to be a lifter to match a designer.

[Granny Square]

I decided I would rather 'deal with' my different stitch gauge somehow than try to teach my old-dog self a new trick temporarily to hit gauge for a particular pattern, because I tend to zone out and go back to my yanker ways after a short spell. 

Maybe that's why I like making doilies, there are a lot of ways to subtly re-design them on the fly, and the lace disguises subtle tweaks. Example, sub a round of EDC instead of DC, or in a round with a lot of 5-chain loops, make 4-chain loops instead.

[Scoop183]

I'm right there with you Granny Square.  I just make doilies, afghans and pet mats (donations to animal shelters) anymore.  I'll go up a hook size or 2 and just expect it to be a little smaller than what the pattern states.  It's all good - I don't lose any sleep over it.  LOL! 😁

 

Edited April 23, 2022 by Scoop183