Negative and Positive Ease

[crochet.fiend]

I feel like I ought to know this...but what the heck is it!?

[losingmymind2]

Now I may be totally wrong, but in sewing, ease is where something 'gives' a little over the curves of the body, like bustline or hips, so to my mind, negative ease is 'going in' or getting a little tighter while positive ease would be giving a pattern a 'scoch' more room.

[magiccrochetfan]

yes, positive ease is when the garment is bigger than the body, and negative ease is when the garment is actually smaller than the body and has to stretch to fit.

[crochet.fiend]

okay, that makes sense. So, another question, is the -/+ up to the discretion of the crocheter, or is it usually included in a pattern?

[magiccrochetfan]

The only patterns I can think of that include information about ease would be in Interweave Crochet.

[jleinhauser]

You pick the size that will give you the ease YOU want. Designers write patterns with

what they think works, but you can choose to go a size larger or smaller to meet your own concept.

 

Jean Leinhauser