Help for crocheting in rounds

[bepott]

Hi, I'm am trying to crochet the fish bag that was shown on the accesories forum. I have a few questions, what's the difference between crocheting in rows and rounds? When crocheting in rounds do you turn your work? If not, how do you keep going? I'm confused! Thanks for your help.

[Shell]

rows: slip stitch row 1 last and first stitches together, ch1 and start sc again

 

rounds: no slip stitch, sc of row 2 is worked directly into the top of the first sc from row 1. you're working in a spiral would be a reasonable way to describe it

 

you can do rows instead of rounds if you feel more secure like that. all the stitch counts and other instructions remain the same you're just joining one row before starting the next. rounds don't have a "seam" which a lot of people like the 'neater' finish of. Working in rounds it is pretty important to mark the first stitch of each round, otherwise it is very easy to lose track.

[birdlady1]

Crocheting in rows means you go back and forth and turn your work.

 

Crocheting in the rounds means you are creating a circle and you do not turn your work. This is when you use a stitch marker to mark the beginning of a row because it's hard to see/find otherwise. The easiest stitch marker is a piece of yarn in a different color. Tie it to the first stitch of the row and keep moving it as you complete subsequent rows.

 

Here's an illustrated guide to crocheting in the round: http://barney.gonzaga.edu/~aburton/crochrnd.html

[Sabra]

Crocheting in rows means you go back and forth and turn your work.

 

Crocheting in the rounds means you are creating a circle and you do not turn your work. This is when you use a stitch marker to mark the beginning of a row because it's hard to see/find otherwise. The easiest stitch marker is a piece of yarn in a different color. Tie it to the first stitch of the row and keep moving it as you complete subsequent rows.

 

Here's an illustrated guide to crocheting in the round: http://barney.gonzaga.edu/~aburton/crochrnd.html

 

What she said. I find a bobby pin makes a good stitch marker as well.

 

When working in the round, you do not turn your work unless the pattern calls for it. Most, I daresay the overwhelming majority, do not.

 

Joining with a slip stitch has nothing to do with working in rows vs working in the round (in the US, at least). Many patterns called for the round to be joined with a slip stitch & the first stitch of the next round is often replaced with a ch-2 or ch-3 similar to when you're working in rows. The advantage to this method is it makes it much easier to tell when you've finished a row/begun the next row. The disadvantage is that with DC and taller stitches there is often a noticeable hole where you join (there are a variety of ways to minimize this).

 

Working without the slip stitch to join, which is the manner birdlady mentioned, is also referred to as working continuously or working in a spiral, but it's 99% the same thing as the previous paragraph. There aren't any holes this way, but a stitch marker of some sort is an absolute necessity, and if you're switching from, say, single crochet in one round to DC in the next, your first stitch in the taller round will look a little squashed.

[Debbi-a1]

Sometimes you do turn your work, if the pattern specifically says to. I've only seen it a few times though.

 

And in some patterns you do a double crochet and so you will join your work and then start just like a row, with a chain stitch. I've actually saw some patterns in single crochet that ask you to join and depending how I want it to finish sometimes I'll not join or sometimes I will.

 

Most likely for a single crochet pattern you won't join and you won't turn.

Debbi