Boucle Help

[gingerchai]

Help:

Does anyone have any hints on working with boucle? I purchased three skeins of JoAnne's rainbow boucle and cannot deal with the "disappearing stitches". The pattern I'm using is made with seed stitch throughout so I only have to work into the chains for one row (whew!).

Thanks in advance.

Tracy

[goldi316]

The only suggestion I can offer, not having worked with it myself yet, is to work with it by feel - in other words use your fingers to seek out each next spot to place your hook. That's how I initially learned to work with Homespun, which has the same kind of issues. Good luck!

[donnalynn2]

Rainbow Boucle is a pain when trying to see stitches. Personally I do not recommend this yarn for something that needs to "showcase stitches" as it's very difficult to see them. This is the kind of yarn that speaks for itself with nice SC, HDC or DC's and really I wouldn't use this for any other stitches. (Not to mention it's a pain trying to frog this stuff as it likes to get knotted up while working into stitches.)

[Catana]

I agree with donnalyn. Because boucle is so highly textured, it doesn't work well with stitches that form their own patterns. But if you really want to use it, here's one way that I deal with disappearing stitches (mainly in the first row when you're trying to go into the chain). First make sure that you have good light. If you get to a stitch that's hard to see pull on it lightly with your fingers to open it up and spread it out. The space to put the hook into will be easier to see. I also find that it's much easier to make the first row by going into the single, middle part of the chain instead of the two outside loops. That means you're working into the bottom of the chain instead of the top.

[pplcrochets]

I think Catana and donnalyn's advice is right on target; I had the same problems when first working with LB homespun - and the fibers do tangle when trying to frog (something I had to do all too often).

 

Only suggestion I'd add would be to make that beginning chain extra loose (bigger hook) then switch back to your regular hook for the 1st row and beyond.

 

Also, I crochet into the back loop of the foundation chain for all my work; seems to be easier to see/locate. But you do have to choose the "second chain from the hook" (sc example) stitch carefully when you start out the 1st row, making sure you're not inadvertently picking up the 1st stitch from the hook because the back loop portion of the stitch appears "further back" in a stitch than the two outside loops. You'll be able to tell if you didn't when you find you have one too many stitches in the first row (another tip that I found out the hard way )

[JCB]

It also helps to use a hook one or two sizes larger than the rest of the project for that initial chain. After that, I just feel where the next stitch is.

 

Joan

[Jimmie Lu]

I made a poncho with it Marthas comming home one!!! It helped me to use a second yarn and do the work with a plain color. It made it a bit heavier but thats ok also! I liked working with it. IMHO

[Hummywinger]

I did a shrug for my daughter using the Joann Rainbow. But the pattern I had used a K hook.. I just read something last night in a hard back crochet book that said when using the furry yarns to make it easy to find stitches to use a large hook and to crochet between stitches... Maybe you could try that with the Rainbow yarn.

[Ennovy88]

I agree with the above... I work with boucle often.. and its best to go by feel and use a bigger hook.. good luck.

[Chatty]

I haven't tried to crochet with the Joann's yet, I'm knitting a shawl with it though.

 

I have worked with the Homespun in crochet and one thing I've found out about it-the Crystalite hooks from Susan Bates crocheted it almost flawlessly with very little, if any, snagging.

[meadowlake23]

what I would suggest is to find a regular yarn close to the same color as your first color-way and make the chain in that,then work your first row of boucle into that. so in other words make the chain out of worsted weight or sport weight yarn and the rest of the pattern out of the rainbow.

[denny]

I found that with the boucle feeling with my finger worked, but I did find that the first row was the most difficult. It was hard to see if the chain had twisted. The lighter colors seemed to be easier.

[gingerchai]

wow, thanks everybody for all the good advice, i am going to use a bigger hook for the base chain and work into the bottom loop, and feel for the stitches...hopefully i'll be able to share my work sometime in the future.

tracy

[threeolivemartini]

i would use a more open stitch nothing that would be "solid" like the seed stitch..or mesh so you have more open places to put stitches.. and feel your way along..

[DainaJ]

I can't remember where I read this tip, but you can hold a light behind your work to help define the stitches.

[MaryPat]

I find it very helpful to place a lamp between my feet and have it shine up through the back of my work. The "boucle" loops are then visible as well as the main yarn.

 

When undoing mistakes, I use two thread crochet hooks to help "tease" apart the strands. With the hooks, I find that pulling it back through to unravel it causes the boucle to stick to itself even stronger than before.

 

 

 

 

Help:

Does anyone have any hints on working with boucle? I purchased three skeins of JoAnne's rainbow boucle and cannot deal with the "disappearing stitches". The pattern I'm using is made with seed stitch throughout so I only have to work into the chains for one row (whew!).

Thanks in advance.

Tracy