Crochet dreamz striped baby blanket

[Tinkerbell77]

I have redone this blanket for a few rows already up to row 5. It is growing crooked on one side. And now as I finish row 5, it’s statutory do the same thing on the other side. The fpdc are all lining up. So not sure what I’m doing wrong. Please can someone help me. My daughter wants this for her baby. I can’t find a you tube video follow. 

[Granny Square]

Welcome to the 'ville, is this your pattern?  

We get a lot of questions on the same topic as yours, and it is pretty much always because of an error being made at the point of turning rows, either a stitch is added or subtracted by mistake.  

Which shape your blanket turning into, \___/,   /___\ , /___/ , /__| or  |__\?  The first is gaining a stitch on both ends, the second losing a stitch on both ends, third is losing on 1 end and gaining on the other, the last 2 gaining or losing on 1 end only.

I see a problem in the beginning of pattern row 3, the underlined part--Row 3: Ch 2 ( counts as first dc here), 1 dc in next sc, The underlined part is guaranteed to cause an increase.  Normally, when you turn, chain 2 or 3 for the turning chain, you skip the first real DC of the row you are working into, because the chain is sitting outside of the row, but 'acts like it is in' the first stitch of the row--if you don't skip it, and also count the turning chain as a stitch, you are creating an intentional increase.  

2 ways to fix this:  first, just chain 2 and skip the first SC of the row below, which is what is typically done (well, typically the turning chain for DC is 3, not 2 - use the # that matches the height of your DCs best).  But, here is an easy way to get around this, and may look a little tidier than the usual skipping the first stich - instead of the initial ch 2, chain 1, make a SC into the first stitch, then chain 1 or 2 (to make the SC +chains as tall as YOUR DC stitches, and treat this as the first DC.  This means when you encounter this SC+ chains at the end of the following row, you work into the topmost of those chains coming out of the SC (which is part of what 'counts as the first DC' means)

I hope that makes sense.

 

[Granny Square]

This page is part of the US standards for pattern writing, needle, hook and yarn sizing and definitions.  If you scroll down to double crochet, it explains and has a diagram showing how you normally chain 3 and skip the first stitch you encounter, and make your first DC into the following stitch.  The chain 3 counts as the first DC, but is alongside, not IN, the first DC.  

edit, I could have sworn the first 2 words of the above paragraph was a link to the CGOA standards site, but now I can't find that site online.  I'll re-link when it comes back.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Granny Square

[bgs]

Granny Square I think in row 3 the designer is trying to tell you to work in the proper stitch ( not an increase) because look at row 4 where it says to sc into same st as ch1.  After seeing that if they wanted an increase they would have said 1dc in same stitch as ch.  

Row 3: Ch 2 ( counts as first dc here), 1 dc in next sc, 

Row 4: Ch 1 ( does not count as a st), 1 sc in same st as ch 1

Post stitches can be problematic if you accidentally work into unworked stitch that is supposed lay under the post stitch.

[Granny Square]

Ah...makes sense.

The pattern isn't wrong, but I think it would have been clearer if it instead of saying whether the chain counted as a stitch or not, that it spelled out whether to skip the first stitch of the row or not, to eliminate any ambiguity by assuming the crocheter knows the 'next stitch' (for US DC) is not literally the next stitch from where your hook currently is, but the one after that, and for SC, it is literally the next stitch.

 

[Granny Square]

Here is the site I was trying to link yesterday https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards/how-to-read-crochet-pattern