Too tight

[BlondieeAggiee]

I'm making a blanket out of Homespun and Jiffy for a friend's wedding gift. I got five rows into it last night and had to frog the whole thing (have you ever frogged Jiffy? It's a nightmare!!). The stitches are just way too tight. I've noticed in the past two or three projects I've done that I crochet too tight. Normally it just results in the edges curling a bit, nothing a couple of runs through the washing machine won't fix. But I'm not going to get anywhere on this one if I don't loosen up. Any tips?

[addictedtoyarn]

have to tell you I crochet way too tight especailly when I am stressed or frustrated I notice as I go I loosen up a little but I have found that if I use a crochet hook 1 or 2 sizes bigger that fixes the problem hope this helps

[corky264]

Try the next size up hook. That's what I do .

Corky

[Ga_Rebel]

My only tip is practice doing the stitches looser. I am trying work on a blanket made with double strands of HomeSpun. I can not tell you how many times I h ad to rip it apart and start again. All because the stitches were to tight. So practice practice practice.

[auntbubbels]

I use a larger hook for the chain and then use the recommended hook of the pattern. That works "most" of the time. I tend to start off tight and they get ver loose!!!

[JazzRizz]

Larger Hook works for me. I usually have to go up 1-2 sizes to get a correct gauge.

 

I've also learned to relax a little. I noticed I had an insane desire to crochet as tightly as possible. It was wearing my wrists out! I now crochet a little less tightly. At least my hook doesn't squeak as much anymore & I can crochet for as long as I want without my wrists hurting:cheer

[KateCrochets]

I'm going to second that advice... try using a hook a few sizes bigger. If you are working on a project from a pattern, try making the gauge sample. Even if you try to loosen up your hands to make it work, you will go back to your natural tension as the project progresses, making it lopsided.

 

It sounds like you are consistant, just consistantly tight. This is far better than being completely inconsistant, because you can usually fix it with a bigger hook!

[Mermaiden]

Being new to crochet, I had a big problem with making my work too tight at first. I have found that the less I "assist" the work by holding onto the work with any spare fingers, the less often I run into this problem. Just let the yarn and the needle flow unassisted! Hope that makes sense. Works for me.

[BlondieeAggiee]

I took the advice and bought an N hook yesterday. I finished ripping everything out and started over. So far it seems ok, but I haven't started the pattern stitch yet. I'm also trying Mermaiden's suggestion of not holding onto the completed rows. I've got a bad habit of doing that.

 

This thing better turn out beautiful for my friend's wedding...grr...

[nightowl]

Mermaiden mentioned the yarn flow. . . I was going to suggest you maybe look at how you hold the yarn. We all tend to find a hold that's comfortable for us and use that out of habit, but for some yarns the tension may be too much.

 

If you normally wrap the yarn around your pinky or another finger, you might try just letting it run across your palm up to your tension finger to make the flow a little easier.

 

Good luck! I'm sure your friend will be thrilled with her gift.

[viggie]

That's a great one. I never "wrap" the yarn around my fingers. It flows over my index finger and over my palm, adding little or no tension. I've had to find ways to crochet loosely too, because my carpul tunnel gets angry if I don't. There's no reason to do things tightly and it actually makes crocheting harder, even though some peoples instincts it to keep it tight because it's somehow associated with uniform. The hook size is what keeps it uniform

 

Mermaiden mentioned the yarn flow. . . I was going to suggest you maybe look at how you hold the yarn. We all tend to find a hold that's comfortable for us and use that out of habit, but for some yarns the tension may be too much.

 

If you normally wrap the yarn around your pinky or another finger, you might try just letting it run across your palm up to your tension finger to make the flow a little easier.

 

Good luck! I'm sure your friend will be thrilled with her gift.