Please help :/

[moominpin]

I'm new to this crochet thing and I'm attempting to repair a blanket I was given as a child. It's round (now I've started crocheting I appreciate how difficult it must have been!) but I can't do a circular pattern so I'm just going to make really long strips of single crochet starting chains. Now you're going to laugh but how do I finish a starting chain? I've looked everywhere and I assume it's inherent to a crochet because I can't figure it out! Please help

[moominpin]

Oooooh! Thank you very much! I'm a little disappointed but it's better that I know before botching it up! I will start a search for a circular/round pattern and all will be well (I hope) I have all summer to manage it! Thank you very much for your advice

[Aggie May]

Repairing crochet is much harder than repairing knitting

Can you post a picture of the damage so we may be able to help you work out how to go about it?

A knitted stitch is the same coming or going so it is easier to Duplicate but a crochet stitch is different at the top than it is at the bottom so it is very hard to replace missing stitches. It can be done but it never really lloks right.

 

To end a Chain, just break the thread and pull the end out and the chain will not come undone.

When you are completing a row of crochet and you want to stop, just pull a loop through the last one on the hook then break that loop. To anchor the end, pull the thread through and snug the resulting "Knot" to the top of the last stitch.

Hope this helps.

Have fun.

Colleen:hug

[moominpin]

Repair knitting? Please tell me that's knitting and not a complex crochet term (you have no idea how confused I am) . I was going to make long strips of crochet and just put them together then attatch them to the blanket. I'm not really concerned if it looks perfect, I just don't want it to fall apart! Thank you for the help concerning ending the chain x

[darski]

That looks more like knitting than crochet. it also looks a little too far gone for an amateur repair.

[Aggie May]

Knitted or crocheted I would not try to mend it but I would get someone to mount it on Acid-free card and get it framed, maybe with some old hooks, needles and pattern pages.

You can find people who specialise in this sort of thing.

This way you will have it forever.

If you try to mend it, the old pieces will just disintergrate the first time it is washed and then you will have nothing.

If you want to copy it, that is another story.

There are lots of Round patterns about.

Have fun.

Colleen:hug

[Tracey4610]

I agree with Darski and Aggie May...It would be far better to have a professional frame it for you so it can be displayed. Without a better picture, it's difficult for me to determine whether it's actually knitted or crocheted, but at this vantage point it could be either. What I would do is see if you can get it framed, then once that is done and you gain more experience, try to see if you can duplicate the blanket pattern. (Or, if you do get it framed and preserved, and you don't want to try to write out the pattern yourself, see if someone else can do it for you so you can duplicate it as many times as you like!). Am I correct in guessing that this is a blanket someone made for you? I don't blame you for wanting to attempt to repair it! However, looking at its condition, I don't think it would be wise. Being an experienced crocheter, I would be afraid to attempt it myself without causing even more damage to the piece. Looking more closely at your pic, when I line up the pieces in my mind, it doesn't appear to be a difficult pattern at all. Is there any way you could carefully spread out the blanket with the center more closed so we can see more detail? Can you take a pic of the outside part of the blanket? (I have the center figured out) I might actually be able to duplicate the pattern for you so you can try it...What is the blanket made of--is it thread, laceweight, sportweight, or worsted yarn? How big is the diameter (the measurement across the middle of the circle)?

 

Also, crocheting "in the round" is much easier than you think. There are two ways to do it: 1) in a continuous spiral, never turning it and 2) joining each round, chaining, then either turning or continuing in the same direction. It's far easier than working in rows, in my opinion. I just wish my mom had taught me that, first!