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How to check your tension
Make and measure a swatch to check your tensionMostcrochetpatternsstatethetension
required,inrowsandstitchesofa specific
type.Makea swatchatleast15cmsquare
andcheckthatyourtensionmatches.Place
a ruleracrosstheswatchandinserttwopins,
10cmapart.Thenplacetheruleralonga
columnofstitchesandinserttwopins10cm
apart.Countthestitchesandrowsbetween
thepins– if youhavelessthanthepattern,
yourtensionis tooloosesoyouneedtouse
a smallerhook,butif youhavetoomany,
usea largerhook.It’susuallybetterto
matchthestitchesthanrows,becauseyou
can always work more or fewer rows.HOWTOCHANGECOLOUR
Create stripes and other colour effects
1 Beforeyouworkthefinal
yrh(yarnroundhook)onthe
laststitchofa rowintheold
colour,droptheoldyarnand
thenpickupthenew one
with your hook.
2 Pullthrougha loopofthe
newyarntofinishtheold
stitch.Theworkingloopwill
beinthenewcolour.
Continue,keepingtheold
yarn at the wrong side.INCREASEToincreaseone
stitchis verysimple– work
onestitchintothenextstitch
ontherowbelow.When
you’vefinished,workanother
stitch into the same stitch.DECREASEFora quick
decrease,justskiponestitch.
Fora neaterlook,workthe
firstpartofonestitchand
thenbeginthenextstitch.
Finish both together.INCREASINGANDDECREASING
Shaping stitches are vital for making garmentsSEWINGSEAMS
Yo u c an jo in cr o ch e t s e ams by usin g a t ap e s tr y n e e dl e o r a cr o ch e t h o o k , usin g o n e o f th e s e f o ur m e th o ds
1 Sewingwitha tapestry
needleis theregularandneat
waytojoinseams.Placetwo
piecesofcrochetrightsides
togetherandoversewthemas
shownabove,using a tapestry
or yarn needle.
2 Toslipstitcha seam,place
thecrochetpiecesrightsides
together.*Inserthookinto
bothedgestitches,yrhand
pullthroughtocomplete 1
slipstitch;repfrom* working
intothenextedgestitches,
keeping work fairly loose.3 Fora dcseam,placethe
crochetpiecesrightsides
together,orwrongsides
togetherfora visibleseam.
Workasforslipstitchseam,
usingdoublecrochet instead
of slip stitch.4 A usefulvariationonthedc
seam,thedcandchainseamis
usedwhenlessbulkand/or
greaterflexibilityis needed.
Work1 doublecrochet and
1 chain alternately.