Lainys Mouse In A Maze: Crochet Olé

Lay the groundwork for a pattern:

I want my polygon to have 4 sides,

but I like each side to have an odd number of stitches:

start, center, and end.

I will start with a ‘magic circle’ and SC5.

I put a pin in the last SC made.

Instead of a join, my circle is small, so I choose to make a spiral instead of a join, continuing the spiral until there are 10 stitches to my circle.

I could have started with 10 stitches in the ‘magic ring’,

but it squeezes up better with only 5.

This is where the pin marking

the end of the first row is important.

I could start my square with only 5 stitches in between the corner but that looks a little cramped.

I decided that 10 stitches give me more to play with, for a total of 44* stitches. That leaves 11 stitches on each side. Now I can make up a pattern of 11 stitches.

This is my center. It should count 10 single crochets.

I use a black pin to mark last stitch and gold for first stitch. Or vice versa.

Be consistent and you won’t have to remember. It will become habit.

Row 2: SC2 in each stitch. 20 total.

At this point, I need 24 more stitches. I could keep increasing by 10, then 4. Will an increase of 4 stitches keep my piece flat? Two more rows of stitches will begin to make my piece too large to have any kind of creative stitch pattern and still keep it under 4 inches.

Row 3: *SC2 in each stitch x 9, 3 SC in next st. *Repeat to end. 44 stitches.

If I want 4 sides, but an odd number on each side, I must have a base of a multiple of 4 plus 1, or in this case (4 sides) a multiple of 4 plus 4.

44/4=11

Correction!

Do not count the corners! So I needed 40 stitches.

Each side has a corner and 9 pattern stitches.

The Bonus Material in which I illustrate mistakes

will appear after the Double Crochet

without a Chain 3 in Part 3 of 3.

However, you want a straight side.

That means the increases come in the corners.

How did I know I wanted to make a spiral instead of a join? A ‘magic ring’ instead of chains?

I made five centers and chose the one I liked best.

Yes, it is that easy.

Keep it under 20 (fingers and toes) and math is easy too.

At the end of Row 2, I had 30 stitches. 30 cannot be divided by 4 and come out even.

30/4 = 7 + 2/4

If I want 7 sections I must subtract 2, and if I want 8 sections I must add 2.

Hmmm – does that work with, for example, 15/7 ? 15/7 = 2 + 1/7

Can I add 1 to 15 and get something that will divide by 7 ?

NOPE! But if I increase by 1 stitch, I can divide by 4 !

So, what else works?

15 minus 1 = 14, which can be divided evenly. If I want to divide 15 evenly by 4,

I must add 1 or 5 (which is the sum of 4 plus 1)

This proves the point, you don’t have to find your way out of a maze to solve a problem.

Another option is to start with a multiple of 4, and when I reach a pattern row, increase by 1 + plus the increases needed to go around the block.

Why does something ‘work’ with knitting or crochet that won’t work with a woven piece?

Look at your yarn. It is one strand of yarn (most times). Now look at your stitch.

It makes a loop. That loop comes out, goes around and goes back down. That makes 3 layers of one strand. That loop means that your finished piece will stretch or compact. Knitting is stretchier than crochet. It is the nature of the beast. When we want to make

a stretchy fabric out of woven material, we over-spin the yarn, and that makes it crinkle up. We call the fabric ‘crepe.’ Think of a ruffled crepe myrtle bloom or skin with many lines: There are hills and valleys in that skin. It has lost its stretch, but the skin is still there.

We are almost to the most interesting part.

But first, I need to know how many stitches to increase

in each row to keep my circle/square flat.

Let’s look at the classic Granny Square: