Wednesday 12 November 2014

Top 5 Crochet Techniques and Tricks

Although I've had a very long crochet career, learning how to do chains almost as soon as I could hold a hook, for most of that time my repertoire has been limited to granny squares. These poor old afghans are now coming apart due to bad knots, wonky joins and of course heavy use.

In the last year or so, my crochet capacity has exploded! I can do all sorts of crazy things, and with the help of the internet, I can make my crocheted items look neater and last longer :) For today's blog post, here is a roundup of my 5 top Crochet Techniques and Tricks (in no particular order) that have made all the difference to my work over the last year!

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TOP 5 CROCHET TECHNIQUES AND TRICKS
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#1

Standing Stitches for Starting New Colours

Hate that "Join new colour, 3ch (counts as first dc)" instruction? Me too. Discovering the Standing Stitch technique has made my work so much neater and with fewer knots, and it can be adapted to ANY stitch! Need to start with a triple treble crochet? No problem! 


Here's an excellent tutorial from Moogly on how to do a standing dc stitch: 


#2

Invisible Join for Crochet in the Round

To me, the obvious "slip stitch into first dc, cut yarn and pull through" joining in work just looks so ugly now that I've learned how to do an invisible join. I still do that where a piece might come under strain (and when I'm too lazy to finish off ends properly and securely), but for anything on display? This is the way to go!


Dedri at Look What I Made has an excellent tutorial:


#3

Invisible Decrease

I'm sensing a theme here... but the invisible decrease is just so wonderful for anything amigurumi (including the little giraffe ears and horns for my Heidi Bears animals)! No more weird stretchy holes for me!



For a fantastic tutorial (pictures, words, videos, right handed and left handed), head over to Planet June:


#4

Zipped Ladder Stitch Join

If you're looking for a way to join squares for an afghan (or anything else really) where you want to almost pretend that they are joined by magic, this is the join to use! I use this for my Chunky Fitted Wristwarmers pattern, as it makes the join look so neat, and it's reversible! 


Linda Davie has an excellent free tutorial available on Ravelry, and it even covers how to cope with corners!


#5

Chainless Foundation Stitches

I know this is my tutorial, but this way of starting a project was just such a revelation and improvement on trying to work in tiny chains, and managing tension, and blah blah blah. You can do any stitch using the same method, and even irregular starting rows such as for a ripple afghan!



I have a tutorial for half double crochet, but as I said above, the same technique can be used for any starting row stitch!


Do you have any crochet techniques that you just couldn't live without? Let us know in the comments!

23 comments :

  1. I already use some of your tips but it's always reat to learn some more. I'm really interested in your chainless foundation stitches - will have to read all about it. Thanks for sharing these very useful tips.

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    1. I'm glad it's useful! If you need a hand with the chainless foundation stitches, just shoot me a message or ask on our facebook page :)

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  2. These are some helpful tips, thanks a lot for sharing, I really need to learn these tricks! : )
    Hope you have a lovely day!

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  3. These are all techniques that I use except I never had a name for the 'standing stitch' and I had never heard of a 'zipper' stitch but my 'mattress stitch' works the same way. Doris Chan has a variation of the 'chainless foundation' except she calls them a 'foundation single crochet' or a 'foundation double crochet' and she has a slight variation in the first and last stitches of the foundation to make a neat finish.

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    1. Interesting! I will have to go look up Doris Chan now :) Thanks Jodie!

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  4. Thank you for the tips. I will use the chainless foundation stiches.
    Lucie

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    1. Good luck! If you need any help, just message me :)

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  5. Good links Michelle. I already use those techniques but they will be invaluable for any newby crocheters. I have a question for Anne please (I'm hoping I've chosen the right person for the continent here!) as I'm looking for a good recipe for stollen. Any favourites you can recommend please? We had the most divine one in Salzburg when we went there a few years ago but I haven't found anything half as nice since then so would like to have a go myself. Many thanks, Susie x

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    1. Thanks Susie! I've alerted Anne to your question - she'll get back to you soon :)

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    2. Hi Susie! I have to confess that I never made Stollen myself before but I know a lot of people who do. However, this recipe looks pretty good to me. I have followed some recipes of the author and they always turn our devine. http://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/464251139585181/Weihnachtsstollen-suesses-Prachtstueck-mit-Tradition.html If you want to give it a try, I can help you with the translation! :-)

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    3. Thanks Michelle and Anne, off to have a look at the link……..that will test my beginners German!

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    4. As I mentioned: I can help you with translations! :-)

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  6. Thank you for gathering these tips together, I love learning little tricks that make my work look neater (I can use all the help I can get!).
    ~ Patricia Plunkett

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    1. Thanks Patricia! Let me know what other good stuff you come across - like you, I need all the help I can get!

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  7. Hello, how are you? You have a very nice blog, not to miss any post I do follower. I invite you to know my blog and if you like you make my follower too. A greeting
    http://awesomeneedles.blogspot.com.es/

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    1. Thank you! I love your patterns - let me know if you want any translated into English or German :P

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  8. These are such useful tips Anne! I am really seeking to make my crochet look better, have already used the foundation technique. I need to practise the joining different colours on-thank you. Your work is so neat! xx

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  9. I've just discovered your blog :) These tips are brilliant - I'm definitely going to try them, as it looks like they make your crochet look so much neater. Thank you for sharing :)
    Cathy x

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    1. Thanks Cathy! As always, if you have any questions just comment or send us a message on facebook :)

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  10. Absolutely Fab. I teach crochet and the standing stitch is a must to start teaching them. Thank you for taking the time to make the links. Jo x

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    1. Thanks Jo! I'd love to teach crochet more - we've had some pretty good success with friends though :)

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