Really Newbie Questions...

[LuschMommy]

Hi everyone!  I'm currently working on my first patterned project, and I'm struggling with counting.  I'm just crocheting a ball so I can practice reading a pattern, making the magic ring, single crochet, increase and invisible decrease.  Sometimes, I feel like I spend more time counting than crocheting, but more importantly, I forget to put my stitch marker in at the beginning of my round and then don't know how to recover from that.  Since I'm just working on a ball, I estimate the number, but I'm guessing that won't work for something more intricate.  Do any of of you have recovery suggestions on how I can determine the beginning of my round if I forget to put my stitch marker in?

Also, another question that I have is if I somehow have too many/too few stitches in a round, is it ok to just do an increase/decrease to recover on the next round?  If yes, how many stitches off, would be too many to recover from in that way?  

I know these are probably crochet for dummies sort of questions..... thank you for your help! 

[bgs]

I'm just crocheting a ball so I can practice reading a pattern, making the magic ring, single crochet, increase and invisible decrease.  This is good and what you need to do to learn

Sometimes, I feel like I spend more time counting than crocheting, Yes you are getting it!  Best advice I can give anyone that crochets is count, count, count, count , count, and count.   Count each row and each round so you can fix it before moving on.  We get lots of people asking for easy fixes when their project is misshapen.   They dont want to pull all those rows out but thats really the only way to fix it.

but more importantly, I forget to put my stitch marker in at the beginning of my round and then don't know how to recover from that.  Since I'm just working on a ball, I estimate the number, but I'm guessing that won't work for something more intricate.You are correct you will have problems on a more complex or intricate pattern if you estimate.  It needs to be exact. Count each round and fix any problems before moving on.  If you constantly have to pull your work out  you will get aggravated enough  at yourself that you will learn to use and move that marker.

 

Do any of of you have recovery suggestions on how I can determine the beginning of my round if I forget to put my stitch marker in?   No good easy way to recover.  If you are making something where number of rounds is not that critical and its not critical that you make a complete round you can pick a stitch on your first round (but it might not be your first stitch) and count each round of stitches made above it.  You are going to waste more time trying to figure it all out than pulling it out and redoing it using a stitch marker

 

Also, another question that I have is if I somehow have too many/too few stitches in a round, is it ok to just do an increase/decrease to recover on the next round?  For the most part no its not really ok to do this.  Increases and decreases and their placement affect the shape of your project.  

If yes, how many stitches off, would be too many to recover from in that way?  

[Granny Square]

Welcome to the ville, and to crocheting!  You are not a dummy, you are just new, as I was long ago.  I've just made more mistakes than you and know which are fudge-able and which have to be ripped back and re-done.  Hint:  most are not fudge-able, get used to ripping back.  Most long-time crocheters will tell you they have ripped back miles and miles of yarn over the years to get something right, whether it's to fix an error or tweak something to their liking.  The sort of good news, for me at least I usually spot a goof when I come upon it again in the next row or round, so I don't have to rip too far back.  Some patterns are stinkers (like ripple blankets) and lull you into a false sense of security because they seem so easy and you don't spot an error until you have gone WAY past it.  It's a good idea to stop and admire your work frequently to make sure you have not gone astray.

Counting is something you are going to have to get used to, it is an important part of the craft if you want all of your work to look reasonable.  And swatching and a little basic arithmetic is important too, for garments -- don't panic, it's 3rd grade level but I always keep my calculator handy just in case.

I don't know how to instill the habit of remembering to use/move a stitch marker, aside from lessons learned from repeated   moments when you realize you have to rip back and start over.

I can't answer the question "if I missed an increase on row 5, can I just add it on row 6?" because the answer is "it depends" on what you are making whether it will look wonky or not; maybe doing so on a toy will put part of it's nose where an ear should be, or on something else it might just look  a little uneven in one area.

And "I'm just working on a ball so I just estimate the number"...um, no.  When you are working in a center-out flat circle (like a doily, or a round potholder, or the beginning of a top-down hat) or a 3-D sphere, you have to obey the laws of geometry to keep the circle flat, and the ball round, and making up numbers is courting disaster, or at least disappointment.  Even following a pattern, you may run into problems if your stitch height doesn't come close to the designers' (and this is not terribly unusual, I run into this a lot making thread doilies).

To make a flat circle in SC, your first round is 6 stitches, and you increase by 6 each round.  For HDC it is 9, for DC it's 12 - these are 'average' numbers that work for most people's stitch heights, if you make taller or shorter than average stitches you might have to do some tweaking to keep the circle flat.  A sphere typically starts with a flat circle for a 'while' and then reduces the increases until you work even for a 'while' , then you close up the circle by performing the starting scheme in reverse.  I'm sure there are rules for those 'for a while' transitions for a sphere but I'm not a designer and don't know what they are off the top of my head.

 

[Granny Square]

Edit, I didn't notice that Bgs beat me to posting, I was busy typing I guess.   We are in agreement.  She's right, we get a lot of questions from beginners who a loathe to rip out mistakes, but ripping is a necessary evil - "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right" as I'm sure all of our Moms have told us many times, and not everything we do allows for 'do-overs' to get it right like crochet does.   

[LuschMommy]

Thank you both so much!  Yep, this is why I'm just making balls right now.  I have a whole pile of wonky magic rings and it sounds like I should have just as many partially crocheted balls. 🤣

I really appreciate both of your advice and I'm just going to keep practicing the basics.  Now, I need to go Google most of the terms in Granny Square's last 2 paragraphs. LOL!

[bgs]

Good tips

https://www.planetjune.com/blog/tutorials/crochet-tutorials/

https://amigurumibb.com/2015/01/19/understanding-round-and-oval-shapes-in-order-to-create-head/amp/

https://www.edieeckman.com/2019/08/28/where-to-put-the-first-stitch-of-a-crochet-row/