Crochet, Old and New

 Everyone has that special teacher. Mine is Jane at JSP Creates.

Review: 

This is for people who already have a working knowledge of crochet but may need some review.

 I am working on crochet in the round and want my piece to lie flat. The circle may morph into a hexagon, octagon or even a pentagon. If you want your polygon to end up as a square, you must work on a shape that can be divided by 4: An 8-, 12-, or 16-sided polygon. More sides than that, and you may as well make a circle, but it’s possible. The point is you can’t make a perfect square from a (5-sided) pentagon. With each new row, the circle or polygon gets bigger. You accomplish that by increasing the stitches on each row. A very small circle needs twice the number of stitches, but as the piece gets larger it takes fewer increases to keep the piece flat.

                 To increase you can make 2 or more stitches in one stitch*, or

                Make one stitch on either side of each stitch, 

                                          *which may be a ‘chain stitch space’.

                                            The top of a stitch lies between stitches.

If you have a row of DC+ch1, there will be 2 stitches in each space. This means that for each DC+ch1 (2 stitches) you now have 3 stitches: the DC of the previous row, plus 2 stitches (one on either side).

 

Gray row: DC+ch1 in each stitch.

Tan Row: 2DC in each space.

     Note that the first tan DC is created with 

                                        1 long chain 

                                                                        instead of a ch3.

In the gray row, can you find the ch3 that normally starts a DC row?

(You won’t find it because it isn’t there.)

Striped circles are great for learning the basics, but in time I need more of a challenge. To add variety to your piece:

1.        Combine stitches with spaces.

 

2.        Use a variety of stitches. Be aware that different stitches will have different heights.

a.       A slip stitch adds no height nor width (in theory).

b.       A chain stitch adds little height, but some width.

c.       A single crochet adds a little more height and width.

d.       A double crochet adds more height, not more width.

e.       A triple crochet adds yet more height, not more width.

f.        A multiple of double crochet in one space adds width, not more height than a single double crochet.

g.       A cluster of double crochet can add height and width but covers the area of one stitch at the top and bottom.

 

3.       Combine items #1 and #2 to create a ‘pattern.’ A 'stitch, ch 3, stitch' in a single stitch or space will create a corner, changing the circle into a polygon.

By starting with a small circle (that will become a 3” or 4” square) you can resort to ‘trial and error.’ If you don’t like the look of what you just did, it is easy to rip out and try something else.

“Start with the End in Mind”

One of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Effective People

“Every step you take, every stitch you make” – no one is watching you. Do what pleases you.

A bad start almost never ends well . . . 

The key here is "almost" . 

   To be continued.

Post Script:

Something to remember when learning a new technique: focus on one thing at a time. The first time you work it, the quality of the stitches may be wonky. That’s OK. Designers don’t publish first drafts. Tackle only one thing at a time. A photographer may take 1,000 photos to get that one ‘great shot’.

With that in mind, be aware that I am recovering and re-learning after a traumatic brain injury. Before the incident, eight years ago, I was a professional designer/writer and illustrator. As a freelancer, I had to learn many different disciplines. Retired now, I provide this information for free and hope it is shared. There are mistakes in my work - I do that to see who is paying attention. (I wish). Actually, I love mistakes. We learn more from our mistakes than we do from our successes. 

If my work doesn’t look as wonderful as that of designers who are publishing patterns, it may be because this is a journal, of a journey to recovery. I don’t work on any one discipline long enough to develop mastery. There may be months between posts. It happens that way.