Crochet help

That's the way I was taught to do it, too, but then I started coming across written instructions to start with a double chain, which, apparently, they thought was easier to work with than the leftover loop (which, you must admit, is sometimes difficult to get the hook back into).

I'm gonna try this later today and I'll let ya know and see if I can describe it differently so that you can "visualize" it through words. Since you already know what a chain, yo and draw through loop(s) is, it shouldn't be difficult to follow. No different than a pattern.

Dianne

Brenda Lewis wrote:

OK, let's put it a different way. Did granny teach you Afghan Stitch? (the one with the long knitting-needle-like hook that holds all the loops across, and then you take them off one at a time on the way back)

Double chain is, essentially, a 2-stitch-wide afghan.

YO means yarn over.

Dianne - who had to run some errands but is still planning on trying out this little crochet game.

Brenda Lewis wrote:

YO = Yarn over That's the motion you make when you put your hook under the yarn so that you have a loop.

For instance, in double crochet, you insert hook in stitch of previous row, yarn over, yarn over and draw loop through (three loops on hook) . . .

make more sense now? Do you follow written patterns? Or, do you follow graphs.

Dianne

Brenda Lewis wrote:

Well, is it something you're interested in learning to do more?

You can chain. That's all crocheting is about. Once you can do that smoothly, you can do anything.

On the afghan your grandmother had you work on, you had to do more than chain. So, can you describe the stitch?

I played with those directions on making a chain and single crochet at the same time. I can do the first stitch, but I'm a little lost how to continue. I'll keep playing with it.

Dianne

Brenda Lewis wrote:

I played with it a little while ago and I could see where you got lost. Since I wasn't sure I was doing it right I searched and found the following set of visual instructions that I think are very clear. I hope this helps both you and Brenda see how to do this.

It's definitely an interesting method, especially for something like an afghan that requires 200+ stitches. There's nothing more frustrating than casting on stitches and running out of enough yarn to finish the cast on.

oooooo that makes it so much easier to understand!

btw thanks everyone! You are so nice & helping to make this experience extremely enjoyable...now if i can only get this hat right lol I've frogged it once already and afraid i might have to frog again ... oh well! Such is the life of a beginner! Jaz

Not certain I could. I know more than one type of stitch is used. She called it a Mile A Minute afghan but I know that is just a name of several different patterns done in strips that are joined for finishing. In this one each strip has something like shells down the center using variegated yard which is surrounded by white stitches with a whoop-de-whirl of long stitches at each end, and then that whole thing is surrounded by a solid color. The one she made for me is purple and white. The strips are joined together with white. The one I started was pink for the center surrounded by white and then red. I haven't worked on it in over 20 years so probably can't match the tension I used then. I stitched very tightly--I had to had 15 more shells to what she said because it wasn't long enough with just 85.

The cha> Well, is it something you're interested in learning to do more?

For quite some years now i cast on in double crochet [or treble ] when i crochet something. mirjam

Thanks so much for finding this for Brenda and myself. Really lovely visuals. Dianne

I'll try to explain it, but I'm not terribly good at making myself understood. Here goes-- When you look at the stitch head on, just stick your needle to the right of the two upright legs.

Do a YO, pull it through once, YO again and pull it through two stitches on needle. Continue on until the correct amount is done.

I know that's clear as mud, but if you look at pictures #5 and #6 you can see how the thread comes from the spot I'm talking about.

Help--I know there's someone out there who can explain this better than I did!!!!

Lucille

I think it would be easier to count this than the chain stitches and you can always add on to the end. I really don't much like to bury the tail on something that needs to look good both on the back and the front, like a blanket or an afghan. I also find that when something is tossed into the washing machine, which is something I require for an afghan, over time the tail always works it's way out.

I guess burying the chain is fine for a sweater that you wouldn't ever have to wear inside out.

I'm not sure about how it would look with a fine cotton thread. The kind that's used for Irish crochet. I suspect the loop would look odd.

Lucille